WAYS OF THE WILD.

Auckland Star, Volume LXIV, Issue 201, 26 August 1933, Page 1 (Supplement)

WAYS OF THE WILD.

SEA BIRDS. VARIETY OF NIGHT CALLS. . (By A. T. PYCROFT.) M. Aldis, writing from Heme Bay, Auckland, this jiiontli asks if I can offer any suggestion as to tlic identity of sonic birds heard flying over Heme Bay at about 11 o'clock one night recently in a more or less easterly direction. My correspondent states: "There seemed to be a good many of them, and they were very noisy. They had two calls one a single note and the other more complex. I do not think that they were mackerels or black-backed gulls. It occurred to me that they might be stilts. I saw some of these birds at the mouth of the Wliau Creek not long since, and they seemed to liave a good deal to say for themselves. The calls made by the flying birds had a weird effect coming from an invisible source in the dark overhead. I have occasionally heard something of the same kind before, but not so loud. I have been inclined to put it down to godwit or sand piper, but I do not think they could make so much noise a« these birds did." I cc.nnot do more than my correspondent asks—suggest the identity of the birds which were heard. I have heard sea birds calling when in flight overhead on misty nights in summer, and also early spring, and those which I have heard I have been able to identify as terns or sea swallows. One species, the white-fronted tern, is plentiful all along the coasts of both islands. It is also to be seen on Lake • Taupo. I have frequently sailed closed to flocks of these birds at night when they have been resting on rocks just above the surge, and have also spent nights at their breeding places, and am therefore familiar with their calls. They seem to be attracted to the lights of our towns, and in the north may also make night flights from one coast to the other. Terns are mainly birds of the coasts of the warmer parts of the world. They are generally sociable in habits, and often breed in large colonics. The parents are usually very bold when their breeding grounds are invaded, hovering in the air over the intruder, uttering loud screams, and at intervals swooping down within a few inches of his head. Buller states that when a flock of these terns is alarmed they rise simultaneously in the air in a vortex of confusion, crossing and recrossing each other as they continue' to hover over the spot, producing at the same time a perfect din with their sharp cries of ke-ke-ke. Another cry is more drawn out —ke-c. The stilts' alarm cry is que-que, the sexes crying responsively and in different keys. Other Sea Birds' Calls. The largest of all sea birds, the albatrosses, are generally silent birds, but some species are said to make grunting noises when captured, on a line. Probably all of them have calls, which are uttered when they are on their bleeding groiintis.VVTliey breed in colonies 011 remote oceanic islands, some species 1 resorting to low islands and others to steep, rbck'y and almost inaccessible islets. They perform very curious antics when courting, bowing to one another, rubbing their bills together, or standing with the bill raised vertically, while they utter their strange cries. Petrels, shearwaters and fulmars, which comprise the largest order of sea birds, are more or less sociable when at sea, and often congregate in large numbers to breed. For this purpose tlicy resort to islands, and in some eases to fairly inaccessible cliffs on the mainland. Host petrels liest in holes, either burrows excavated by themselves in soft ground, or benpath roots or trailing vegetation or rocks. The 'same species may make burrows in one local it}' and resort to crevices among fallen rocks elsewhere. 'Five species nest 011 ledges of cliffs, and two species 011 the ground in the open. Most of these species are able to stand normally, but the legs of the burrowing species are not strong enough to support them, and when 011 land they shullle along on x their I breasts with the help of their wings. The nest is merely a hollow at the- end of the burrow, or a natural cavity lined with a few bits of grass or feathers. Only a single egg is laid, which is white in all the species. Both sexes take part 'in incubation, one remaining silently in the burrow all day, whilst its mate ranges the ocean for food. Just at dusk the foraging birds begin to return, and the sight of the return of the swarms 'of birds from the sea to the breeding ! grounds is a remarkable one. At the ' same time cries, shrieks, and wails break 'out from the ground in all directions, as I the brooding birds welcome their mates. U have seen many such returnings and it appears to me that the incoming birds first make their approach known to their mates by their calls. Turmoil continues throughout the night, as birds come and go, and fly round overhead, but at daybreak the foragers once more depart to sea and quietness reigns again. Cries of Petrels and Gulls. The storm petrels, the smallest of sea birds, are commonly known as ; "Mother Carey's' chickens," Mother Carey being a corruption of "Mater ' Cara," an appellation of the Blessed Virgin Mary. In their habits they do not differ greatly from their larger relations. They arc nocturnal in their habits when on the breeding ground. During the daytime thousands may be brooding just below the surface 011 an island, but 110 sound indicates their presence. After dark, however, when "'the birds from sea return various twit- ' terings, crooning, or cooing notes are uttered. The diving peti'els, of which there are live species, are comparatively silent birds, but when breeding utter croaking notes like those of frogs or mewing sounds like those made by cats. The notes of gulls are usually harsh or querulous, and most species utter them constantly when feeding, and especially at their breeding grounds. Mew and kittiwake are names given to certain species in imitation of their calls. One authority states that the voices of gulls possess a certain, indescribable human quality, which adds in 110 small degree to the impression created when storms rule and these wild cries are heard above the tumult of the wind and wave. They seldom fly at night, and arc sometimes heard them. Penguins, which are confined to the southern hemisphere, have loud voices, and are otten heard at night 011 the water. The cry of the little blue penguin, so plentiful round our coasts, .is so weird and niournfill that when lirst heard at sea 011 a dark, calm night one is considerably startled.