100 BIRD LIFE ON ISLAND AND SHORE 
puheretaiko scrub. Above each great heap of 
dead twigs, pine-like dracophyllum needles, island 
grass, and débris of mountain flax, sat, ready to 
defend itself, a single chick. Nellie chicks must 
be approached with caution, for when startled 
they have the power of ejecting an oil from 
their bills, at first clear, but becoming with re- 
peated use tinged with red, probably from food 
but partly digested. This liquid, which can be 
ejected several feet, judging by the caution with 
which Wekas approached the premises, is used 
as a means of defence. Though seemingly not a 
very terrible weapon, the mere knowledge that 
the chicks are dowered with some mysterious gift 
may suffice. At any rate, the Weka—for Weka— 
appear unwontedly diffident and unfamiliar. As 
the woodlands in the vicinity are miserably poor, 
the presence of this colony of food producers must 
have been vital to the local Woodhens, by whom 
all scavenger work is done, and whose nests are 
built within a few yards of those of their over- 
lords. Besides half-devoured Kuaka, the prey of 
every Gull, Petrel, and Molly-mawk of the southern 
seas, all fatty matters ejected by the chicks were 
continuously gleaned from the edges of the nests. 
Nellie nestlings have a curious habit of lying 
on their sides, one cheek pressed close to the rude 
nest, much in the attitude of a man asleep with 
ear close-pressed to pillow. I had hoped that at 
