AUGUST IN NEW ZEALAND. 
7 
sere and yellow leaf contrasts well with the sombre colouring of 
the evergreen bush. Though not so magnificent as the better- 
known South American species, yet Fuchsia excorticata is well 
worth looking into. The flowers pass through various shades 
of colour. They are at first green, blotched with dull-gleaming 
purple, then later red. The petals, at first black, become later 
a bright purple, and in the mid and short styled forms the 
pollen is of a beautiful mazarine blue. Upon the half-grown 
leaves I have noticed an insect similar to that which causes 
the “ cuckoo spit ” on the may-flower at home. The wax-eye, 
or blight bird, too, is a handsome little fellow, with bright olive 
head, yellow throat and rufous flanks, so that in a fuchsia bush 
there is much movement and colour. 
Although the male goldfinches still fly in flocks, several 
native species of birds have begun to pair. It is interesting to 
watch the active and bold little sparrow-hawk hunting away 
intruders from his domains. I have seen him frequently frighten 
collies from their work. When the lazy, heavy-flying harrier 
approaches their breeding cliffs, both male and female rush to 
the attack. They utter a sort of shrill neighing scream, darting 
down on their enemy, who always turns over on his back, 
stretching forth his powerful and terrible talons. Wherever 
and whenever the New Zealand sky is scanned, the latter bird 
may be seen slowly sailing in circles high in air or hunting low 
among the fern on broken ground. The birds become lighter in 
colour and more cautious in temperament as their years increase, 
and an ancient white hawk is so cautious as to give rise to the 
Maori proverb, “ as wary as an old white hawk.” 
A few days ago I saw a brace of Paradise duck on the lake. 
Almost every spring one or two appear. These handsome birds 
afford a good example of double sexual selection. In the male 
the head and neck are black, the back pencilled with white, and 
and abdomen ferruginous, while in the female the neck and head 
are white. The call notes of the sexes differ also, the drake 
uttering a prolonged guttural note, while the duck responds 
with a shrill call which Buller compares to the high note 
of a clarionet. Of the many species that sham lameness 
to attract enemies from their nests and young, none do it so per- 
fectly as the Paradise duck. While trouting in Lake Tekapo, 
in Canterbury, among the mountains, with not a tree for miles 
and the glittering glacier far above, I have watched the tactics 
of these birds with admiration. With a wing trailing on the 
ground, and at intervals dropping as if a leg had given way, 
they imitate a wounded bird to the life. 
Among the reed beds round the lake dwells the fern bird. 
During other months these shy little birds can be heard rustling, 
but only in August do they leave even momentarily their thick 
cover. On several occasions then I have seen the male climbing 
in quick little runs the dead flower stems of the flax. Towards 
the end of the month a warbler’s nest was brought in to me. It 
