38 BIRD LIFE ON ISLAND AND SHORE 
type of forest did the species prefer for building : 
open puriri and tarairi, mixed scrub, dense eroves 
of tree-ferns, or the woods of the heights fleeced 
in filmy fern and furred with moss? Did they 
prefer gloom, or where the sunlight was able to 
filter through the boles ? 
We were ignorant even of the date of the breed- 
ing season. We could not tell—always a dis- 
couraging factor—that we might not be searching 
for a nest not yet built, or—equally disheartening 
—for one from which the season’s nestlings had 
already flown. We thus were unable to eliminate 
any locality, any portion of the forest, any kind 
of tree; we were unable to concentrate our 
search. In our wanderings through the woods we 
could not tell where it was waste of time to wait. 
Then, again, knowledge of the habits of other 
species might be worse than useless. When the 
male Stitchbird was seen for a flash and not 
again, was the sight of him a mere chance glimpse 
as of the forest Hawk high overhead, or was it 
the wisdom of the Kaka, who vacates for hours 
even the vicinity of its nest? Was the bird’s 
absence, in fact, the best or the worst of signs ? 
When the male was.alone, was he still unmated, 
was the hen sitting, or had he hidden her in some 
neighbouring thicket ? Then in later days, when 
again and again the bird was seen about the 
same spot, was his presence indicative of a nest, 
