Vol 'i 924 IV ] WILKINSON, Birds of Tararuas, N.Z. 
125 
often when one is cycling along a country road one or two of 
them will fly along a few yards ahead of the cyclist, then alight 
on the ground until one is nearly on top of them before they 
will fly again. I have seen this bird on the top of Mount Holds- 
worth, which is 4800 feet high. 
In the autumn they congregate in large numbers, and seem 
particularly restless at sunset. 
Zoster ops lateralis. White-eye or Silvereye.—Perhaps the most 
widely spread bird we have; it is just as much at home on the 
mountains as in the orchards of the settlers on the plains. As I 
write there are six of these busy little birds cleaning the rose 
bushes of green fly just outside my window. We always have 
some of these useful birds about the place. In the winter we put 
something out for them to eat—scraps of bread, or suet, of which 
they are very fond. 
Because this bird takes a little fruit now and then it is not 
on the protected list, but most people recognise its good points, 
and make allowance for the very slight damage it may do. With 
its pretty little hanging nest and the lovely blue eggs that it lays, 
it offers a tempting bait to the small boy; but fortunately the 
nest is not easily found. I have heard of the Shining Cuckoo 
using the nest of this bird for its parasitical habits, but I have 
never found a nest of the Silvereye with a Cuckoo’s egg in it. 
Prosthcmadera novcc-zcalandicc. Tui.—The Tui is one of our 
birds that must to a certain extent be affected by the possum, 
as the Kotukutuku, on which this animal feeds (eating the leaves 
and young shoots), provides the Tui with a great deal of its 
food. The nectar contained in the flowers and the berries— 
lconini, as the Maori calls them—enter largely into the Tui’s bill 
of fare. 
This tree is perhaps the most important of our fruit-bearing 
trees, as the flowers and ripe fruit can be seen on the tree at 
the same time, so the Tui must suffer in the long run. This bird 
is at times fairly common on the ranges, but it, like some of the 
others that I have mentioned, can more often be seen on the 
Plains, especially when the New Zealand Flax ( Phormium 
tenax) is in flower, and again when the Gum trees ( Bucalypts ) 
and Acacias are in bloom. Last season I saw six in one Gum 
tree, and that is quite an unusual number to see these days about 
these parts. I believe the Maoris are responsible to a great 
extent for the decrease in numbers of this lovely bird, and 
perhaps the pakeha is as bad out in the back blocks. Not only 
is this bird shot, but Pigeons, Kakas, and Ducks are destroyed in 
spite of the Animals Protection Act. 1 have seen only one nest 
of the Tui on the ranges, and that was a deserted one situated 
in a Kotukutuku, about eight feet from the ground. It was 
built of moss, small twigs, and a few leaves—the twigs sticking 
out in all directions, making a very untidy nest, which measured 
just 10 inches across. The nest receptacle was 44 in. x 44 in.. 
