THE BELL-BIRD 



117 



It is interesting' to note a statement that the planting of acacia 

 trees greatly helps the bell-birds through the winter months and 

 the early spring, as the flowers of these trees supply a food of 

 which the bell-bird cannot be deprived by blackbirds and other 

 introduced species. Mr. Potts planted a few of several kinds of 

 acacia specially for the bell-bird, and he was rewarded by a 

 constant melody through subsequent winters. 



Nest of Bell-bird. 



A description of the nests states that it is rather flat, with a 

 well-formed cup, loosely yet strongly built of sprays, grass, and 

 moss, and well lined witli feathers. From wall to wall across the 

 top, it measures about Ave inches. The diameter of the cup is 

 two inches and three-quarters, and the depth inside is two inches. 

 Attention has been called by Mr. Potts to the peculiarity of the 

 colouring in the lining feathers, as betokening the bell-bird's 

 love of harmony. Some of the nests are lined with red feathers 

 from kakas, green ones from parrakeets, black ones from Norfolk 

 turkeys, buff from Cochin fowls, speckled from pintadoes, and 

 white from geese. Nests are often found in much frequented 

 places, such as in a shrub on a public road. 



The Maoris caught the bell-bird by means of a long spear, 

 called a "here." It was made from a carefully selected, straight- 

 grained piece of wood, and was sometimes thirty or forty feet 



