The Warblers : The Robins 
67 
Whilst at Kapiti in January, 1917, I was climbing a spur, 
thickly covered with manuka, when a robin appeared, and 
on my sitting down he approached, nearer and nearer, until 
within a foot of my side. After a time he uttered a very 
subdued sound like che-e-e-r, almost like the muffled mewing of 
a kitten. He was apparently a young bird, for presently another 
approached and quickly popped a cricket into his bill. As the 
second bird approached, the first bird che-e-e-red louder and 
more continuously, fluttering with his wings: then both went 
off together. The young bird was as big as the parent, and 
both appeared the same in colour; almost black on the back, 
grey on the abdomen, darker grey on the breast; and it was 
noticeable that the dark hues of the back, head, and breast 
were marked longitudinally, in discontinuous streaks, with 
light grey, as if the body-plumage were light grey, overlaid 
with the darker colours. I heard more che-e-ering close by in 
another direction, so other young birds were evidently being fed, 
and I saw a goodly number of young ones during the day. 
Of the eighteen Maori names recorded (WJ, p. 198), the forms 
commonly used are pitoitoi and toutouwai. 
