158 Bird-Song : and New Zealand Song Birds 
distant, about five quavers a second. I thought this whisper- 
song, when I first heard it, was sung by a tui, but I afterwards 
saw the bell-bird singing the same or a similar song. A curious 
interjection, vocalized tlank, broke the theme into definite 
phrases, and the whole appeared to be in perfect time. Often 
the tlank only, or other similar interjection, will be heard, with 
pauses between, when it may be known that a w r hisper-song is 
in progress, and snatches may be caught on a nearer approach. 
This beautif ul song was noted on 1st January, 1917; and on the 
5th of that month I heard (21), the most perfect of all the 
Sr* 
%PW 
21 
m f PPP+- 
kwak kwak 
0™. _ 
23 
Kwak 
-*K 
whisper-songs I have heard. It was long-continued, in perfect 
time, and whilst (21) seemed the chief form, it was sung with 
many simple but beautiful variations such as (22) and (23), 
and others not noted. 
Each phrase opened with an expletive, generally vocalized 
kwak, a quaver in duration; once or twice the expletive was 
tsrr. The expletive always took the principal accent, and at 
a distance of twenty feet nothing but the expletive could be 
heard, at regular intervals of about two seconds. On approach¬ 
ing the bird, the notes, at a distance of ten feet, were barely 
audible, and even then at times only; for there was a varied rise 
and fall in intensity. The bird was in a dense manuka shrub, 
and the song continued unbrokenly for tw T o or three minutes, 
when my trying to approach still nearer up a steep slope 
stopped it altogether. It was heard at dusk, when other songs of 
a similar nature were also in progress. The phrase (21) was 
repeated over and over with variations of the nature noted, and 
