Smith. — On the Birds of Lake Brnnner District. 213 



the Grey Valley and Lake District annually in great numbers. 

 They arrive in the first week in October and depart in the 

 middle of March, the large Polynesian species being the first 

 to depart, followed in a week or ten days by the smaller 

 Australian form. After their arrival the long-tailed cuckoo is 

 an object of almost continual persecution by the tuis, which 

 boldly assail and pursue it through the bush, at the same time 

 uttering their wild alarm-call. The superior and dashing 

 flight of the cuckoo, however, soon places it out of danger for 

 a time, and is its only mode of escape, as it is able to offer 

 only a feeble resistance against a number of angry tuis. 



Frosthemadera nova-zealandice. (Tui, or Parson-bird). 



Antliornis melamtra (Korimako, or Bell-bird). 



In fine weather the bush along the south shores of Lake 

 Bruuner re-echoes w'ith the rich notes of the tui and korimako, 

 busy in their season among the blooms of the kowhai {Sophora 

 tetraptcra) and rata (Metrosideros robusta). There is no 

 pictm'e more beautiful in nature than the sight of these two 

 charming songsters, clinging and swinging in grotesque pos- 

 tures in the sunshine on the brilliant crimson blooms of the 

 rata, sipping the nectar, and flying every few minutes to some 

 bough, and uttering their rich song. When suspended, the 

 deep metallic lustre of the tui's plumage contrasts beautifully 

 wdtli the masses of crimson flowers during the season of rata 

 blooms (March and April) so plentiful at the lake. The tui 

 and korimako come to the trees and remain there so long as 

 the blooms support them. They then disperse among the 

 warmer valleys of the bush, and subsist during the wet winter 

 months chiefly on insects, until the return of spring, when the 

 melliferous blooms of the kowhai again supply them with the 

 necessary food. Although both species have disappeared from, 

 or have become rare in, many former haunts east of the Alps, 

 they still exist in great numbers in the Grey Valley and 

 throughout the Westland bush. The tui is much more 

 numerous than the korimako. 



Zosterops lateralis (Silver-eye). 



This species is exceedingly common in the bush. As the 

 colder weather sets in they congregate in flocks of several 

 hundreds, and leave the higher bush-lands for the lower 

 valleys, visiting the huts and villages of the diggers, voraciously 

 devouring all suitable food which they meet with in their 

 course. Like the kea {Nestor notahilis) they have acquired a 

 stong penchant for fresh meat, especially raw fat. They 

 eagerly attack the meat in the butchers' shops, fluttering over 

 and hustling each other in their eagerness to obtain food. 

 While thus engaged they utter shrill excited notes, which are 

 pleasing to hear. 



