^'r'ol^l Dove, Feathered Friends in Neiv Zealand. II 



numbers (A^. vieridionalis) is called Kaka by the natives, who 

 named most birds from their cry. These fine birds would often 

 sit in the great beech trees bordering the track, and would look 

 down on us from no great height as we passed, or a flock above 

 the tree-tops would be heard uttering their raucous cries. The 

 upper mandible is long and very strongly hooked, and the 

 plumage is handsome, with its orange and brown hues. Of the 

 Kea (A^. notabilis), or Mountain-Parrot, Malcolm Ross says that 

 it has a surprisingly powerful beak, of which the upper mandible 

 is curiously jointed. 



While negotiating M'Kinnon's Pass (something under 3,000 

 feet) between the Clinton and Arthur valleys, I saw a small 

 flock of large green Parrakeets, which seemed quite at home in 

 those altitudes. What species they belonged to I could not 

 determine, but it seems that Donald Sutherland liberated a 

 number from one of the islands south of New Zealand a few 

 years ago, and the individuals seen by me were in all probability 

 some of these or their descendants. 



When crossing the same pass on the return journey in a storm 

 of wind and rain, I saw, a little below the summit, one solitary 

 Pipit {Antlius noi'ce'.zealandice) sitting out in the rain at the edge 

 of a little morass and looking the very picture of desolation. 

 Somewhat lower down, while splashing through the innumerable 

 streams which rushed across the track, I startled a very tiny bird 

 with short tail from its hiding place, just getting a glimpse of it 

 before the scrub concealed it. Apparently it flew from a hole in 

 a stunted tree, and from its diminutive size and its plumage I 

 have little doubt that it was the Rifleman {AcantJiidositia 

 chloris), so named by the early settlers because its green back 

 recalled the forester-like uniform of the first volunteer corps. 

 Like many other Liliputians of the feathered tribe, our tiny 

 friend constructs quite a bulky nest of fibres and long moss. 



In the forest bordering the Arthur River the clear, bell- 

 like notes of the Tui, or Parson-Bird {ProstJieviadera novce- 

 zealandicB), fall frequently upon the ear. Someone has re- 

 marked, with much truth, that " the fact of the variation of 

 the Tui's note in different districts is well exemplified in this 

 particular locality. It seems to have largely discarded the 

 somewhat harsh note with which it usually ends its song in 

 other parts of New Zealand, and substituted — very frequently as 

 its only song — what may be termed a single staccato note, which 

 it repeats from four to six times." These clear staccato notes 

 resound among the forest trees in a very melodious and pleasing 

 manner. 



The plumage of the Tui has a greenish-black lustre. There 

 is a white bar across the base of the wings, and under the throat 

 appears the white frill which has caused the settlers to bestow 

 the name of Parson-Bird upon this species. While in the bush 



