THE WHITEHEAD 81 
for these troublesome pests, the young still in the 
nest spending long mornings preening and scratch- 
ing. At a surprisingly early period they begin to 
stand upright in the nest and flap their little 
wings. Whenever they can grip the rough bark 
of the kanuka stems, they are encouraged to 
scramble upwards into the shade and shelter of 
the thick tops. There, immediately beneath the 
dense plane of green, they sit in threes, pressed 
close to one another. The old birds scale tree 
boles like the Rifleman, or mount upwards in 
alternate runs and pauses like Fern-birds on dry 
flax stems. Towards one another they are par- 
ticularly sociable and friendly. Flying to and 
from the nest, meeting and passing, it is their 
custom to shiver wings in courteous greeting. 
Return to the nest, too, is always heralded by 
cheerful chirps and twitterings, audible at twenty 
and thirty yards. When, as not infrequently 
happens, one of the four is chased by a crabbed 
Tui or Bellbird, another of the little company 
will generally intervene to distract the foe. It is 
pleasant to be able to state that this amiable little 
species is plentiful on Little Barrier Island, and 
that there appears no reason why it should not 
continue so to remain on that ideal bird sanctuary. 
In Mr Frank Hutchinson’s bush reserve at 
Puketitri in Hawke’s Bay, during ten delightful 
days in 1921, four old and two new nests were 
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