358 THE ANIMALS OF NEW ZEALAND 



they accumulate, generation after generation, until at last the 

 whole organ disappears? In other words how does disuse give 

 rise to disuse-inheritance? This still remains a puzzle. 



VOCAL CHARACTERISTICS OF SOME NEW ZEALAND 



BIRDS. 



By T. H. Potts. 



(From Out hi the Open.) 



To those interested in the wilds of nature, much of the real 

 history of bird-life is disclosed by their notes; for instance, if 

 the voice of the kingfisher was heard from the first day of August 

 to the month of January (the breeding season), it would not be 

 necessary to see the bird in order to form a tolerably correct idea 

 of the nature of its emplo;^Tiient. 



Bird-sounds, as received by the ear, it is impossible to reduce to 

 writing, nor do I believe it will be achieved till science shall have 

 instructed us by some method to render in intelligible language 

 the many fleeting forms and figures which the Babel of tongues 

 of sound impress on the wavelets of the surrounding air. Formid- 

 able discovery! Then we shall hold as a priceless truth that, if 

 speech is silver, silence is golden ! 



But although it seems impossible to write down bird-sounds, 

 yet a notion of their effect on the air-waves might be hazarded. 

 For the purpose of explanation, let us suppose the existence of an 

 undisturbed mass of air; could not the figures described therein 

 by the calls of various birds be idealised into forms, and a 

 symbolic rendering of the sounds of bird-language be produced? 



As illustrating the meaning in view, let us suppose that the 

 sharp .jarring scream of the falcon would be represented by a 

 figure somewhat like a barbed lance ; the call of the cuckoo 

 (Clialcococcyx) would be pictured in gentle sweeping curves; 

 whilst an acute angle would typify the scream of the weka 

 (Ocydromus). 



