22 THE ANIMALS OP NEW ZEALAND 



some are classed amongst the best songsters on earth. Captain 

 Cook has described with enthusiasm the day-break chorus of 

 the bell-birds and the tuis and their smaller companions, 

 together with the flute-like notes of the saddle-back. Many of 

 the early settlers also were delighted with this Song of Dawn, 

 which, however, can be heard now only in places far removed 

 from settlement. 



Some of our birds, besides being pecidiar to New Zealand, 

 possess characteristics that single them out for attention. 

 Among these is the wry-billed plover, which is the only known 

 bird with a bill bent to one side. 



We are entirely devoid of four-footed beasts that divide the 

 hoof or chew the cud. Our only land mammals, with the 

 exception of the seals, are two bats, and one of them is found 

 in no other country. Our ''creeping things of the earth" 

 consist almost entirely of lizards, there being absolutely no 

 snakes here. Even lizards are represented by only fifteen 

 species. But among the reptiles is the famous tuatara. It is not 

 a true lizard, as, in structure, it shows an affinity to the 

 crocodile, and its ribs have bird-like characteristics. It stands 

 apart from all the rest of its class, and if ancient lineage, 

 combined with unchanged habits, mark the aristocrat, it is 

 the most aristocratic animal in the world. "We are even worse 

 off for amphibians than for land mammals and reptiles. One 

 species of frog, which lives in a limited district, and has been 

 seen by only a few persons, is the sole representative of its 

 class. 



The Beginning. 

 Towards the close of the age in the world's history called the 

 Cretaceous Period, New Zealand was a small group of islands, 

 with a very scanty flora and fauna ; but later on, very early in 

 the Tertiary Era, it was gradually elevated until it attained 

 almost continental dimensions, stretching away north through 

 New Caledonia and Fiji, and joining the mainland at New 

 Guinea. The land was covered with such vegetation as ferns 

 and forest-trees. So far as animal life was concerned, however, 



