60 BIRD LIFE ON ISLAND AND SHORE 
became more frequent. The third nest was placed 
some fifty or sixty feet high in the rifted branch 
of a giant puriri. The fourth, built in a hole in 
a splendid taraire, was also fifty or sixty feet 
above the ground. We were, however, so fully 
occupied with the more attainable nests that 
little was seen of these, and nothing noted worth 
repetition. 
Whilst the hen sits, the nesting hole is not 
often visited by the male. When that does happen 
he will look in for a fraction of a second, raising 
himself from below until his head is level with 
the hole; then having fed her he will disappear. 
Incubation is undertaken altogether by the hen. 
I watched a nest for nine hours one day and for 
ten hours another day, and found that she left 
the eggs at intervals averaging almost exactly 
sixty minutes. Immediately after vacation of 
the nest cavity she relieved herself, the droppings 
then being solid and relatively large, as those of 
sitting birds are apt to be. She then vanished 
into the bush, probably being fed by her mate 
at some considerable distance from the nest. He 
also appeared to be in the vicinity—galumphing 
as he came—every three or four hours. The hen 
never remained away for more than three or four 
minutes. 
Both parents attend their young, both carrying 
