The Honey-eaters : The Bell-bird 
143 
heat, unless some few individuals meet on a tree or shrub that 
offers, it may be, a tempting show of honey-bearing blossoms, 
a note or two is briefly sounded, the numbers rapidly increase, 
after much noisy fluttering of wings a gush of clanging melody 
bursts forth from a score of quivering throats, forming a con¬ 
cert of inharmonious, yet most pleasing sounds. Nor is the 
ear alone gratified, for the actions and postures of the melodists 
are extremely quaint and droll during this performance, which 
seems to be only undertaken by cock birds; it is usually com¬ 
menced by two of them that perch opposite to each other, now 
with swelling throat and puffed out feathers they deliver note 
for note with curious precision of time and swaying action. 
‘ ‘ This cheerful bird does not confine itself to forests and their 
deep and gloomy shades, it rather affects shrubby gullies, and 
is a constant and well loved inmate of our gardens and planta¬ 
tions, and vastly doth it delight in ransacking the sweets 
yielded by the blossoms of the acacia, fuchsia, tritoma [red-hot 
poker], etc. The berries of the konini, of various species of 
coprosma, ripening early, furnish some part of its food supply, 
later on in the year the bead-like seeds of the ti palm are laid 
under contribution. It is very partial to the soft berries 
of a species of mistletoe (Lor ant hus micranthus) and by 
cleansing its beak from the viscid pulp on some friendly perch 
it probably is the cause of that fragrant parasite growing on 
such a variety of supports; here, where the charming songster 
is yet plentiful, this species of Loranthus may be seen on the 
laburnum, peach, hawthorn, x^ear, plum, etc. 
“We believe the bell-bird can be successfully cultivated, 
and induced to become a resident; at any rate a xfface can be 
iminted out which it now daily frequents, where formerly a 
sx)ecimen was rarely if ever seen, this change has been effected 
by means of planting a variety of sxmcies of acacia, coxwosma, 
etc., and a number of sweet blooming and drupe bearing shrubs. 
“Placed amongst the meliphagidae or honey-eaters by 
ornithologists, it nevertheless shows an accommodating ax^e- 
tite for many kinds of food, we have already pointed to some 
of the numerous kinds of drupes and berries on which it 
