80 MUTTON BIRDS 



The plate developed that night in the 

 leaning hut, with Banjo for companion, 

 turned out — for me — fairly well. I was par- 

 ticularly interested, however, in this strange 

 and, as I then believed, unemotional bird; and 

 decided to spend a few more days in her 

 company and obtain more pictures of her in 

 various attitudes. This I now expected easily to 

 manage ; but next morning all shouting, singing, 

 whistling, and chanting, failed to move her, and 

 I was again at my wits' end for a lure. Heartily 

 then, I longed for a Christmas tree with its fruit 

 of tabour, pipe, tin whistle, and drum, anyone 

 of which would have been a novelty to the bird. 

 I had nothing, however, with me except a tin 

 mug and some coins. These, rattled violently in 

 the mug, did indeed attract the bird, but she 

 <3ame to me, and not, as I hoped, to her nestlings. 

 It was not until I had divided into narrow strips 

 the flax blades left on the stage, made a green 

 length of twine, fastened it to the mug's handle, 

 and dropped the mug itself with its coins over 

 the edge of the hole and immediately above the 

 nestlings' heads that I succeeded. Holding the 

 string in my hand, I climbed back to the stage 

 and from there pulled this extempore bell till 

 it jangled again. 



In this way several more exposures were 

 obtained; and, what was better, on two 

 occasions I got a glimpse of another side 

 of the Kaka's nature. Twice when she sidled 

 down the totara sapling, she crooned very softly 

 to the chicks the most delightful little song, 

 mellow and musical, with the liquid low notes 

 of flute and violin. Before this I had begun 

 to believe her only curious and cold; but now 



