OCEANIA ^WOOD 393 



Mr. Louis Griffin, of the Auckland Museum, tells me that he once 

 possessed a tui, of whom he became very fond. This interesting 

 animal not only reproduced many of the sounds he heard but re- 

 peated a n'umber of short sentences appropriate to various occasions. 

 He took a bath twice a day and on these occasions invariably dipped 

 his head and white choker in the water as a first ablution. He 

 then carefully preened himself, drying and arranging his ecclesiastic 

 insignia, afterwards taking a plunge that involved his whole body. 

 Then, when the bath was fully concluded, he would fly to his master's 

 hand, perch himself on it, and repeat a portion of his conversational 

 repertoire. Twice he escaped from the house and once he returned. 

 On the second occasion, although he remained about the premises 

 for a day or two and answered Mr. Griffin's call, it was the " time 

 of the spring running," and he never came back. 



The pied fantail must attract the pleased attention of every 

 visitor to New Zealand, as it is to be seen almost everywhere on both 

 islands. It and its Australian cousin are among the most attractive 

 of the small flycatchers. They seem to be constantly on the wing, 

 performing (with tail widespread) the most varied and fantastic 

 evolutions in their pursuit of flies and gnats invisible to our dull 

 eyes ; in fact, they hold the blue ribbon for artistic gymnastics. The 

 New Zealand bird is facile princeps flycatcher of the w^orld series. 



There are many reasons why the word " gull," used as a synonym 

 of " dupe " or " fool," is a misnomer. It is difficult to understand 

 how this misapplication came about. I have made a study of gulls 

 for many years, and rank them high among the intelligent orders. 

 In fact I regard them not only as types of avian grace and beauty, 

 but as examples of advanced intelligence; and, in that respect T 

 agree cordially with the views of the Finleys, who, within the past 

 year, have written a paper (see The Atlantic Monthly) on this self- 

 same subject. In my opinion and experience, gulls are by no means 

 " gullible." Last summer we were staying for a short time at 

 the Atlantic Hotel at Newquay, England; and, while at breakfast, 

 we noticed a full-grown herring gull fly from the seashore, a few 

 hundreds yards away, and light on the terrace close by the dining 

 room. He was followed shortly by others and by still others until 

 there were, perhaps fifty waiting about. My wonder at this strange 

 phenomenon was soon satisfied; they, too, had come for breakfast. 

 In a few minutes one of the hotel people arrived with a can of 

 " leftovers," and it certainly was a sight to watch the array of 

 heads, wings, feet, and bodies that forthwith hid, as by a dense 

 cloud, the scattered piles of food. It was especially interesting 

 to watch the late arrivals, fearful of being excluded from the feast. 

 •They literally threw themselves, screaming, into the struggling mass 

 of white, grey, and black feathers. As the birds were perfectly 



