l Rui The Tuil

Written by Sofia Machray l Ruil Kevin Murray Tony Kiki Tane Mahuta l l l l The Tui The Kakapo The Morepork The Takahel The Kiwi The Kauri Tree l l l l l l Rui the Tui is Kevin the Kakapo is Murray the Tony the Takahe is Kiki The Kiwi likes Tanel Mahuta is New Zealand’s most the world’s heaviest Morepork is a a curious bird, to play hide and New Zealand’s vocal bird. flightless parrot. speckled brown you will find seek. She is brown largest Kauri Tree. She loves to sing in He has moss green owl with beady him rummaging and has a long beak. He is the God of the the trees. feathers and likes yellow eyes. through the leaves Can you spot Kiki forest and birds. l Rui has a white tuft to climb up trees Murray likes to for grassroots to throughout the Tanel is estimated of feathers on her for fun. perch himself up feed on. book hiding? to be approximately chest and bold high in the trees at He has a red bill 2,500 years old. turquoise colors. night time, and blue feathers. and hoots silly things at people. Ruil the Tuil was an adventurous little thing. She liked to play in the trees and have a sing. One day Ruil hatched a plan, to travel through Little did she know that along the way, the forest and sing as loud as she can! she would bump into friends wanting to play. “Oh really?” said Ruil “Well, that’s something! Do you want to join me on my adventure through the forest, to find a spot to sing?” Off they went chirping and squawking, until they saw something frightening early that morning.

Kevin the Kakapol l l met her eye.

Ruil asked him, “Why Mr Kakapo,l l l can you not fly?” Kevin squawked, “I’m the world’s only parrot with flightless wings - but boy, can I sing.” Two beady eyes as yellow as can be . . . were found perched in a tree. Ruil trembled with fright and squawked, “Who are you?” With all her might. “Well, I’m Murry the Morepork, as wise as can be. I only come out at night, but I couldn’t sleep in my tree.”

l Rui tweeted, “Oh, well that’s no good! Why don’t you follow us throughout the woods?” As soon as they got underway, His red bill caught their eyes, they heard a small rustling from Tony the Takahel . . . and as he hunted for grubs, Tony got quite the surprise! Three native birds gathered around, as they watched And off they traveled far and wide, Tony the Takahel rummaging on the ground. trying to find a spot but they couldn’t decide.

“Follow us,” said Ruil flapping her wings. “We’re going to find a spot to sing.” However, Kevin the Kakapol l l was a hungry guy. So, he gobbled him down with a burp and a sigh.

What came next gave the birds an awful shock. As a tiny little worm arose from under a rock.

He sang in fear with all his might “Please don’t eat me, for I could bite!” In the distance, the birds could see, a mystical Tane-Mauhutal stood tall and strong, clearing with the most spectacular Kauri tree. where all the birds gather to sing their song. As the dawn chorus carried on, this was only the beginning of the bird song. The Bird Song Lyrics Visit www.ruithetui.com to sing along! Ruil the Tuil liked to sing in the trees, She liked to twitch and chirp in the breeze! Ruil the Tuil was an adventurous little thing.

Kevin the Kakapol l l met her eye, He was the worlds largest parrot that could not fly! Kevin the Kakapol l l as green as can be. Murry the Morepork was perched up high, He only liked to come out at night, He had two beady eyes as yellow as can be.

They went chirp chirp chirp, tweet tweet tweet, He went hoot hoot hoot, tweet tweet tweet, And all the birds were moving their feet! And Murry was moving his feet! Chirp chirp chirp, tweet tweet tweet, Hoot hoot hoot, tweet tweet tweet, And all the birds were moving their feet! And Murry was moving his feet! When out popped a beak long and brown, It was Mrs Kiwi tweeting her sounds, Kiki the Kiwi was cheeky as can be!

They went chirp chirp chirp, tweet tweet tweet! And all the birds were moving their feet! x3

As soon as the birds got underway, They heard a small rustling from Tony the Takahe!l His bill was red and feathers as blue as can be. Special thanks to Taizan Yamada and Jessica Machray for making my vision for this book become a reality. Thanks to those who helped facilitate the recordings of ‘Bird Song’ and to everyone who believed in my ideas for this project from the start.

Copyright © Sofia Machray 2020 Ruil the Tuil perched herself in the trees of my back garden by the Arrow River to sing her songs. Written by Sofia Machray Illustrations by Taizan Yamada Thank you to Ruil for inspiring me to write this Designed by Jessica Machray book. My vision for this project was to use music as Font - Kiddish by Matt Bruinoooge a learning tool to help children learn about New Zealand’s native birds. Printed and bound by Wakefield Digital, Wellington, New Zealand. You can listen to my song ‘Bird Song’ and the Narration for the book by visiting www.ruithetui.com, enjoy. For more about this project visit www.ruithetui.com