92 



claws brown. Total length 7 75 inches; wing, from flexure, 3*4; tail, to the extremity of lateral fea- 

 thers, 36; bill, along the ridge "6, along the edge of lower mandible - 75 ; tarsus 1; middle toe and 

 claw - 6; hind toe and claw -75. 



Adult female. Smaller than the male, with little or no purple gloss on the head, and readily distinguished 

 by a narrow streak of white, which extends downwards from the angles of the mouth, fading off in a 

 line with the ear-coverts. Upper parts dull olivaceous ; throat, breast, and underparts generally yel- 

 lowish brown, strongly tinged with olive ; quills and tail-feathers dusky black, margined on their outer 

 webs with olivaceous ; lining of wings, vent, and under tail-coverts fulvous white, washed with yellow. 



Young male. Plumage lighter than in the adult bird, with a narrow indistinct line of yellowish white from 

 the angles of the mouth. 



Obs. The bird described by Herr von Pelzeln (/. c.) under the name of Anthornis ruficeps was, what I had 

 contended for*, nothing but a flower-stained example of the present species. In acknowledgment of 

 this I have received the following note from my friend Dr. Finsch, of Bremen : — " You are quite right 

 in respect to A. ruficeps. The red colour on the face is caused by external influences ; for my friend Yon 

 Pelzeln has washed the type in the Vienna Museum, and the red tinge has partially disappeared." But, 

 even as far back as 1782, Latham mentions (I. c.) the existence of a red stain in some specimens, and 

 ascribes it to the true cause, adding, " this in time rubs off, and the colour of the head appears the 

 same as the rest of the plumage." 



The praises of the Bell-bird were sung, a hundred years ago, by the illustrious navigator Cook, 

 whose 'Voyages' contain the following record: — "The ship lay at the distance of somewhat less 

 than a quarter of a mile from the shore f ; and in the morning we were awakened by the singing 

 of the birds : the number was incredible, and they seemed to strain their throats in emulation of 

 each other. This wild melody was infinitely superior to any that we had ever heard of the same 

 kind ; it seemed to be like small bells most exquisitely tuned, and perhaps the distance and the 

 water between might be no small advantage to the sound." 



This species, formerly very plentiful in every part of the country, appears to be rapidly dying 

 out. From some districts, where a few years ago it was the commonest bird, it has now entirely 

 vanished. In the Waikato it is comparatively scarce, on the East Coast it is only rarely met with, 

 and from the woods north of Auckland it has disappeared altogether. In my journeys through 

 the Kaipara district, eighteen years ago, I found this bird excessively abundant everywhere ; and 

 on the banks of the Wairoa the bush fairly swarmed with them. Dr. Hector, who passed over 

 the same ground in 1866, assures me that he scarcely ever met with it; and a valued corre- 

 spondent, writing from Whangarei (about 80 miles north of Auckland), says: — "In 1859 this 

 bird was very abundant here, in 1860 it was less numerous, in 1862 it was extremely rare, and 

 from 1863 to 1866 I never saw but one individual. It now seems to be entirely extinct in this 

 district''^. 



* Trans. New-Zealand Inst. 1868, vol. i. p. 108. t Queen Charlotte's Sound. 



t Mr. Gilbert Hair informs me that on the small island of Hotiti, in the Bay of Plenty, the Bell-bird is very numerous, 

 although it is never seen or heard on the mainland opposite. Captain Hutton reports it plentiful on the Great and Little 

 Barrier Islands, in the Gulf of Hauraki. 



