WAYS OF THE WILD.

Auckland Star, Volume LXVII, Issue 181, 1 August 1936, Page 1 (Supplement)

WAYS OF THE WILD.

BIRD NOTES. NEW ZEALAND TO ENGLAND.

(By A. T. PYCROFT.)

I arrived in England on May 21. My diary kept during the voyage from New Zealand to England, via Suez, last April and May, records very few sea birds after we left the New Zealand coast. Two species of albatross, the wandering and black-browed, accompanied the Orsova across the Australian Bight right up to the entrance to Fremantle Harbour. Xo albatrosses were, however, seen when we resumed our voyage north towards our next port of call—Colombo. When nearing the Keeling, or Cocos. Islands, wliich we passed during the night, a red-footed booby came aboard, landing on a deck during dancing, and another of these birds came aboard at night two days later. Both birds ejected several partly digested flying fisli Boobies are tropical gannets and are so called from their apparent stupidity when settled. The two birds which came aboard allowed themselves to be picked up and were then thrown overboard. They were attracted by the ship's lights. Several were seen during the day, diving for fish. When in the Red Sea two Eastern white pelicans, landed on the steamer and remained a short time. These birds were somewhat out of their latitude, their range being Southern Europe, Africa and Central Asia east to China; in winter, south to India, the Malay Peninsula and the Philippine Islands. They breed on lakes and inland seas of South-eastern Europe, tropical Africa and Western Asia, in China and on islands in the Persian Gulf. When nearing the island of Crete several finches came aboard, but I Svas unable to identify them. Swallows—Hirundo rustica—flew round the ship late one afternoon in this locality and at dusk they settled down for the night under the bridge, some entering the captain's cabin, where thcv remained until dawn. The following night between thirty and forty settled for the night on the poop deck, where a fancy dress dance took place at 9 p.m. The many lights, blaring of the band music and general noise did not disturb them; they cuddled together and now and again uttered a protesting twitter. At dawn they continued their flight

northwards. Birds at Kew. I have been a frequent visitor to Kev Gardens, and here I saw swallows hawking for insects over the waters of the lake and the various ponds. The birds in the gardens are very tame. They are accustomed to be fed by visitors and may be 6een at one's feet. I noted the following species: Blackbird, thrush, house sparrow, chaffinch, hedve sparrow and robin, and near the ponds the coot and moorhen. The robins

are very tame, and this year one no-ted on a mantelshelf in ari occupied room, the brood being safely reared. YV H. Hudson states that the old birddisappear from their usual haunts moult, and during this perhaps paini'n and certainly dangerous period the-, remain secluded and unseen in the thickest foliage. When they reappear in new and brighter dress, restored t«. health and vigour, a fresh trial awaittliem. The young they have hatched and protected have now attained to majority' and are in possession of thei. home. For it is the case that every pair of robins has a pretty well defined area of ground which they regard atlieir own, jealously excluding from it other individuals, of their own .species. The young are forthwith driven out. often not without much fighting, which may last for several days, and in which the old bird is sometimes the loser.. But' in most cases the old robin reconquers his territory, and the young male, or males, if not killed, go elsewhere. And here we come upon an obscure point in the history of this familiar species, for what becomes of the youna dispossessed birds is not yet known. It has been conjectured that they migrate, and that not many return from their wanderings beyond "the sea. And it is not impossible to believe that the migratory instinct may exist in the young of a species, although obsolete at a later period of life.

The Coot and Moorhen. I was interested watching a coot on the lake in Kew Gardens, diving for food for its two downy chicks. Its beak is pale flesh colour, and it has a bald patch on the forehead like the pukekos, but the patch, unlike the. pukekos, is white. The coot is a dull-plumaged bird, the under-parts being sooty black, and the uppei 1 parts slate grey, with a narrow white bar across the wings. Its feet are dark green. Like the pukeko it prefers sluggish waters, and reedcovered swamps. It has been recorded by several writers that coots defend themselves against large birds of prey by collecting in a dense body on the appearance of an enemy, and when the bird of prey swoops at them they throw np a sheet of water with their feet and drench the marauder, so that it sometimes escapes with difficulty. It was formerly much more abundant than at present. The moorhen is to be seen in the gardens near the lake and ponds, and in various parts of the gardens. It is one of the most familiar wild birds, for tiot only fa it common and generally distributed in the Rritish Islands, but where it is not molested, and the stream, or pond, or ditch it inhabits is close to the homestead, it becomes almost domestic in its habits, and will freely mix with the poultry and share their food. It has a quaint, graceful carriage as it moves over the lawns in the gardens, noddinsr its head and jerking Its tail in order to display the two snmv-white tinder coverts. The name moorhen is old English for marsh-hen. from moorish, which had the same meaning. as marshy. It swims and dives with ease, and feeds a good deal in the water. When hunted it dives, and is

i.ble 'to remain submerged for an indefinite time by grasping the weeds at the bottom with its claws, and keeping it* nostrils above the surface. It feeds on worms, slops, insects of a ",V'", l f'pper vegetable substances. Vfho'rnoorJien-' at Kow informed me that c ; es o' are not liked by the '» . j on thr English and introd' rbeng beo»'"c ponds, and when. ssar y to destroy too numerous it * s some.