Zealand yclept the lackerel Gull) or Larus scopulinus , is born with dark-brown, 

 almost black eyes, and yet by the time it is a year old they have changed al- 

 most to a pure white. A similar alteration is noticeable in the iridic colora- 

 tion of the larger but equally beautiful Southern Black-backed Gull ( Larus 

 dommicanus ) , that ranges the whole Southern Hemisphere. Both these birds are 

 easily domesticated; they act as valuable scavengers and are devourers of cater- 

 pillars and other insect pests. 



It is interesting to see them about Australasian harbors and fields, doing 

 their useful work, unafraid of man. 



The vulgar name, Bell-bird , is given to many quite different species in var- 

 ious parts of the world, but in every instance it is applied because of the re- 

 semblance of the bird's call-note to the tolling of a bell. I have already 

 spoken about the representative of these remarkable animals found in the nor- 

 thern parts of South America and I was naturally on the look-out for their 

 Australasian congeners. The New Zealand bird is a Honey-Sucker — Anthor nis , 

 meianur a — alas, fast becoming extinct. It was this remarkable bird that 

 attracted tne attention of Captain Cook. On his second voyage, while his ship 

 was lymg m Queen Charlott's Sound, the crew heard bird-notes "like small 

 oells most exquisitely tuned". On the Australian continent two species, one 

 aiso a Honey-Sucker, Manor hi m melanophrys , and another, a Shrike-like bird, 

 are called Bell-birds. Of the for£er~BulTer says "its notes, though simple, are 

 varied and sweetly chimed, and aa the bird is of social habits, the morning 

 anthem, m which scores of the sylvan choristers perform together, is a concert 

 01 eccentric parts, producing a wild but pleasing melody. When alarmed or ex- 

 cited they utter a strain of notes which I can compare only to the sound pro- 

 duced^by a policeman's rattle quickly revolved. This crv, or the bird-catcher's 

 imitaoion of it, never fails to attract to the spot all the bell-birds within 

 hearing. 



f + u° n n^ Cl ! ar day 1 visit9d Quarantine Island, Auckland Harbour, as the guest 

 01 the Chief Engineer of the Harbour Board, ¥. H„ Hamer, himself a keen and 

 well-informed naturalist. We found there maiy birds that I had no expectation 

 oi seeing among them many Bell-birds. The ordinary song of the lew Zealand 

 species resembles that of the Parson Bird, and while we sat listening to what 

 seemed to me to be a sustained song a discussion took place among the ornith- 

 ologists present as to whether the avian music we were hearing was that of a 

 lui or not. A portion of the song certainly recalls the notes of a bell, and 

 it has a metallic ring about it that serves to distinguish the call notes of 

 trie N. Z. Bell-bird from the sustained and softer song of the T U i, b^t neither 

 + i h v E1 ln res P ect suggests the solemn tolling of the South American Bird, 

 with his single, though prolongued note. The Australian chorus of cerformers 

 reminds one of a chime, or of several mingled chimes, of small, silver-tongued 

 oells, while the New Zealand performers make one think of the rendering of a 

 musical number by minor brass instruments. Anthornis meian ura is smaller than 

 our robin (male, length, 7.5 inches; female, 6.4 inches), color generally light 

 yellowish-green in the case of the male bird, but this must be modified by 

 stating that the head is steel-colored, while the tail is brownish black. The 

 ±emale is browner and less conspicuous, but both sexes are equally good singers. 



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