THE KITTYWAKE 13 
the offal thrown overboard. At a depth of three 
or four inches quantities of good food sink before 
their very eyes. On the remote beaches where 
I have most often lived on familiar terms with 
Kittywake, they retain habits picked up about 
harbour, wharf, and the busy haunts of men. 
However far temporarily retired into the wilds 
for breeding purposes, they still are ready to 
accept doles; there is eager competition still for 
bread and meat. 
On Porangahau beach, cheek by jowl with a 
large Tern colony, several score of Kittywake 
had built their nests in December, the eggs hatch- 
ing out a few days later than those of their com- 
panions, perhaps, in some degree, their hosts. 
Nests were built of such material as was pro- 
vided by the waves and winds, and were more 
often than not placed on the higher humps and 
hummocks available. There, in numbers varying 
from scores to dozens and twos and threes, the 
Kittywake nested and nourished their broods 
amongst the Tern. The two species were in the 
happy position of having no conflicting interests, 
no hostile points of contact. In amity they flew 
together and fed together. Always on the turn 
ot the tide a cloud of wheeling, hovering, pounc- 
ing, and diving birds followed the flow of water 
over the flats of the lagoon, the Kittywake select- 
