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Show r-i'X-z-;-i-xx:'Xx-i';'Zx:z-:'X-:-i':-Z';'i-;-x-:-X':-x;-S':-x-:-x-:'X':-x-:-3:-;' Christmas Time Gay With Songs of Birds whirr coming from the bottom of a husky throat, a loud and rasping note, utterly unmusical. Bellbirds, tuis and other melodists on Christmas day, from exquisitely tuned throats, send forth a wild bewildering carol, long before a church bell has climbed. Christmas In New Zealand has an entirely different aspect from our Christmas. There It Is the time of the singing ot birds. Their plumages plum-ages at this season are bright, their singing notes particularly sweet. Many nests are completed In September Sep-tember and October, and In November Novem-ber they contain complements of eggs. Owls, and petrels are the waits who, on Christmas eve, announce the approach ap-proach of Christmas day. The common com-mon morepork owl Is a forest bird. Its whoo-whoo Is boding, but few sounds, to New Zenlanders' ears, are more pleasing. Some petrels laugh mockingly as they fly overhead at night. The black petrel as black as night Itself has a note that seems to combine a soft whistle with a deep |