HE KNOWS HOW TO HIDE

Auckland Star, Volume LXVIII, Issue 150, 26 June 1937, Page 6 (Supplement)

HE KNOWS HOW TO HIDE

By E. G. TURBOTT. B.Sc

THE HEDGE SPARROW.

Although I had never seen a hedge sparrow in Auckland I felt sure that I should add him to my list of birds as soon as I visited Christchureh. I had learnt that he was one of the commonest introduced birds in the South Island.

Actually I saw altogether only a couple of hedge sparrows in several weeks. The first sight of one showed me what was undoubtedly a bird not seen before. Even although there is nothing exciting about the hedge sparrow in the way of voice or colouring, he can make his mark in the world. What I saw was a small, brown, dark-eyed bird, feeding on crumbs on the grass left by the Avon's ducks. He was blackish brown above and bluish-grey, streaked with brown on head, neck and breast. Paler brown below and orange-brown on the feet completed his colour scheme. His beak was dark.

Beside this hedge sparrow was, strangely enough, a common house jiarrow. This emphasised the difference between them—for the hedge "sparrow" is not really a sparrow at all. Perhaps it was given the name because of its resemblance to the hen sparrow in colour. A glance shows that t*ie hedge sparrow has not a stout finch's bill, but a more slender one. like that of the song thrush and blackbird. It is to the latter birds that the hedge sparrow, or dunnock, as it is called in many parts of England, is related.

It will always be a long tune before any person can learn much, by ordinary observation, about the hedge sparrow. No bird is better at concealing its presence. It has both the quietest of ways and the most modest of colourings. Thus, altogether, we have not had much time to collect information about it in Xew Zealand. It has been here onlv since 1808.

In England, where tliey have known it longer, various note* about its habita have been collected. We should always seek for knowledge about introduced birds from their own countries, as well as noting them in their adopted land. In this ease, however, it is even more necessary to see how the bird live;; in its other and older home. There are lots of interesting things to be found out.

"Sometimes called the shulflewing. from a habit which it has of shaking its wings in a very peculiar manner." I read. (Worth looking out for that.) Then: "Its nest is better known than the builder; it is somewhat bulky, fortned of grass, hay, leaves, etc., and lined with feathers, wool and hair; it is generally placed in a hedge or bush, easy of access." (Should l)e easy to find in New Zealand, too.)

T find that the hedge sparrow is noted for the skilful way in which it approaches its giving almost no hint as to the situation. Also that it sometimes sings after dark.

The bird has a sweet, although rather monotonous eonjr. In New Zealand: "It is occasionally heard in early winter, but the bird begins to sing regularly in August and is heard throughout the summer, only stopping during the moulting season, which is about February * Besides this eong the hedge sparrow has another beautiful possession. Its eggs are an unspotted greenishblue. Of these two lots of four or five are usually laid during the year.

The hedge sparrow is, for all this, outstanding among the introduced New Zealand birds. This k because it does not do any particular harm. The skylark may pull up seedlings, the blackbird and song thrush may eat fruit, the house sparrow may do all sorts of evil, but the email hedge sparrow continues to be quite inoffensive. "The sparrow is a very orderly bird, its habits being the same all the year round. Its food consists mainly of insects and seeds." This seems to apply also in New Zealand, especially in the matter of insects. Any seeds eaten do not seem to be valuable ones. The insect search goes on continually. As the Hon. G. M. Thomson says" "The bird is too valuable to be destroyed."

Thie is probably not quite the best time of the year for the hedge sparrow and such birds. Insects are much less plentiful than in summer; and the trees which lose their leaves are so bare that even a hedge sparrow must have quite a lot of difficulty in keeping hidden.