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is of the usual mixed kind, with every gradation of shade in green and brown ; but the dominant 
feature, as almost everywhere else in New Zealand, is the beautiful tree-fern, which I think I have 
never seen in greater beauty or abundance. In some places you come upon whole groves of Cyathea 
smithi, with its grand expanse of graceful fronds, then groups of Dicksonia anfarctica nestling among 
the denser vegetation on both sides of the road. And before the eye has had time to take in the 
full beauty of the scene, the aspect changes and straggling clumps of Cyathea cunninghamii present 
themselves to view, with their soft and feathery fronds, some exhibiting an open coronet of slender 
stalks and others with their crowns depressed ; then, at a fresh turn in the road, far away in the 
depths of the gorge, and shaded by the overhanging foliage, may be seen superb umbrella-tops of 
mamaku ( Cyathea medullaris), resting on giant stems often sixty or seventy feet in height. In the 
more open glades of the forest the stately Cyathea dealbata lifts its graceful head, those in exposed 
positions displaying the silvery white of their under surface with every breath of wind. On nearer 
inspection other forms may be distinguished, there being apparently no limit to their beauty and 
variety. Each fern is a study in itself, and the natural grouping is such as no landscape gardener 
with all his artificial skill could ever produce. Some have their stems encircled with vines, ferns, 
and creepers, from base to summit ; others have their trunks hung thickly round with the withered 
fronds of a former growth. Some have slender, naked stems, while others have massive pyramidal 
trunks. Some stand out clearly and sharply defined against the darker background, while others are 
almost lost m the luxuriance of their epiphytic growth. I do not mention the ever-present ground- 
ferns, in their infinite variety, because no New-Zealand bush could well exist without them ; but I 
ought to notice here the most beautiful object on the road. A little more than halfway through, 
from the Cambridge side, our coach stopped at a point near which the crape-fern, or “ Prince of 
Wales’ feather,” is known to exist. We alighted and entered the forest. At a distance of only a 
chain from the highroad we came upon one of the loveliest sylvan sights I have ever witnessed. This 
was a dense bed of Todea superha growing close together, each plant with beautiful deep green, 
velvety fronds, arranged like the feathers on a shuttlecock, each with a spread of three feet or more, 
and covering altogether about an acre of ground. This luxuriant bed of an elsewhere rare fern, of 
the richest green and of crape-like texture, closely covering the ground and protected from the sun 
by a thick forest canopy, presented a picture of surpassing beauty never to be forgotten. 
A hole in a decaying or dead tree affords this species a natural breeding-place, the eggs being- 
laid on the pulverized rotten wood at the bottom ; for, as a rule, there is no further attempt atforming 
a nest *. I ought to mention, however, that in the Canterbury Museum there is a loose nest, formed 
of moss, and lined with fein-hair and green Pariakeet feathers, which was taken from the hollow of a 
tree and is assigned (I believe correctly) to this species. The months of November and December 
constitute the breeding-season. Ihe eggs vary in number from three to seven; and a native stated 
that he once found a nest containing as many as eleven ; but five is the usual number. Captain Mair 
informs me that a pair of these birds bred in the hollow trunk of a hinau-tree for several successive 
years, although robbed of their young every season, and that he has frequently observed the cock 
bird feeding the hen, during incubation, by regurgitating berries from his crop. 
Although exhibiting a preference for hollow trees, they sometimes nest in the holes or crevices of 
rocks. On the Upper Wanganui the natives pointed out to me a small round cavity in the 
perpendicular cliff forming the bank of the river, and assured me that this was the entrance to a 
small chamber where a pair of Parrakeets had reai-ed their young in security for many years. 
Ihe eggs are very broadly oval, measuring 1-05 by -85 inch ; they are pure white and are very finely 
granulate on the surface, sometimes with minute limy excrescences near the larger end. 
* Prof. Scott states that during a visit to Campbell Island ho found this species of Parrakeet there “in great numbers round 
the shore, and that, in the absence of woods, it makes its nest under the grass-tussocks. 
