888 Trai/sacfio/is. 



short, as in " net " : the catch was the oo, audible only when close at hand. 

 The 00 had less pf the reedy tone, and the catch was evidently caused by a 

 sudden change in the shape of the aperture through which the sound was 

 produced ; at times this gave the impression that the oo was an octave 

 lower than the ke ; but I think the difference was in the quality and not in 

 the pitch. At times the he-oo had the sound of howiv, the pause on the 7V 

 bringing back the oo. 



The sound of the note changed during a fortnight from a clear anvil ring 

 to the reedy sound in an acute form, with a rattle, mellowing again towards 

 an anvil sound. People in the locality, life-long dwellers by the bush, de- 

 clared it to be a new cry — an assertion warranted by its variability : one 

 likened it to the sound of a cracked anvil, another to the knocking of rusty 

 iron pipes. There were not more than three or four birds in the bush that 

 gave utterance to the cry ; one particularly noticeable sat on the same 

 totara day after day, well in view. Bell notes and reedy notes were at 

 times played off one against another, as in (33), so it is evident that the new 

 note was produced of the bird's own volition. On the 7th January, 1912, 

 the sound was distinctly like the twang of a jews' harp, the shape of the 

 open lips being altered for the e-oo whilst breathing on the twanging metal 

 tongue. Other variations are given in (34), (35), and (36), the relative pitch 

 of the expletives being also shown. The kitty or ditty of (36) was the same 

 as the clit of (26), with a short sharp after-sound added. The bird from 

 which these variants w^ere obtained flew off with a sustained vibratory note 

 that made it sound as though the bird were a flying aeolian harp. Other 

 expletives, heard at various times, are shown in (37) and (37a). The reedy 

 notes of (38) — vocalized vioo vioo — were on one day followed by three notes 

 more like a clear whistle than the usual bell notes ; those of (39) were in 

 qiiality between bell and whistle. The full theme (40) was heard only on 

 one day ; at times the first half would be sung alone, and at times the second ; 

 occasionally only, the full song. 



In (41) two full bell notes were followed by faint after-notes, as though 

 the hammer of a chiming bell had just touched again on the rebound ; the 

 division between the note and its quasi-echo was barely discernible. A 

 short note with double rebound, making a very rapid triplet, is shown 

 in (42) ; this sometimes preceded the reedy note, sometimes succeeded it, 

 but was usually heard alone : it had an open, vibrato, clarionet sound. 



The fidl notes of (43) were uttered about two in a second ; the short 

 sharp initial notes reminded me of a swinging creaking sign-board — if the 

 creak could be sublimated into music. The last two notes of (43) and its 

 variant (43a), preceded by two very sharp and abrupt sounds tiu tiu, were 

 sung once as a duet, the two birds singing alternately or together (44). 

 Often the g was vibrato, as though the bell were struck very quickly and 

 lightly with a wooden mallet. The duet was very pleasant to listen to ; 

 but far sweeter was a love-song, preluded by the exqmsite theme of (45). 

 The vocalization instantly took the words " Sweet, a longed boon." The 

 bird sat high in the sunlight of a giant totara ; I sat in the shadow at its 

 foot. When not singing the delicious theme of (45) the tui was song- 

 bubbling to himself in an inarticulate and barely audible ecstasy. His sub- 

 dued throat-rapture was so soft and so varied, and the notes so rapid, and 

 broken in interval, and again so runningly blended in whistles, sighs, clucks, 

 and constricted sounds, that nothing could be noted definitely, and it could 

 only be likened to a light and liquid fall of music from the bell of a con- 

 volvulus. 



