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Sydney Porter—Notes on New Zealand Birds



Zealand, being quite common in many parts but scarce in others.

At Takahue, a remote farming district near the North Cape, I found

this species quite common and on my arrival there found that it was

the breeding season. All along the Takahue Valley it appeared to be,

if not the commonest bird, the most conspicuous one. Every few

hundred yards one was sure to be greeted by the loud raucous calls

of a pair of these birds as one approached their nest. Their cry is

somewhat like the scolding note of the European Blackbird.


The nesting sites differ ; the birds dig either into an old decayed

tree stump or into a high bank. The nests are often made in the most

accessible positions and often only a few feet from the ground. One

old willow tree by the river was literally riddled with holes made by

the Kingfishers, as also was a high cutting on the mountain road

which was very little used.


This bird is over twice the size of the European Kingfisher, and

belongs to an entirely different genus which does not obtain its food

by fishing ; in fact, fish form but a very small part of its menu. Most

of its food consists of various land animals such as lizards, beetles,

worms, centipedes, mice, etc., which it picks up from the ground.

A bird will take up its position on a dead tree stump and very little

in the way of edible insects escapes its exceedingly keen eyes. This

bird is not averse to visiting gardens in the towns if it can obtain

an adequate food supply.


When wandering in the mountains near Takahue, I chanced to

come across a nest of this species in a bank by the roadside, about

3 feet from the ground, it was only about a foot in depth ; in fact,

I have never come across a nest placed in such an accessible position.

It contained two young ones in the “ pin-feather ” stage. Thinking

that they would be easy to rear, I took them. The first night I put

them in a box filled with dry earth and covered them with wool, but

in the morning I found that they had swallowed quantities of the

wool and earth. I tried feeding them on insectivorous food mixed

with chopped egg, which had been sent from Auckland. This they

vomited up. We tried earthworms, but they appeared to grow weaker

and lose strength. Then one of the young boys on the farm where

I was staying devised an impromptu net, made of a piece of sacking



