74 



THE ANIMALS OF NEW ZEALAND 



sideways along the branch, and turning its body right and left, 

 meanAvhile examining the stranger closely. It is a powerful flier, 

 and flies with great precision through the tangled vegetation. 

 Mr. Smith has seen it performing these flights : resting almost 

 motionless for some minutes on the high limb of a tree, it would 

 suddenly ruffle its feathers, and, dropping from the limb, fly 

 with great force through the thick undergrowth, reappearing 

 again in the distance on another high limb. One bird, watched 



Nest of South Island Thrush. 



by Mr. Smith, uttered a wild jubilant note as it dropped from 

 its perch, to repeat its flight from tree to tree. He says that this 

 is probably a habit peculiar to the pairing season, as he has never 

 observed them perform such flights at other times of the year. 



Captain Cook was much struck with the song of our thrush 

 when he heard it for the first time, and Sir Walter BuUer 

 describes the North Island bird as the best of the native songsters. 

 The song, he sa.ys, consists of five distinct bars. Each is 



