176 M'Lean, Bush-Birds of New Zealand. [ist'^"fan. 



is a harsh and louder " Chirrt," somewhat varied ; and when the 

 birds are much excited a very rapidly repeated " Che-che-che-che " 

 is used. At such a time the male also sounds a whistled, hissing 

 " Swerre." The female has a harsh, chattering call peculiar to 

 the nesting season, best expressed as " 'Tche-'tche ch-ch-ch-ch " : 

 but the " trill " (p. 77, No. 2), only heard from the male in the 

 pairing and nesting season, is a pleasant one of six rapid notes, 

 not unlike the tinkling of several small bells. It is clearly but 

 not loudly sounded, and often the last high note is not heard. It 

 is repeated at intervals of about a minute from the top of some 

 small tree or shrub ; but many soft piping notes are used between, 

 and they, with the trill, constitute the song. In 1906 I first 

 heard this trill on 26th July, but it did not become general till 

 some weeks later. I find the following note under loth July, 

 1907 : — " Saw many Whiteheads on the ridge, and heard one 

 attempt the trill several times, but it was far from perfect. This 

 is earlier than last year." Again, on 15th July, 1907 : — " On 

 the highest part of this ridge (3,000 feet), when other birds sought 

 shelter lower down, a scattered party of 40 or 50 Whiteheads, 

 with little or no concern for the falling snow, pursued their eager 

 search for h >d in the exposed birch trees. With numerous 

 different cha tering calls, and some attempts at song, they fed in 

 all positions they could assume, and evinced some slight interest 

 in my presence by now and then peering through the leaves of 

 the smaller vegetation. I failed to detect, among their many 

 calls, the one which moved the flock, but I imitated, by whistling, 

 one note, " Swerre," causing great excitement. (A Tui whined 

 away down the face, and odd Bell-Birds came skulking near in 

 the under-scrub.) All the flock seemed to answer, and many 

 came nearer, hopping about close at hand and uttering angry 

 cries- I repeated the note several times in quick succession, and 

 at once the noise increased, the combined notes becoming quite 

 a wailing chorus. Then it died away, as the birds resumed their 

 quest, and above, in the birch-tops, there rang out a trill — clear 

 and in its perfect form." 



Towards the end of July I had noticed some commotion among 

 odd Whiteheads, who were behaving much as the House-Sparrow 

 does in spring, and often three or four, chattering loudly, would 

 dash suddenly past me through the scrub, and be lost before I 

 could see the cause. But one day I saw it all. I was in the 

 tawhera country (26th July, 1906), and was verifying the trill 

 of a single bird, when two others came chasing one another through 

 the tops. The single bird joined in, forcing a halt, and for some 

 minutes much fluttering and display were made by the two before 

 an apparently distracted female, who, at length, took advantage 

 of a short quarrel between the two importunate suitors to escape 

 into the low vegetation on the ground at my feet ; and, although 

 they called loudly and hunted all about the neighbourhood, she 

 never re-appeared. 



Away down in the valley of tawhera and manuka, I chanced 



