in those days. I had a new suit several successive years through this means, and we were quite happy to earn our money in this way. Recally, there was no other means in Rapaki. I always had an advantage over other boys where protection against scratches and thorns were concerned as I was made to wear knickerbockers or long pants. Remember how knickerbockers were done up by a buckle just below the knees and the long stockings just covered the buckle? I do not remember any of us falling from a tree or badly tearing our clothing while birdnesting. The instinct to test first before trusting our weight on a branch came naturally. My mother would allow me to spend part of the Christmas holidays with an aunt and uncle in Temuka. Money was in short supply, but my friend Kahu and I surmounted this problem by going after birds' eggs. We travelled quite a distance to get them, but determination had its reward. Four dozen eggs each meant we could go to the pictures on Saturday; another dozen, an ice cream during the interval, and still that extra dozen, another ice cream for the young lady we hoped to walk home. And so that was birdnesting. Let us return to today. That sparrow's nest built so high up and on that swaying branch is now perfectly safe. But you, Mrs Blackbird, should not be considered, for I have watched you fighting with the net I had thrown over my raspberry bush, even released you several times from its meshes when in your determination to steal my raspberries, you have gone down to ground level to get at the fruit of your choice. Should I blame you for uprooting two short rows of French beans? Maybe it was a Magpie. I do know you tipped over a pot in which I had planted a prized chrysanthemum simply because you could hear a worm busily working around its roots. I must forgive you for when I sit and listen to your husband perched high on a tree singing his short song and this being taken up by others of his kind all around me, I relent. His way of telling all those who cared to listed how wonderful it is to live and sing. So continue to nest and sing in the trees your Creator has provided for you. Mother Nature will do what I used to, but please, have pity on my garden.

Ngarimu V.C. Essay Results Results have recently been announced of the Essay Competition held last July. Awards were made to these pupils: Essays in Maori Form 1 Terry Hare, Waiohau School Form 2 Louis Hare, Waiohau School Form 3 Hapi Williams, Rotorua Boys High School Form 4 Kiri Keepa, Whakatane High School Form 5 Queenie Morunga, Whakatane High School Forms 6 & 7 Heni Walker, Ngata Memorial College. Essays in English Form 1 Lexie Latimer, Mokai School Form 2 Georgina Stewart, Normal Intermediate School, Epsom Form 3 Paeru Cummings, Wainuiomata College Form 4 Ramon Pink, Kelston Boys High School Form 5 Elizabeth Brain, Rotorua Lakes High School Forms 6 & 7 Robert Bryant, Auckland Grammar School. We add our congratulations to these winners.