THE STITCHBIRD 51 
me as if they had been caged. Whilst moving 
about the underwood in several small parties, 
sucking the nectar from the flowers of the alseu- 
osmia, they uttered at frequent intervals what 
appeared to me to be their travel call, “ stit,” 
“ stit,’ ‘“‘stit.’ In November and December I 
heard them less frequently, and saw but one 
bird. I never heard them calling high on the 
trees. Without capture and handling, their plum- 
age seemed to be practically that of small hen 
Stitchbirds with colour contrasts dull. Some of 
them showed a thin yellow line about the mouth. 
They could not have been immature Bellbirds ; 
they did not seem quite to be Stitchbirds. If, 
on the other hand, an unnamed species, why in 
three months’ watching in the woods did we 
never meet a mated pair? Why, in the later part 
of the breeding season, did such as were heard 
appear to be still solitary ? Leask, an excellent 
observer, most cautious, moreover, in his judg- 
ments, never happened to come across them in 
parties, and was inclined to believe they must — 
be Bellbirds. Perhaps. If, however, they were 
Bellbirds, their habits of flight and call were unlike 
any Bellbirds seen elsewhere in New Zealand— 
in fact, they weren’t Bellbirds. To me they 
seemed to bear the same relationship to the 
Stitchbird as do the “ brownies” of Kotiwhenu 
to the Saddleback. 
