PREFACE xi 
This, though merely negative, a mere halt in 
spoliation, a mere enactment of the elder Testa- 
mental canon “Thou shalt not kill,” is at any 
rate a first step in the right direction. 
The next must be a positive forward move. 
“'Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.” 
Thou shalt plant and replant the forests. Thou 
shalt protect the avifauna so vital to these forests’ 
health and growth. 
I believe that even now by trapping—for the 
killing of undesirable aliens in our woods can no 
longer be postponed,—as also by judicious encour- 
agement of natural food supplies, native birds 
could be quickly increased. Easily might indi- 
genous berries, drupes, and nectariferous shrubs 
be fostered and multiplied, but why proceed to 
emphasise the obvious? All these good things 
shall be added unto us once the forests come to 
be respected as national assets, and managed by 
an experienced and observant Forest Service. 
Harking back to actual present conditions, of 
Species existent in 1880, when I reached New 
Zealand, but three have disappeared—the Huia 
(Heteralocha acutirostris), the North Island Thrush 
(Turnagra tanagra), and the South Island Thrush 
(Turnagra crassirostris). Moreover, excepting of 
the first, even that cannot be said with certainty. 
The numbers doubtless of many other species 
have woefully decreased, yet at any rate the 
