PASSERES. 11 



playful in captivity^ incessantly flitting about in its cage and mimick- 

 ing every sound within hearing. It will learn to articulate sen- 

 tences of several words with clearness, and to imitate the harking 

 of a dog to perfection. Onc^ which I had kept caged in the same 

 room with a Parrakeet {Platycercus auriceps), acquired the rapid 

 chattering note of that species ; and another, in the possession of a 

 friend, could whistle several bars of a familiar tune in excellent time. 

 The Maoris fully appreciate the mocking powers of this bird, and often 

 devote mu-cli time and j)atience to its instruction.^' — Buller. 



Anthornts. Swaiiison. 



First quill, sliort aud pointed ; second, deeply notched near 1-lic tip in tlie adult, acutely 

 pointed in the young ; fifth the longest ; tail, emarginate. 

 New Zealand and the Chatham Islands. 



11. Anthornis melanura. Sparrm. 



Beil-bird. Mocker. Korimako. Makojiako. 



Yellowish-olivaceous ; liead tinged with steel-black ; wings aud tail brownisli-blaclc. 

 Female. — Bi'ownish- olivaceous ; wings and tail, brown ; a white lino from the bill 

 towards the side of the neck. 



The head is sometimes stained rufous by the juices of plants. 



Male.— Jj., 7-5 ; W., 375 ; B., "9 ; T., -9. 



Female.— L., 6-4 ; W., 3-25 ; B., •? ; T., S. 



Fgg. — Ovoid ; white, with reddish specks, sometimes pinkish ; length, '9 ; breadth, '7. 



ILah. — Both Islands, and Auckland Islands. 



" This species, formerly very plentiful in every part of the country, 

 appears to be rapidly dying out. From some districts^ where a few 

 years ago it was the commonest bird, it has now entirely vanished. 

 In the Waikato it is comparatively scarce, on the East Coast it is only 

 rarely met with, and from the woods north of Auckland it has dis- 

 appeared altogether. In my journeys through the Kaipara District, 

 eighteen years ago, I found this bird excessively abundant everywhere ; 

 and on the banks of the Wairoa the bush fairly swarmed wdth them. 

 Dr. Hector, who passed over the same ground in 1866, assures me 

 that he scarcely ever met with it 



" It is called the Bell-bird from the fanciful resemblance of one 

 of its notes to the distant tolling of a bell. Its ordinary song is not 

 unlike that of the Tui or Parson-bird, but is more mellifluous. Its 



