Andkrsen. — New Zealand Bird-so/u/. 



657 



uttered with a rapid vibrato, as though it were bubbling through water, 

 and slurred to / as in (2). In both instances the intervals between the long 

 note and the short note varied, the pitch being anything apparently between 

 a third and an octave above /. If the name of the kea be onomatopoetic, as 

 seems almost certain, it should be spelt hia, not kea. 



A bird regarded with quite different feehngs is the paradise duck. 

 {Casarca variegata — putangitangi). This is very common on the Jollie 

 and great Tasmau River beds, and is never molested. It is a beautiful 

 bird, and I never saw it but in pairs. The cries of the duck and drake are 

 quite distinct. 



<r^ 



1 j^ J r» J p J 



,yv« 



'' f; r -■ f r ^^^ 



8^> 



^ 







gy-CC.. 



S^^ 



^ 



( The tangi) 



Nos. (1) to (5) are cries of the duck. Her note varies exceedingly in pitch, 

 sequence, combination, and duration. The notes are uttered both whilst 

 at rest and on the wing. The sound is not a whistle, but is nearer a clear 

 human cry, especially as regards No. (5). The drake's note is very different. 

 It is represented in (6). The sound differs altogether from that of the 

 duck — it can be very nearly reproduced with a piece of paper and a comb. 

 There is an overtone of a third distinctly audible, and this overtone, very 

 much softer and fainter than the deeper note, has a sound more allied to the 

 cry of the duck. I did not hear this note of the drake's varied in 1909, 

 but on the 16th and 17th November, 1910, in the same locality, it was 

 varied as under : — 



Fgt^t ^^^^^ ' -t^^'Sj 



The quality of the note is as in (6), but the overtone is absent. It Avas 

 repeated twice or oftener, both whilst the drake was at rest and on the 

 wing. On the 21st November, 1910, I noted the following variations in the 

 •crv of the duck : — 



^^m »^^ 



She uttered the cry (9) whilst walking on the river-bed, changing to (10) 

 on taking to the wing, and returning to (9) again whilst on the wing. Very 

 often during flight the drake sounded his deep note whilst the duck cried 

 the notes of (5), and one could not help imagining that she was then 

 lamenting a lost brood or desolated home, whilst the old drake, with tears 

 in his voice, was doing his utmost to comfort her. If, as is said, the native 

 name " putangitangi " was given on account of the cry, then (5) is certainly 

 the note whose plaintiveness touched the poetical nature of the dusky 

 name-giver. Whilst on the Jollie River bed a duck suddenly appeared 



