The Cuckoos : The Shining Cuckoo 
175 
hui kui te ora, complaining* it is cold; but as the summer 
advances, and the sun becomes warm, its note changes to witi 
ora , witi ora, T am warm. There is a saying, if it continues to 
cry kui kui it will be a cold summer; but if it sings witi ora 
witi ora, it will be a warm season. These two birds are said to 
divide the year between New Zealand and Hawaiki, arriving 
in September and leaving in March. ” The words should be whiti 
ora, not witi ora; but many of the early men either did not hear 
the aspirate, or disregarded it if they did hear it. 
It is the long-tailed cuckoo that has the peculiar shrill cry; 
it is the shining cuckoo that is the sweet singer. Its note is 
altogether different from the characteristic cry of the English 
cuckoo, and few people in the South Island know the bird at 
all; those who know it in the North know it as the Nvharauroa, 
and usually do not think of it as a cuckoo. Its usual cry is as 
in (1). This is a series of upward slurs, indefinite in number, 
gradually increasing in loudness, and dying away in the final 
downward slur. The gradual increase gives the ventriloquous 
chaiactei to the cry that has been remarked on by various 
writers. The first note of every upward slur is accented, the 
second usually staccato. At times more than a single down¬ 
ward slur follow. The interval and the pitch of both upward 
and downward slurs may vary during the one day. I have not 
noticed that the interval increases as the season advances; the 
chief change due to the advance of the summer is in the greater 
ulness of song; that is, at first the upward slurs only are 
sung, in a clear whistle; then a downward slur is added; or 
two slurs; or more, as in (2). 
11 fullei is the theme of (3), which followed the upward 
S Urs; this and the variant (4) were more heard on hot north- 
mi^' c a y s > Sll(dl as are fairly frequent in Canterbury summers. 
16 ^ 10le x of these notes were taken at Stony Bay, with the 
ception of (1), which was taken in Wellington. The variant 
W ollowed the ordinary upward slurs, was also taken in 
arml‘ ln f + 011 ' At tlmeS the vocaliza tion kui kui might well be 
* ,° tl \ e Upward slurs i (!) they are vocalized wit, a 
calization also appearing in (5). 
o 
