153 
The Honey-eaters: The Bell-bird 
In (7) the usual pairs were triplets. Further variations of the 
call are shewn in 8 and 9. Here the closing notes are prolonged, 
and where they are so prolonged their quality usually changes 
from the whistle of the opening to clear mellow bell or flute- 
notes. In (8) the whole was more flute-like than the ordinary 
call: the phrase occupied something over a second. In (9), whilst 
tiu.tiu.tiu.tiu wit.a.wit r a ee. oo . oo 
the vocalization of the opening notes was tin tiu, there was no 
slur, the intermediary ee between the t and the vowel sound 
being minimised, as though the sound were tyou rather than 
tee-oo , as in the sharp pronunciation of ‘‘Here’s t’ you.” The 
phrase occupied about a second and a half. 
Like the tui, the bell-bird has an evening-chime. In it the 
call-notes are used, but are used much more deliberately. The 
bird that sang the notes of (10) and (11) sat on the top of a 
dead tree at the edge of the bush in the evening, repeating one 
or other of the phrases at intervals. The tempo was about five 
quavers to a second. The characteristic tin which was heard in 
(10) was discarded in (11). These were noted in 1907, at Stony 
Bay, and five years later a similar theme (12) was noted as 
sung during the day. It was not always sung in full:—often 
