STOATS AND WEASELS.

Dominion, Volume 2, Issue 565, 21 July 1909, Page 8

STOATS AND WEASELS.

AN INTERESTING COMMUNICATION. BY THE HON. T. MACKENZIE. On June 28 The Dominion published particulars of a call for information made by Mr. Edgar Stead of Christchurcli (in connection with the Ornithologists' Union) touching tho incessant warfare which oxists between our New Zealand birds and what are known as "natural enemies." In response to this call, Mr.'R. c} Bruce, of Hunterville, forwarded the results' of observations in his own district, his article being published on Monday last. The.following interesting contribution to the; discussion is now supplied "i by the Hon. T. Mackenzie (Minister for Agripnjture):—

"I read with great interest and pleasure Mr. R. C. Brace's-Valuable contribution on our bird life which appeared in your issue of Monday last, and the influence which, in his opinion,. stoats and weasels are having upon i it. Mr. Bruce is such a faithful student of Naturo, that when he writes upon a subjcct | we know that his views are honest and thorough. His experiences, he tells us, are, of course,; those gained in tho. vicinity of hishomo and the Rangitikei district. The conclusion 'arrived at by Mr. Bruce in His article is, I take ; it, that the rat is a greater; enemy to our bird; life than the weasel, stoat, or ferret. ' •' "Our experiences in the south, whilst they confirm: Mri Bruce's views regarding the harm tho rat< does, prove that, the depredations of .the .latter 'vermin are quite: over-, shadowed by the weasel and ferret. Indeed, in >my opinion, the days of many of our most charming species of birds are numbered. Nowadays one rarely, sees a saddleback, jack-bird; 'native thrush, or wattlecrow in..;onr forests, whilst the kaka arid parakeet in some of our largest woods are almost' unknown. The robin;; of', course, has' almost v entirely : disappeared. Now ' the. Nor-, wegian -rat hod enjoyed full range'through our land for many years before • the intro-V dnction of the. ferret or and yet these birds held , their own. But , since the introduction Vofi •' these other - vermin, / they ■ are gradually but surely becoming extinct; Those who have My/indered in the West Coast Fiord, country, can. to . the- depredations of - tho fdrret and weasel, and this' result clearly, indicates' tbe different habits ,of these bird enemies. The .rat kills for flesh,, the ! ferret ami weasel for blood, and the', consequence is .that t.hd proportion of birds killed by the. latter enormously .outnumbers thosis done to death by the former: - iTho weasels kill i\nd ,pass on, leaving tho dead kiwis ■ arid • kakapos x simply with a puncture' in' the neck, without touching a particle' of tho body as a rule.

The Weasel as Assassln-jn-Chlef. > The climbing habits of the weasel enable it to reach with ease the'nests of the para-; keet.and kaka.., Ai friend ;of mine, taking a shot at a. kaka some time ago in,the Catlina district, shot at the same time a weasel which was clinging to the iird's tli •. Ml- Another friend: .of mine in the samo forest; was carefully watching a brood' of young parakeets, whenono dayon goingtothc i, est he put in his hand aid found 1 a weasel with the; mother-bird dead in its claws; : Regarding our Paradiso ducks,lHave very seldom seen in recent .years a' brood of more than .three • or four, whereas; formerly ..twice- -or three times' that number was common.; A naturalist friendv of mine residing near! the Lammorlaws ; was," last -year, greatly interested in watching a Paradise duck sitting on some twelve eggs. One. day on ;visiting the-nest, ho found the drick killed by a' weasel, with the usual, puncture in the neck;, On mentioning this instance to Mr: Robert Murrell; of; Lake. Manapo'uri, who is likewise a' great lover of our- birds, he said that it /was a very, ordinary .thing to_ discover the Paradise duck killed on the nest; he had frequently found them newly-killed, and, had also found old nests with the skeleton of the motherbird mixed! up with the urihatched eggs. At other times the eggs were suckcd, tho process.ibemg.tOAbitO' the end out of tho shell. Birds that Survive. Mr. Bruco refers to the fact of tho- bell bird being extinct in his neighbourhood. They are-'still commo'ii withi .iis in many parts' of;.' Otago, and, together with the : tui,' appear' to hold: their, own in districts. Two years: ago I was in A tho bush behind Otaki, and was delighted to come on half a dozen' ;bell birds ! /.togetlier with some tuis. A year or two back I explored-tho country between the head-waters of Lakes Tp Anau and Waka-v tipu,' and saw only two robins in the whole of; tbat distance. 'Last year I wals up We'Route-' burn, near Lake Harris Saddle, when, to tny great pleasure,; I came "across a few' golden-" headed canaries. •, I had' not seen any Jot years, and I remarked to my companion ! that if a parakeet could, bo found, anywhere they would :be found in the; company of canaries. I had not seenia parakeet-.for a considerable number of years, but presently, to my great joy, I saw- two- accompanying .'about half.'a dozen of the;.-!golden-headed, canaries. / I might here iadd. that it was my experience invariably that, wherever these canaries were found .in the woods,, there tie parakeet was also,. and; incessantly, on the .move, flitting from tree to tree in joyous abandon. The Kiwi Acquiring "the Noble Art." " . the kakapo. roas, and kiwis. it seems to me as if a check had been, put upon their ,most deadly enemies, the weasel and ferret, : because the weka has now discoveredhow, to: deal with these vermin..' Although;! have not myself seen a fight, yet a '.fight has been described to me as representative of several that have been witnessed' between the weka , and the -weasel .or ferret, the weka usually aiming off victorious. If the superiority of the weka in this respect becomes estab-lished,-it will be a .very great pleasure to the lovers of ;;our , native birds, because it-will aHow the numbers of .the latter to.again increase on "the West Coast. Weasels and for-' refa were liberated west of the Waiau many years ago by some officers of the Stock. Department. and they have caused great havoc to bird life ii this part of the Dominion. Why they were ever liberated there passes my comprehension. To-be gin with,: rabbits-did'not : establish themselves west of these' interior cold' lakes, and, if they had, it would not have signified'much, because the. country 'is unsuitable for stock, arid'as"the; forests extend from two thousand to nearly four thousand feet up, the snows of winter wopld drive ihe.rabbits away. Onco or twice,rabbits have ■reached some of.the valleys in the Western Sounds,' but' the country is - not suitable . for tlieir increase." The Ferret. When refeirmg to the depredations of the weasels uponythe native pigeon, I might have mentioned j&at the usual, method of attack by . the ,former is to get on: a branoh above the N termed birdand to -drop down upon him, murderer and victim falling to tho earth together. ' .'. . , . The greatest auttwrrfcy on our bird life in the . southern portion of New Zealand is Mr.. Riobw-d Heory. He has largely lived his life amongst them, is a keen oijd_ criticail observer, and never,states aa opinion, without the most exhaustive inquiry and.-care,,and this is what he says in connection with the ferret :t- - , "The ferret,- with- his stiajp daws and ' beady,"■ villainous eyes, is- the 'worst foe of the lot, and more destructive than the ■ wholeof the, other, enemies combined." Hero are other reasons, too, why some of our native birds may become extinct, and one is that the food supply, is boing greatly interfered with by the introduced birds. The imported sparrows and thrushes have become honey-eaters, among the-many other habits they have adopted in their new environment. ; July 20. : C.'v.', ";-V