Andersen. — New Zealand Bird-song. 285 



hues of the back, head, and breast were marked with discontinuous longi- 

 tudinal streaks of light grey, as if the body-plumage were grey, like the belly, 

 and overlaid with the darker shades. I heard more che-e-er-'mg close by in 

 another direction, so other young ones were evidently being fed. I saw 

 a goodly number of young during the day — three at one time. 



The call-notes (1), heard several times, were clear, sharp whistles, uttered 

 at the rate of six or seven semiquavers or their equivalent a second ; they 

 are the same in quality as those of the South Island. A song was begun on 

 the 12th January, 1917, but got no further than (2). Three days later, 

 in the bush above the mid-valley of Taepiro, a robin immediately overhead 

 broke into the song of (3). repeating the single phrase, usually as in (3a), 

 but adding nothing more. The second note of the triplet was very faintly 

 uttered, as if it were not quite a separate note, but a " catch," and at a 

 distance the sound of the phrase was simply ti tee-oo or ti ti tee-oo (short 

 •• i " as in "pit"). It was a sharp plaintive whistle, the plaintiveness 

 coming in the slur. The robin went, whistling now and again from a 

 receding distance, when suddenly a whitehead settled near by, and in sight 

 and hearing whistled (4). The opening notes are its own ; the close is an 

 exact reproduction of the robin's phrase, save for the curious soft final 

 echoing of the slur. I have heard many instances of apparent imitation 

 by many birds, but this was the first occasion where the imitation was so 

 palpable that it might be recorded as indubitable. 



Whitehead. 



The commonest bird on the island, and the noisiest, was the whitehead : 

 he was always to be seen and heard, in all places and at all times of the 

 day. He is one of the optimists of the bush, finding pleasure everywhere, 

 and never scrupling to make the fact known. His most frequent cry was 

 a quick slurred note, as in (1), vocalized tswit. This was uttered almost 

 incessantly as the bird searched for insects. He would pause occasionally, 

 stand erect, with head elevated, beak open, tail vibrating, and cry "All's 

 well with the world," uttering the notes of (2) to (6), all of which, apparently, 

 are calls that call for no reply, or replies to calls which may or may not 

 have been given. At times one or other of these was uttered alone ; at 

 times in various combinations, two or three being connected, apparently 

 at random. The notes of (2) varied from four to ten in number, descending 

 enharmonically through from two to four semitones. The combinations 

 most commonly used were (2) followed by (3) or (4), or (3) followed by (4). 

 Less commonly (5) entered into the combination. The run (2) was 

 very frequently sung, the small steps in the pitch being quite distinct; 

 the vocalization chiu chiu, too, caused the notes to sound as if slurred 

 downwards slightly in every case. The notes of (3), sung much faster, 

 lost all trace of the slur, their vocalization, too, being ch ch ch instead of 

 chiu chiu chiu. The notes of (4), an octave lower in pitch, were clear, 

 mellow whistles, almost flute-like, quite different from the characteristic 

 warble notes of (2) and (3) : it was as though another bird concluded with 

 (4) on the whitehead opening with (2) ; but the bird was seen many times 

 whilst singing the two parts combined. One was heard warbling (2) (3), 

 another answering with (2) alone. The notes of (2) were, in quality and 

 fall, almost like the note of the chaffinch. When the combination (2) (3) (5) 

 was sung, the result was rather plaintive, owing to the slurred crotchets 

 at the close : usually the call-notes were loud, bright, vigorous, and cheer- 

 ful. The combined call (2) (3) was uttered in about a second and a half. 



