Andersen. — New Zealand Bird-wng. 



661 



that u rest takes the place of the last two notes of every alternative triplet. 

 Each of the three times I heard the variation it was as above. A month 

 afterwards I heard a somewhat similar variation in the Stony Bay Bush, 

 viz. : — 



2^« 



^^ 



This was sun^ by itself, or as an introduction to the ordinary rambUng 

 indeterminate song : in the latter case, when the ordinary song commenced, 

 it was on a, a drop of a third. Sometimes the town song, varied to triplets 

 (8), introduced the variation (7) ; or the latter was often sung as an in- 

 dependent fragment — 



fg?ff: J^ ^^^S^ 



often Followed by 7 



I had read in Buller's " Manual of the Birds of New Zealand " that 

 " Layard compares the note of the grey- warbler to the creaking sound 

 of a wheelbarrow." I was never able to imagine which of the warbler 

 notes induced this unmelodious simile. It was probably (7) ; but, whilst 

 the pitch and slight occasional variation from g to / may coincide with 

 the squeak of the wheelbarrow, there is absolutely no resemblance in the 

 quality of the sound : the warbler's is sweet ; the barrow's is shrill. The 

 simile may also have been induced by No. (9), following: — 



This song hovered about a flat, a semitone above or below, the phrases of 

 three triplets being separated by a short rest. 



For the second time I had the pleasure of seeing a warbler whilst 

 actually singing. The first I saw sat still, devoting all its energy to its 

 song ; this one, on the contrary, moved briskly about in an apple-tree, 

 prying under the still remaining autumn leaves, and whilst thus busily 

 searching for its food it kept up the continuous minor melody. On the 

 28th March I noted a variation, as under : — 



^tc. 



This is the ordinary town song, varied in the second and third notes. These 

 are usually semiquavers, both of the same pitch as the opening note ; here 



