302 
Stray Feathers. 
r The Emu 
|_ April 
door, hunting through the vegetables, where they picked up 
a few crumbs as well as other small items I could not classify. 
One morning they found some of the fowls’ bran and pollard 
mixture which had been dropped. It was a great find, evidently, 
by the way they both enjoyed their meal. Thereafter some 
of the mixture was always “accidentally” dropped for the 
free fowls of the hillside. For a week their visits have ceased. 
Soon I hope to hear them again, bringing their toddlers with 
them, as soon as the little legs can safely manage the many 
mazes amidst the tangle of heath, ferns, and fallen litter. Only 
once have I found a clutch of four eggs in the nest of these 
Ground-birds, and that was at Cleveland, in the Midlands, 
where I came on a nest beneath some large stones. Some day, 
perhaps, when the sense of security between the present pair and 
the human partners of their domain is more developed, I 
may succeed in obtaining a picture of them. It would be in¬ 
teresting, especially if it showed them enjoying the fowls’ 
breakfast.—Miss J* A. Fletcher, R.A.O.U., “Lyeltya,” Eagle- 
hawk Neck, S. Tasmania. 
* . * * 
On the Notes of the New Zealand Boobook Owl. —In seve¬ 
ral back numbers of The Emu, I have noticed considerable dis¬ 
cussion as to the author of the “morepork” notes heard at night. 
Several observers are quite emphatic in their opinion that they 
are uttered by a Podargus; others are equally confident that an 
Owl (Ninox novce-seelandicc) is responsible. Such being the 
case I have thought it advisable to give the notes of the New 
Zealand Ninox (now considered to be the same species as the 
Australian bird), and as no Podargus occurs in New Zealand, 
confusion between the notes of the two birds is impossible. This 
Owl is universally called the “Morepork” in all parts of New 
Zealand, and most certainly its notes are identical with its local 
name. The quality of the notes varies greatly, however. Some 
are quite clear, and uttered with a slight drawl; others are much 
quicker. I have heard one bird near Masterton give them in 
a basso-profundo tone, which gives the impression that the bird 
is husky. One writer in The Emu stated that Ninox never 
uttered the “morepork” notes in rapid succession, but that the 
bird responsible for that performance was a Podargus. On 19th 
April, 1923, when in the Tauherenikau Valley, in the Tararua 
Mountains, I heard a Morepork utter this note ten times in very 
!apid succession, without pause. Other notes I have heard this 
bird use are a sharp-sounding “ow” and a scream-like “airck.” 
Mr. and Mrs. H. F. Chaffey, at their hill residence near the head 
waters of the Takaka River, Nelson, N.Z., record in Mr. James 
Drummond’s “Nature Notes” column their experience of a male 
Morepork, on the 14th November last. It sat on a post in front 
°I the cottage window, and began with a guttural “por, por, por, 
P°r,” repeated quickly from fifteen to twenty times, as if the Owl 
