4148 The Zoologist — September, 1874. 



conclave of oystercatchers may sometimes be noticed standing in 

 unusual repose, at intervals only uttering a shrill pipe, and this, 

 when, close at hand, the godwits are working in their tripod fashion 

 to extract a dainty morsel from the ooze. 



Attention has already been directed to the fact that in the alpine 

 districts of New Zealand the notes of the birds are pitched in a 

 higher and richer lone than in the valley, and in some of the most 

 elevated woods which the bell-bird frequents we have found the 

 note or brief song of the hen bird especially delightful. Whence 

 this result? Is it due to the effects of inspiring the keen mountain 

 air? to the quality of its food being climatically altered? If we 

 notice some of the fruits and berries from which it derives some 

 portion of its support, we shall find that the black berries of 

 Aristotelia racemosa are represented in the alpine fastnesses by 

 those of A. fruticosa, the pulpy fruit of Coriaria ruscifolia by that 

 of C. thymifolia and C. angustissima, whilst the drupes of Coprosma 

 lucida and those of many other species have their mountain repre- 

 sentatives in C. cuneata, C. acerosa, C. liuariifblia and others. Will 

 the chemist tell us, from analyzing these fruits, that this change is 

 enough to cause some modification in the muscular apparatus that 

 modulates the tones issuing from the larynx ? The scientific 

 ornithologist would admit no specific difference after inspecting a 

 score of skins ; for length of feathers, colour of plumage, point out 

 the bird as melanura. 



As to the reason for the bell-bird's song being pitched in a higher 

 key, it may perhaps be found in the fact that thick mists often 

 envelope the mountain's side ; that the bushes in the more elevated 

 gullies are much scattered, small, and isolated. Hence the alpine 

 note is fitted to meet the peculiar physical conditions of certain 

 localities, by enabling the sexes to communicate with each other 

 when collecting food at some distance apart. 



The power of imparting intelligence, as exercised by birds, must 

 be obvious to anyone who is acquainted with the ordinary inmates 

 of a poultry yard. In many feral species that have come under 

 observation this faculty is quite as conspicuous as it is amongst 

 many domesticated proiiges. Last summer, for the first time, a few 

 tuis appeared amongst the cherry trees in a garden up the gorge of 

 the Ashburton, miles away from any bush frequented by the tui ; 

 for the first time cherries were tasted, the knowledge of their 

 excellence was communicated, and the trees stripped by the 



