196 Bird-Song : and New Zealand Song Birds 
Family: Faleonidae 
Ninox novae-zealandiae morepork ruru 
Above, brown, spotted with fulvous; below, fulvous streaked 
with brown; feathers on the legs, rufous. Eye, bright yellow. 
Egg- —White. Length, in. 
New Zealand possessed two species of owl; the morepork, or 
ruru, and the laughing owl, or whekau. The latter was much less 
known, and much less common than the former. It lived in 
rocky hill-sides, and in the mountainous districts, usually away 
from bush; and its cry was, says Potts, “made up of a series of 
dismal shrieks frequently repeated.; if its cry resembles 
laughter at all, it is the uncontrollable outburst, the convulsive 
shout of insanity; we have never been able to trace the faintest 
approach to mirthful sound in the unearthly yells of this once 
mysterious night bird,—mysterious, because for years unsuc¬ 
cessful attempts had been made to secure a specimen of this 
dismal visitor, whose fitful presence at eventide was scarcely 
observed before its form was lost to view in the deepening gloom 
of approaching night.” (PO, p. 122). The cry was more often 
eaid in misty weather, and before rain, in which latter respect, 
t ie bird served as a weather-prophet in common with the weka, 
ruiu, and tui. The bird is now almost extinct. 
The ruru is arboreal in his habits; and in any locality where 
c umps of Maori bush still remain, his mournful cry comes with 
e quiet dusk, lie has been given the name morepork on 
a - Co ;; nl C1 J> the notes sometimes approaching the sound 
t ose words. As regards the Australian podargus of the 
same name, the following lines are of interest: 
“Father! 1 hear the bittern boom, 
And the mope-hawk’s doleful cry.” (MS, p. 89). 
The name is often spelt mope-poke; and whilst “mope-hawk” 
ay e no more than a corruption, it is a most intelligent one, 
'eem & t at mope means purblind or short-sighted. The podargus 
