204 Bird-Song : and New Zealand Song Birds 
The Cicada 
Melampsalta cingulata the cicada tarakihi 
As the warmth of December intensifies to the heat of January 
and February, the air becomes vibrant and alive with the song 
of the tarakihi, rejoicing in the cloudless sunshine of the long 
days. This, to the Maori, is the sweetest singer of the New 
Zealand song-birds; it is their best beloved, and they call it 
the bird of Rehua, —Rehua being the lord of kindness and 
plenty. This bird Europeans call a cicada, nor do they regard 
its shrill stridulation as song; and whilst it varies little in 
tone, it has an extraordinary rhythm, of considerable 
variation. 
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