MORTAL GOMBAT.

Auckland Star, Volume LXVIII, Issue 33, 9 February 1937, Page 17

MORTAL GOMBAT.

By ERIC HARDY.

ON the eunny side of the oak wood, a pightingale sang with the wild, passionate outburst of a lover, boasting boldly to his mate the news that he had bagged the nicest spot in the wood for her nest. As he flicked his chestnut tail the nightingale eyed the other birds singing with a gleam in his eye that foretold his eagerness to light any rival who dared dispute his rights. The delicious exuberance of his lovely melody drifted down to the russet-brown hen nightingale, who, newly arrived from overseas, sought the snug retreat* beneath the shaded bower where she could hear the song and yet remain unseen. • ♦ • • Louder and louder grew gale's call from the budding bough whore the sunlight played upon his pulsating throat. Faster throbbed his breast as he began those gentle, hurried calls of "jug, jug, jug, jug," slipping on into a elow sforzand as though inquiring of hie lady love her interest. Did she hear his query? Still louder he whistled: "Whit, whit, whit"; then deep in his throat he pleaded again: "szquo-szquo?" Then he uttered a low, stealing, dwelling note, lovely as mere sound and irresistibly pathetic in its dying fall — his pleading to her to answer his advances. Suddenly he paused. A rustle in the undergrowth and the hen nightingale chose another perch, one twig nearer the open, and, catching the gleam in her eye, the cock nightingale burst out into joyous acclamation: "Tiot iot iot iotinx!" The wild passion ,of his pealing outburst ascended, and descended through marvellous notes as he flung into the breeze for all to hear the glad news of his victory. Then the singer ceased, and down in the undergrowth beside his mate, he flicked up that chestnut tail to show her all its glory. Then, bowing his head, he spread wide his wings so that she might admire the handsome colours of his rich brown plumes. The cock fetched an oak leaf and presented it to her, but Philomela coyly hopped away, only to see her lover following. So the two nightingales continued their love making until, beak to beak, they mated. Then back they hurried to inspect the shaded hollow hidden in the undergrowth where the cock nightingale had first boasted his property. There were many inspections before any semblance of a nest took form, and when the hen nightingale plaited the grasses into a pad for the foundation of the nest there was more play than work. Her mate would help her in the early mornings, when most of the work was done, but his labours were inconsistent, ior frequently he would break off to perch and eing in the sunshine in hot rivalry to the other nightingales; and if any approached too close to his new home he fiercely engaged them in combat. • • • • Then came the time for collecting oak leaves to line the nest. There was a clearing nearby where the nightingales found some old leaves that had drifted into a carpet over the floor of the wood. Here they tossed the leaves right and left with their beaks until they found enough of the right sort to* carry back to the nest. The blackbirds also came here to toss the leaves aside with their "yellow bills, and the little hedge sparrows to do likewise with their tiny black bills, the former hunting for worms and the latter for spiders and grubs. In fact the drift of oak leaves became a resort for housebuilding and dinner-hunting birds. So it was one evening when the black - , birds were bus'y late into the twilight, rooting amongst the leaves for worms, and the beechmast buried there by the squirrels at the end of the old year. In the nest beneath the young oaks the hen nightingale sat upon her five small, olive-brown eggs, almost as brown as the bedding of dead leaves that lay beneath them. In the twigs above, her mate hopped nervously, awaiting the rising moon, when his feeding would be over and he would once more sing his melodies that had now become night songs.

Suddenly something ruetled across the edge of the clearing; then it stopped. The blackbirds stood still, the nightingale remained silent. The rustling began again, quicker than before,-and with a screaming clatter of alarm the blackbirds bungled into the branches, squawking' ' loudly, quaking with fear, and choosing, fresh perches to gain a better view. A young" hedgehog ran forward to the spot wherfe the last blackbird had risen, andppurt r its soft pink nose to the worm the blackbird had left there. In another moment the worm had vanished into the urchin's little jaws, and, as it munched, its wee front paws scratched feverishly into the leaves for more. The young hedgehog in its previous ramblings had not explored ihis side of the wood, and it found the clearing a

(SHORT STORY.)

happy hunting ground, for the birds searching amongst the oak leavee disturbed the worms it wanted most of all. Xight after night the little pricklycoated animal had sought this side of the wood, and in its curiosity it put its nose to every new thing it saw. Passing the young oak plantation, it turned aside to explore the darker recesses and there set the nightingale off her nest. She took to the brandies, uttering her harsh "krrrr" in alarm, and the rledgling birds now in her nest, opened their mouths and squeaked piteously in the cooler air. The young hedgehog put its nose to the nes't, and the* sight of it was too much for the mother bird, who burst through the foliage like a phantom fury and hurled herself at the animal, scolding with all her might and buffeting it with her wings until he retreated in fright. The scuffling in the undergrowth had attracted attention on this hot evening, although a quiver in the distant grasses was all to disclose it. Silently now, like a wave without wind, an adder slid forward, the zigzag yellow markings up its dark body blending with the wilted bramble leaves and the pale pink campion flowers closed, for the night, that broke the sea of green grass undergrowth. Xearer and nearer came the adder, until the sheltering herbage ceased by the clearing, and cautiously it slipped into the open. The young hedgehog who had dared to push its little head between its legs and present its prickles to the aggressive nightingale, now drew it up again. For the nightingale had fled suddenly and silently, away from the.grass where the winking wings of moths, now light, now dark as they dipped end fluttered on again, alone showed life. Then something moved from the grass. The young hedgehog could not see it until two bright eyes caught the scant light and reflected a cold, eerie glow. Its prickles stood on end as the adder drew nearer, its slender tongue slipping in and out from between the closed lips. Then the adder stopped short and reared its head, still with its mouth shut. In fear the little hedgehog rose on ite hind legs, then sat down again. Those eyes hypnotised it. It wanted to run back to the little summer-house where it was born, it wanted to roll up. into a hall of prickles as it saw its mother do when a dog scratched its way into their home. It wanted to cry out, but the sound died in its throat at the eight of those beady eyes, and it stood still, frozen with fear, and helpless.

Then the adder struck, moving so fast that the fleeting shadow of its form no sooner reached the little animal beyond than the cry of the hedgehog, feeling the prick of its sharp teeth in its neck, rang out like a clarion call into the wood. Rabbits ceased their comings' and goings; the nightingale had longhuehed his soliloquy, and the kindred of the wild everywhere remained silent save for the noise as adder and hedgehog fought out their duel in the clearing. Had it been a full-grown hedgehog the adder would never have tackled it, but the foolishness of the young animal had tempted it as no other prey was in sight. The young hedgehog rose and fell, trying to shake off the vice-like grip upon its neck, but all to no avail. It kicked out hard with its back legs each time the slimy skin coiled round its body, but its neck was already paralysed with th e poison of the adder, end as the moments passed, its movements grew weaker and slower and the coils of the snake twined round its body, breaking down the resistance of its etill soft spines. Then cam e another movement in the grass, so quick that it took the adder unawares. A small, plump form shot forward, and before the reptile could release its hold, a vice of pincer-teeth closed upon its neck, closed so tight that the adder's jaws slid open and the vouncr he.lgehog fell limp from its grasp" The mother hedgehog was just too late in her response to her youngster's calls Like a terrier worrying a rat, she shook tho adder again and again, jumpmnimbly as.de from the sweeping glances of its tail, and with a rat's resolve for a dying bite, the adder turned in an effort to see the fierce attacker, only to find the hedgehog turn with it

The moon had now come up and gone down many times on th e dead bodies of the snake and young hedgehog that lay in the sunlight of the clearing. The sextant-beetles and the carrionflies had laid their epgs in them, and the grubs were eating the flesh. And ceaselessly, backwards and forwards from the snake and hedgehog, two small brown birds hurried to and from the dark depths beneath the oak trees, al.ways leaving a cheeping of voices when they returned for more beakfuls of the grubs. And eventually, when five buff-spotted young nightingales came hopping into the sunlight, the journeyings ceased, and only the mat of oak leaves in the old nest remained as a testimony to the drama of the wild.