232 M'Lean, Bush-Birds of New Zealand. [isf A^pril 



closely-packed, feathers were in marked contrast to those of the 

 wet, bedraggled Tits and Whiteheads that were close about. 

 I watched the bird feed quietly for perhaps five minutes, and 

 within 6 feet of me — now taking pieces of coprosma leaf and 

 nibbling them with the point of the bill ; then a spring to another 

 branch to nibble again, or down to the ground, where it turned 

 and tested, bit by bit, the fallen puka leaves. I watched it nip 

 off and nibble, piece by piece, a leaf from a young plant of the 

 latter, and found many leaves marked on their margins about 

 here. At length it jumped up to a low branch, wiped its bill, and 

 then, after surveying me, drew itself up, and, with head in the 

 air, called a very soft, guttural " Kur-r-r," eventually moving off 

 to join its mate. 



On 2nd July, 1907, the notes of a pair of Crows were heard 

 close at hand, and taken down at once ; and there were frequent 

 opportunities of verifying them afterwards : — (a) " Whe ' " (sharp 

 piping whistle), " Twerr " (long-drawn and organ-like), " Tol- 

 tol-tol-tol " (soft, bell-like, see Plate, page 77, No. 13) ; (b) 

 " Twor " (long-drawn), "Tor-tor-tor-tor" (fast. No. 14); (c) 

 "Twee" (sharp whistle), " Tu tu tu tu " (soft, musical tapping. 

 No. 15) ; {d) " Click-click-click " (sharp clicking, many times and 

 fast) ; (e) " Twee " (the sharp whistle), " Click-click-click " ; (/) 

 " Tii " (soft, low whistle), " Kik-kik-kik-kik " (a sucking note) ; 

 (g) "Twerr" (long organ), " Click click " ; (h) " Whe ! whe ! whe ! 

 whe ! " (a piping whistle), " Torr " (clear and organ-like, as in 

 No. 16). There was a fair pause of eight or ten seconds between 

 each line, and perhaps half a second between the first and second, 

 and between them and the duplicated notes. These latter were 

 sounded fast, but clear. The organ-like notes are ventriloquial, 

 and at first puzzled me, for they often sounded as if from overhead 

 or very close at hand. The birds were about 30 yards distant, 

 and they were the only two about. It could not, at that distance, be 

 determined whether both birds were calling or not. The last 

 line (h) was heard several times, as also were some of the others ; 

 but the above practically represents the whole repertoire, and 

 was written on the spot. As the birds moved off I tried to follow, 

 but it was a matter of impossibility to do so in such awful scrub, 

 and I had to be content with taking a photographic record of 

 their haunt. It had been raining lightly, and was still somewhat 

 misty at the time (9.30 a.m.) the birds were heard. 



Although in other lands the family name is usually associated 

 with anything but melody, there is in our present-day New 

 Zealand bush no bird whose music, when heard in concert with 

 others of its species, surpasses that produced by our sombre- 

 plumaged Crow. Few sounds are so enchanting as when a 

 paily of these birds is practising a number of rich flute and 

 organ-like notes, many as if in chord, and some ventriloquial. 

 It is only at early morning, when the sun first tips the tiees, 

 that such a combination may be heard, for then the clicking 

 and tapping sounds of other times are not indulged in. In 



