The Warblers : The Tom-tits 
“You may observe how jealous a little fellow is the cock 
bird; in the breeding season he attends his mate well, but in 
the autumn and winter months he seems to take care of himself; 
let any others of his species trespass on his particular beat, 
whether male or female, they are forced to retire or drive him 
awav; so with his virtues must be added the characteristics of 
jealousy and pugnacity. This familiar little bird has a chance 
of outliving the trials of civilization from its confidence; in an 
old lean-to of a cottage here, we have known it twice affix its 
nest to the wallplate in angles formed by the rafters.” 
It must be remembered that Potts Avrote some forty years 
ago; and whilst the tom-tit is still common in most parts where 
the Maori bush is undestroyed, it does not now so commonly 
frequent the haunts of man. 
The quality of the song of the birds in the two islands is 
practically the same, and it is little varied. Most of my 
observations have been Avith the yellow-breasted tit, whose 
usual and most characteristic song is a trilling upward slur 
falling in semitones, as in (1). This is very softly sung, both 
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during flight and at rest in the tree. The sound is a soft 
twitter, nearer a whistle than the tAAutter of the fantail. The 
theme takes under two seconds, and is usually sung once, being* 
repeated at intervals. At times it is followed by the part after 
the first bar, and of this second part, the short theme between 
the second and third bars may be repeated two or three times. 
The opening cascade is varied at times; I once heard it drop 
from 1) to g by five steps, so that the intervals would appear to 
have been slightly less than quarter tones. The throat and 
tail quiver slightly during the cascade song, the quivering of 
the tail being more pronounced when the vibrato in the second 
part is sung. 
