206 Bird-Song : and New Zealand Song Birds 
a to c, a pause, and sharp to a again. This was quite dissimilar 
to (6), there being no wax and wane of sound, no click , and no 
down slur. It was varied as in (9), where after the first slur 
the two notes were separated by a pause. The whole of these 
performers, and many others besides were chirring and burring 
and clicking and theeping together, forming, until attended to 
closely, a seemingly inextricably confused throbbing body of 
sound. 
Two or three autumnal days in the latter half of February of 
«/ 
this year, 1917, almost silenced the cheerful cicadas, but sunny 
weather following, they sang again in great numbers; I counted 
twelve, all close together on the stem of one lily-palm ( Cordy - 
line). Among other songs, heard on 13th March, sounded one 
as in (10), a quick continuous chirr, quite even in sound, like 
the rapid turning of a small wheel. It was varied at times by 
being broken as in (11), when the fourth note was dropped, and 
the variation was connected with (10) as in (12), where the 
fourth note was sounded very lightly. On 8th March (13) was 
heard at dusk, about ten semi-quavers a second. 
At least about four species of cicada and cricket may be dis¬ 
tinguished by their song:—the common cicada, songs (4) to (9) ; 
the small ground-cricket, pihireinga, songs (10) to (13), whose 
faint wheel-turning song may be heard on most warm days of the 
year; an imported cricket, whose song I have heard in Nelson, 
but lost the record; and one I heard in Gisborne, taking it for a 
hedge-sparrow until I heard its song continuing throughout 
the night. Me te tarakihi e papa ana i te warn, says the proverb, 
(TI, p. 134), “Like cicada chirping in the eighth month,’ 7 —a 
saying that when there is much food there is also much talking. 
