20 HOW TO IDENTIFY NEW ZEALAND BIRDS 
Some birds incapable of harming others resemble 
fierce birds of prey. The British Cuckoo (Cuculus 
canorus) can easily be mistaken for the Sparrow- 
Hawk, the most pugnacious of Hawks. Vice versa 
the fiercest birds will sometimes look like their 
harmless neighbours, as in the case of the Hawk 
Eagles of the Island of Celebes, which resemble the 
gentle Honey Buzzard. Also the American Curassow 
Hawk looks so exactly like the game-birds of that 
name that its victims actually come and sit beside it. 
(Pyecraft. ) 
Protective colouring, which is marvellous in the 
case of eggs, is even more in the case of birds 
themselves. Take, for instance, the Bittern (Botaurus 
poeciloptilus), a most striking bird out of its natural 
surroundings. See it feeding amongst the reed-beds, 
its plumage closely resembling its background, or 
standing up, beak pointed skyward, and it will defy 
detection again and again. 
Some birds, like Quail and Partridges, will creep — 
noiselessly under leaves and flatten themselves out 
of sight, until almost trodden on. The majority of 
birds sit transversely on a branch, but those who, 
like the Shining Cuckoo (Lamprococcysx lucidus), sit 
longitudinally are very hard to detect. The Wryneck 
(lynx torquilla), a bird which precedes the Cuckoo 
in Great Britain, and is sometimes called the 
Cuckoo’s Mate for that reason, is marked like a 
snake, and to carry the deception still further, 
writhes and hisses like a serpent when disturbed on 
the nest, which, like a Woodpecker’s, is some way 
down inside a tree-trunk. 
These are a few amongst the many interesting 
facts to be gleaned from the study of birds. There 
is, however, an immense amount remaining to be 
ascertained about them, especially as regards those 
of New Zealand. It lies within the power of every- 
body, be he a boy-scout or a fully qualified ornitho- 
logist, provided he is an accurate observer, to add 
