THE TUATARA LIZARD'S DISCOVERY

Auckland Star, Volume LXXIV, Issue 54, 5 March 1943, Page 5

THE TUATARA LIZARD'S DISCOVERY

(By DAWN STEPHENS) One evening when there was a full moon some of the birds and animals of the bush were out for a midnight ramble. When they came to the edge of the bush, their attention was 'caught by two books under a pine tree. Presently a sound of astonishment came from the tuatara lizard causing all the birds to rush and look. "Isn't that me on that piece of paper, Tui?" "Indeed, I believe it is," said Tui, taking an extra careful look. "Why, it says '8d postage and revenue' under your picture. Wonder what it all means?" In the meantime, a busy little fantail had been casting a quick eye over the rest of the page. "Why, there I am, too! Really, this is quite exciting! Surely the owners of these books must be keeping our pictures or be very interested in us. There is 'id' on my piece of paper."

"Goodness! Can anyone see me anywhere?" asked Tui. They all looked, and suddenly sprightly little fantall saw Tui's picture on a stamp with "1/" marked on it. He was sitting calmly on a tree branch. "I can see friend kiwi on a paper-piece, too. See yourself, Kiwi?" questioned Tui. "It says ' Id' on it." "I'm not forgotten, then," said Kiwi, rubbing his lengthy beak over the stamp surface. .... , , "Well, that's not fair," said a disgruntled pukeko. "I'm not there, and

"Who's not where?" asked the deep voice of a human being. No, the animals did not rush away. It was their Maori friend, whom they knew well. He understood all their bird language. "Well," said the Tui, "we've found a book with pieces of paper on it and some of us on them." ... "How interesting!" said the Maori. "Let me look," and he picked up one of the books. Then a hearty laugh escaped him. . "My dear friends, these pieces of paper are New Zealand stamps, and the books are called albums. They must have been left here by the little girls who live in the house over the way. They d probably been exchanging stamps and forgotten they'd left them here. See! There's an old victory stamp with a picture of one of my kinsfolk on it; and here's another of one of our Maori princesses." The Maori went on: "You birds are really honoured, because these stamps are used for posting things all over the world. Your portraits are typical of New Zealand and represent us, because you are natives of our dear country." "Oh! how wonderful," replied all the birds "That's one thing we didn't know before." And off they wandered back to the bush to slumber in their cosy homes.