. The animals of New Zealand; an account of the dominion's air-breathing vertebrates . feathers. From wall to wall across thetop, it measures about Ave inches. The diameter of the cup istwo inches and three-quarters, and the depth inside is two has been called by Mr. Potts to the peculiarity of thecolouring in the lining feathers, as betokening the bell-birdslove of harmony. Some of the nests are lined with red feathersfrom kakas, green ones from parrakeets, black ones from Norfolkturkeys, buff from Cochin fowls, speckled from pintadoes, andwhite from geese. Nests are often fo
. The animals of New Zealand; an account of the dominion's air-breathing vertebrates . feathers. From wall to wall across thetop, it measures about Ave inches. The diameter of the cup istwo inches and three-quarters, and the depth inside is two has been called by Mr. Potts to the peculiarity of thecolouring in the lining feathers, as betokening the bell-birdslove of harmony. Some of the nests are lined with red feathersfrom kakas, green ones from parrakeets, black ones from Norfolkturkeys, buff from Cochin fowls, speckled from pintadoes, andwhite from geese. Nests are often found in much frequentedplaces, such as in a shrub on a public road. The Maoris caught the bell-bird by means of a long spear,called a here. It was made from a carefully selected, straight-grained piece of wood, and was sometimes thirty or forty feet 118 THE ANIMxVLS OF NEW ZEALAND long. It was fitted with a barb, made of bone. One end of thebarb was sharpened by scraping, and was serrated, so that itwonld hold the bird when the latter was struck. Other con-trivances were also Chatham Island Bell-bird. (lull. Erebus and Tenor.) A very encouraging note is sounded by IMr. W. W. Smith insome interesting information he supplies in respect to thischarming songster of the forest. He states that, for several years,he has frequently visited the Alford Forest and Mount Somersbush, in Canterbur>% and Peel Forest and the Albury bush, in THE CHATHAM ISLAND BELL-BIRD 119 South Canterbury, aud on each visit he has found that thespecies is increasing. When he stayed at Windwood, MountSomers, he found both adult and young inhabiting the warmwooded of the Gawler Downs in good numbers. AtAlbury, bell-birds were seen in considerable numbers. Twice hewas on the top of Rocky Peninsula at daybreak, listening to thewaking melody of the birds echoing across the gorge from theopposite bush. On both occasions the morning was serene andbeautiful, and the mingling of the songs of numerous
Size: 1375px × 1817px
Photo credit: © Reading Room 2020 / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
Keywords: ., bookcentury1900, bookdecade1900, booksubjectb, booksubjectzoology
