Vol. yi.T Dove, Feathered Friends in New Zealand. Q 



1906 J ' -^ 



perhaps not full.v matured. In shape he much resembled our 

 Petnvca leggU, and the female was of a sober grey. 



A Honey-eater {AntJiornis inelanura), called by the Maories 

 Makomako, was occasionally seen in the shrubberies near the 

 river. It is a shy, quiet bird, in shape not unlike the Crescent 

 Honey-eater {LicJnnej'a austral asiana), but of a very dusky hue, 

 without any of the vivid golden tints of that bird. 



A specimen of the Wekau or Laughing Owl of the 

 colonists {Sceloolaux albifacies) lived in the gardens for a 

 number of years, but was eventually found dead, and may now 

 be seen preserved in the Christchurch Museum. 



There is one very familiar feathered friend for which we look 

 in vain on these summer isles — the Swallow, nearly ubiquitous, 

 " chasing itself at its own wild will." 



How a small bird like the Shining Cuckoo {Cha/cococcyx 

 lucidus), endowed apparently with no great power of flight 

 should yet be able year after year to wing its way across the 

 1,200 miles of ocean which separate "The Land of the Moa " 

 from our own, while a strong, facile flyer like the Swallow never 

 accomplishes the same feat, is one of those mysteries of bird-life 

 which are difficult to fathom. Even if the Cuckoo utilised Lord 

 Howe Island as a resting place, there would still be several 

 hundred miles of water to negotiate before reaching its breeding 

 place. Concerning this bird, Sir Walter Buller makes the 

 following remarks : — " But while we are still listening, a new 

 sound arrests the attention — a peculiar whistling cry, different 

 from that of any other bird. This announces the arrival in our 

 country of the Shining Cuckoo, an inhabitant of Australia, and 

 probably New Guinea, which appears in New Zealand (also in 

 Norfolk Island) only as a summer migrant. The cry is always 

 welcomed by the colonists as a harbinger of spring, and during 

 its short stay with us its sweet but plaintive notes may be heard 

 in every grove throughout the long summer days. For a period 

 often years I kept a register of its periodical arrival at Welling- 

 ton, and noted its regular occurrence between the 5th and 10th 

 of October. It usually departs about the first or second week 

 in January, but in the far north it sometimes lingers till the end 

 of the month." It is much more frequent in the North Island 

 than in the South, for a Dunedin writer says that " This beautiful 

 little bird, with his pleasant note, is not very frequently seen in 

 the city and suburbs. Like the Long-tailed Cuckoo, this species 

 lays its single Q:^^ in the nest of some native bird, usually the 

 little Grey Warbler. In due time all the eggs are hatched, but 

 after the lapse of a day or two the young Cuckoo becomes the 

 sole tenant of the nest, and the dead bodies of the other 

 occupants are found lying on the ground below. The intruder 

 is catered for by the foster-parents until it is ready to shift for 

 itself." 



