46 BIRD LIFE ON ISLAND AND SHORE 
dered near the family abode. Indeed, the sole 
hint of hostility towards intruders ever noted was 
shown, not by the owner of the nest himself but 
by a friend—another male—on his behalf. Leask 
and myself on this occasion, whilst not quite 
assured of our find, were, in ten-minute spells, 
intently watching a certain ambiguous hole. He 
had just sung out, “ Male flown out,’ when an- 
other male from whom I had never taken my 
eyes, and indeed whom I had suspected to be 
the owner of the nest, flew straight at me, pass- 
ing on a level skimming flight a couple of feet 
only above my head, with much of the minatory 
mien assumed by a hen Morepork attempting to 
intimidate. Perhaps I should not have been so 
sure of the hostility of the action had not some- 
thing of the same sort happened a second time, 
on the part once again not of the owner and the 
occupier himself but of an officious friend. I 
have no theory to offer as to what was meant, 
but merely state the fact that it did again occur 
whilst Leask and I were closely watching an- 
other nest in another part of the island. Both 
before and during the breeding season the males 
of the race appear to dwell on very friendly terms 
with one another; indeed, one of the many pre- 
liminary inexplicabilities of Little Barrier was 
their habit of visiting one another. These meet- 
ings, which would take place within feet of a 
