. Mutton birds and other birds . forest was alive withtheir movement and echoed with theirclamorous cries. A constant shower ofrotten wood and bark rained from above,and Banjo ran from tree to tree lookingup at the unattainable birds and barkingwith excitement. About one trunk he circled,barking and sniffing, and then again returnedto it still not absolutely satisfied; and I supposeit was this second visit and the tone of his barkthat caused me instantly to mark the tree. Itwas a kamahi of considerable girth, but its shellonly, alive and green; the interior was rottedaway until almost level wi
. Mutton birds and other birds . forest was alive withtheir movement and echoed with theirclamorous cries. A constant shower ofrotten wood and bark rained from above,and Banjo ran from tree to tree lookingup at the unattainable birds and barkingwith excitement. About one trunk he circled,barking and sniffing, and then again returnedto it still not absolutely satisfied; and I supposeit was this second visit and the tone of his barkthat caused me instantly to mark the tree. Itwas a kamahi of considerable girth, but its shellonly, alive and green; the interior was rottedaway until almost level with the ground, andthe space within—about two feet in diameter—floored with wood powder, dry and sweet. Onthis brown carpet rested two eggs, small for thesize of the parrot, dull white in colour, andevidently much incubated. The interior of thebole had been gouged and chiselled by the sittinghen, until no scrap of it mthin neck stretch re-mained unmarked. These eggs, found duringthe first week of February, were not re-visited. AND OTHER BIRDS 7^ until early in March. Without cutting a sectionfrom the truiik it would have been impossibleto have photograi^hecl either the sitting bird oreggs, and 1 did not dare risk the possible deser-tion of the nest. Upon my return weeks laterwith my mates Hans and Gilfillan we reachedthe old camp late in the evening, andthat night I could hardly sleep for thoughtsof the disasters that might have occurred. At day-break we started, and, in my eager-ness to get the worst over,—just as menride a little faster with the knowledge ofan unbridged river in flood before them,—I faroutstripped my companions; I C(aild hardlyindeed credit my good fortune when 1 sawthrough one of the holes, the head—the goodgrey head—of the venerable bird, and amoment later witnessed her retreat, as,scrambling out of the cavern, she flew softlyinto the forest. During the lapse of one monththe eggs had developed into two large-belliedchicks. These awkward youngster
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1900, bookdecade1910, bookidmuttonbirdso, bookyear1914
