FOR THE LITTLE ONES

Auckland Star, Volume LXIII, Issue 281, 26 November 1932, Page 3 (Supplement)

FOR THE LITTLE ONES

A TALK ABOUT SEA BIRDS.

THE FROLICSOME PENGUINS.

My Deai- Little Friends, — Occasionally 1 forsake the neat tables of the lunch room and eat my midday meal in a bright park near the office. The green grass, the flowers, the goldfish swimming in the ornamental pond; all have their lore, but I think the main attraction, is the birds. Blackbirds, thrushes, ■parrows and proudly strutting pigeons come to share the crumbs, whilst mt certain times of the year flocks of- seagulls wheel about us, descending to snatch up a crust or squabble for the possession of it. Among the seagulls there always appear to be one or two which have exceptionally bad tempers. I have seen these crochety ones attack other seagulls without the slightest cause, squawking angrily and pecking them savagely. Needless to say the other birds leave the ill-tempered one? severely to themselves.

Of all birds I think seagulls are the best. They are very interesting to watch, and many of them seem quite friendly and will let humans get quite close before they take to lazy wings and fly away. As a matter of fact there is one kind of- seagull, called the noddie, that is so trusting that it lets people walk right up to its nest and will often descend upon ships and allow sailors to take hold of it. Unfortunately not all sailors are bird lovers, and the birds have been called or "noodles" because they are considered silly to trust the people who very often do them harm.

Some say that seagulls are a nuisance, spoiling the fishing and destroying the crops, but they realty da a. lot more good than harm. The amount of fish they eat is not great in comparison with the number of fish caught by men, whilst for the little grain stofen they kill a tremens dous number of insects that would do much damage. In far-away America there is a monument to- the seagulls erected in, memory of the service a vast flock of them once did the State. It so, happened that there was a horde of grasshoppers overruning the land, eating all the green things, that came in their way, and so it appeared that the farmers must lose all their crops. At the last minute, however, the gulls came in from the tea and ate up all the insect pests. '

Of all the sea birds I should think that the penguin is the most entertaining. Of course many have not seen a penguin, but those who have Visited the southern waters have watched the antics of these queer, wingless birds,. and have written telling others what they do. Perhaps you have seen pictures of penguins and wi.H know thai; they stand up on two little feet just as we dp. Sometimes they will spend quite a long time bowing and chattering to each other, as I{ having a most important conversation. At times they have spent many minutes bowing and chattering to men, but when they saw that the men apparently djd not know what they were talking about, the penguins simply went off in a. huff, seeming to think that men were the most stupid things they had ever come across! The penguins of the, Antarctic are the most lively creatures. They are fuU pt fun and frolic, and one may see them continually pushing each' other from the edge of the ice into the water, as if thinking it a fine joke. In the water they duck and dive and enjoy themselves swimming, sometimes going for rides on floating pieces of ice in the grip of a current. Many and many are the stories that travellers haye to tell about these wingless birds of the ice and snow, and one would be inclined to think that of all the seabirds they are the most friendly-