Andersen. — New Zealand Bird-son f/. 391 



The pairs of (63) were not absolutely definite, but the effect was as written : 

 they glided smoothly across the intervals, but were not slurred ; as in (61), 

 the lower notes were more open. This jangle also was uttered in less than 

 2 seconds. Jangle (64) took barely a second ; (64a) was a slight variation, 

 enclosed between expletives ; (65), occupying about three-quarters of a 

 second, opened with a barbaric twang on the c — whilst a jangle, it was 

 smoothly legato. 



These jangles sounded as though the bird merely set free the mechanism, 

 and then the bells producing the notes swung freely in no determined order 

 — though many jangles were many times repeated. There was an allied 

 series, however — bell cascades or runnels — where the bird seemed to exercise 

 more control over the notes, each runnel being distinct, clear, and orderly. 

 The cascade (66) occupied about a second ; the sound was as a mellow bell 

 — almost flute-like, with broad nasal opening. A very clear ruHnel was 

 heard in (67) : the notes, whilst not staccato, were well divided. (67a) was 

 a curious variant : each occupied about a second. The runnel (68) was 

 preceded by a long light note on e, and succeeded by a diminishing note on 

 a, the whole occupying a second and a half. The trebling of the notes of 

 the sequence of (69) gave this runnel a distinctive charm. The opening and 

 close of (70) related that runnel to (68), but the runnel itself, a common one, 

 was quite different. It may be noted that the jangles and runnels were 

 generally sung during flight, or immediately before or after. The notes of 

 (71) were clear whistles, followed by kraiv ; or one whistle might precede 

 four reedy notes, as (71a) ; or four whistles might be separated from four 

 anvil notes by a kraw, as in (71b). The three low notes of (72) were not 

 bell, nor whistle, nor reed, but a thick mufSed sound like qug qug qug ; at 

 times they were sounded singly, at times followed by kraiv. In (73) two 

 bell notes were followed by a staccato whistle, the whole followed some- 

 times by a click ; once there Avas a still further addition to the click of kraw 

 knirr. 



One tui pursued by another cried the notes of (74), up to five pairs, the 

 ten notes occupying a second and a half. A different cry was (75) : here 

 the pursuer uttered the first part, repeating the couple on a many times 

 in quick succession ; the pursued bird similarly repeated the slurred note 

 from d to c sharp. The sound of the tui's flight is on the note of (76) : a 

 macldntosh shaken quickly and vigorously will give the quality of the sound. 

 Once it could be vocalized furr-a-ea — fuff fuff fuff. At times, through this 

 fiiff fuff of the wings, one could plainly hear a sharp krr, followed by a long- 

 drawn, soft, highly pitched, but rather sweet note (77)— as though the 

 mechanism of the wings grated occasionally and creaked during motion. 

 The sound of (78) was also produced during flight ; it was like one of the 

 horn-sounds of the multifarious-voiced motor-car. In (79), a very charac- 

 teristic phrase heard very frequently on one day, the reed note was at times 

 omitted ; at times the full phrase was repeated several times in succession. 



The Bell-bird. 



Whilst not so plentiful as the tui, the bell-bird was seen often in 1911-12, 

 sometimes at very close range. One came flying into a tree with the cry 

 tin tin tin — a cry it has in common with the tui — and at once began prying 

 busily under the leaves, hopping quickly from twig to twig. It would pause 

 for a moment to give utterance to the common theme of (13), then on again 

 searching for prey. The pitch again constantly vaded, and it was very 

 difficult to catch the intervals, the note giving the most difficultv being the 



