36-4 THE ANIMALS OP NEW ZEALAND 



wren sounds his eheepy cry. denoting danger, with a most 

 confident air. Away out on the open ground or sandy riverbed, 

 how often does the "twit, twit," of the banded dotterel, or 

 sharply uttered "ti-winkle, ti-winkle" of the redbill or oyster- 

 catcher, help to moderate the weight of the sportsman's bag; the 

 paradise duck lifts its head, sounds his "kowonke," from a fa.st 

 walk he hastens to a run, and at length sails away with his 

 shriller-voiced mate. 



Very noticeable is the faculty which birds possess of hushing 

 their young to silence, and of bidding them hide at a moment's 

 warning, perhaps by the sound of a single note. Amongst some 

 species of waders this obedience to parental guidance is most 

 observable; young stilts, plovers, or redbills, which have been 

 rambling over their feeding ground, at the sound of alarm 

 suddenly seek cover, and only after the most careful scrutiny may 

 be found lying perdu behind some sheltering stone. Perhaps 

 the most monotonous amongst all the calls of our young birds is 

 that of the large gull (L. dominicanus) . When nearly fully 

 grown, about the months of April and May, it follows the old 

 bird with untiring perseverance, clamouring for food with a long 

 scinealing cry. I have heard it on the beach whilst it has been 

 wheeling round and round to reach its parent's bill in hopes of 

 a supply, till the sound has become quite tiresome to listen to. 

 By way of contrast to the patience of the old gull, it may be 

 noted that the young of the tit, when well grown, as it is by 

 December, is driven oft' by both parents with something like 

 harshness both in tone and gesture. The fierceness which is 

 displayed by the common tern {S. alhistriata) in defence of its 

 young has already been noticed ; a similar degree of courage is 

 to be met with in the case of the falcons and the little grey 

 warbler {Pseudogerygone igata). On nearing a taratah 

 (Pittosporum eugenioides) , where some .yellow warblers were 

 perched, the old birds commenced a furious attack, darting close 

 to the face, precisely after the manner of the common tern, and, 

 allowing for size and power, uttering a similar .jarring scream 

 to that bold bird. With the falcons the utmost perseverance is 

 exhibited in driving away a foe. In December, up the gorge of 



