BELL BIRDS' NOTES
lf RECENT CHANGES REPORTED
A resident of Okoia, near Wanganui, who is a keen student of New Zealand native bird life, says that bell birds along the coast have lost the belllike notes which endeared ibhem to Captain Cook in the Sounds of the South Island. They have retained three whistling sounds which they have always been distinguished by and have developed fully their habit of mimicking tuis. The latter birds are multiplying rapidly and are really better songsters than the bell birds, he says. Many grey warblers have been noticed and their notes arc particularly cheering. Bell birds, some four years ago, could be definitely distinguished by notes very like those of the bell in the Putiki Church when heard across the water, and similar to a blacksmith beating an anvil away in the distance. The combined effect of several birds greeting the dawn with such notes was very pleasing. Now residents of the district will seek in vain to experience the pleasure, pi hearing suck a chorus.
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Bibliographic details
New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXII, Issue 22098, 2 May 1935, Page 8
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172BELL BIRDS' NOTES New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXII, Issue 22098, 2 May 1935, Page 8
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