THE NORTH ISLAND ROBIN’ 71 
placed on a sort of shelf formed by an accumula- 
tion of the midribs of tree-fern fronds consoli- 
dated by decay and rain. A fourth nest belong- 
ing to another pair was planted on a similar 
site, a gentle incline caused by the break of a 
huge limb from a puriri. In its fall away nearly 
two feet of its substance had been torn out, leav- 
ing a dry ledge at right angles to the magnificent 
trunk. Upon this the nest was deposited like a 
tart on a plate, so detachable that in order the 
more easily to observe the parent birds in attend- 
ance on their brood we were in the habit of moving 
it to the ground and up again as required. Any 
flat surface, or shelf, or gently inclined plane 
with a back to it is favourably considered by the 
Robin ; always on such sites nests may be looked 
for. 
In the disintegration of many deserted and old 
nests the inner parts came out almost whole, as 
wooden Japanese bowls fitted one within the 
other can be detached separately. The outer 
layer was composed of fresh-pulled fibre, small 
twigs, skeleton and dry leaves, bark, scraps of 
aerial roots of tree-fern, sere fragments of fronds, 
lichen, moss, and living trails of polypod, arranged 
so that the green ovoid fronds lay flat as if cling- 
ing naturally. The second nest within a nest 
was a wrapping of soft green moss; the inner- 
most cup of all, a mass of the dark-brown hair 
