The Zoologist — September, 1874.. 4145 



twit," of the banded dotterel, or the sharply-uttered " ti-wintle, 

 ti-winlde," of the redbill or oystercatcher, help to moderate the 

 weight of the sportsman's bag ? the paradise drake lifts his head, 

 sounds his " kowonke," from a fast 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 that 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 Iving 

 perdu behind some sheltering stone. Perhaps the most mono- 

 tonous 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 perse- 

 verance, clamouring for food with a long squealing 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 

 Petroica when full grown, as it is by December, is driven off by 

 both parents with something like harshness both of tone and 

 gesture. The fierceness which is displayed by the common tern 

 {S. antarctica) in defence of its young has been already noticed ; 

 a similar degree of courage is met with in the case of the falcons 

 and the little gray warbler {Gerygone Jlaviventris). On nearing a 

 taratah [Pittosporum eugenioides), where some young warblers were 

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

 the face, precisely after the manner of the common tern, and, allow- 

 ing 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 last, up the gorge of the Lawrence, 

 a pair of bush hawks {Falco ferox) assailed one of my sons and 

 myself for a space of two hours whilst in the neighbourhood of 

 their young; then the usual swiftly-uttered " kli, kli, kli, kli" was 

 even more rapidly sounded, whilst its tones were savage and 

 threatening. The young at the time were able to fly some little 

 distance, yet only one moved once, that we could observe, from 

 the instant the note of alarm was given. The bronzed-winged 



