366 THE ANIMALS OF NEW ZEALAND 



the petrel may be heard from dusky eve till early morn, not only 

 about the harbours and estuaries, but far up the riverbeds to the 

 gorges in the vast mountain chain of the Southern Alps. 



Among-st the most silent of our birds may be named the shags 

 {Phalacrocoracidae) , the harrier, the heron, and the grebe, whose 

 voices, except during the breeding season, are rarely heard. The 

 squeal of the harrier is not infrequent, considering what a very 

 common bird it is. In the breeding season the scream is heard 

 from a bird soaring high in air, or frightened from its nest, or 

 suddenly driven oif its prey, occasionally only from a l)ird on 

 the wing hawking the burnt ground, which has disclosed, perhaps, 

 an unusual abundance of lizards. The cries of birds in several 

 eases appear to be more or less dependent upon atmospheric 

 changes. At such times gnlh become vociferous, restless, soaring 

 aloft with rapid unsteady course, and wekas are very noisy : on 

 the other hand, many species are silenced altogether by bad 

 weather. The thrush, of many notes, utters some so like those of 

 other birds as to become rather puzzling should one try to fix on 

 the unseen performer. The flute-like mellow pipe of the wattle 

 bird {Glaucopis) is unrivalled for its sweetness. The little 

 creeper {Acanthidosiita) never moves without emitting its tiny 

 twitter. The kingfisher is generally silent, except during the 

 breeding season, or its note is used to intimidate, either when 

 attempting to seize a post already occupied by one of its kind, 

 or when clef ending its position from an attempted intrusion : thus 

 our kingfisher differe in habit from that of the Old Country, 

 Miiich is said to utter its cry whenever it takes wing. Notwith- 

 standing the gush of song which in summer-tide salutes the cool 

 dawn, before the rosy hues have fired the eastern sky, many of 

 our little melodists retire late to rest, such as AvtJiornis, Petroeca, 

 Pseiidogerygoiie, and Zost crops, and their lingering notes may be 

 heard long after sundown. Often is observation made upon the 

 readiness with which some species of our native birds learn to 

 imitate the human voice, an accomplishment which is always 

 popular; yet, as an exhibition, the result of long practice and 

 frequent repetitions, I am inclined to place it in the same 

 category as a man's imitation of the crowing of a cock. Some 



