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Dominion, Volume 21, Issue 259, 2 August 1928, Page 16

Following the recent activity of Mount Nguuruhoe t>vo ’quakes occurred the other evening, which caused a certain'amount of alarm to residents in town, whose residences are situated on the ’quake belt (reports ' the “Wainiarino County Call”,). 'At 6.46 p.m. a pronounced rumbling noise was followed ’a ’qutike of unusual severity lasting about thirty seconds. The vibrations caused household chattels to rattle and the usual uncanny associations attached to earth quivers. The sei'ond'shake lasted-but a,-few seconds, and occurred within ten minutes of the first. The history and life of many of New Zealand’s native birds rmed the subject of a lecture by Mr. R. Falla, at Auckland Methodist College the other evening (says the “New Zealand Herald"). The speaker said the birds most common in New Zealand now had been introduced.. Ou account of the destruction of the bush many species of native birds had been reduced almost -to the point of extinction. He said the general opinion was that the kiwi was almost extinct, but this was not’a fact. . Kiwis were never seen by day, but came out at 'night. In places in the north of Auckland it was not an uncommon thing for dogs to bring one or two in a week. “The kiwi is by no means as rare as is often stated .and with reasonable protection should be with us for many years,” said Mr. Falla. Mr.' FMla said the tiuia commenced to decrease in numbers about 1907. The last huia seen was at the head of the Wanganui River in 1914, and since that time there had been no reliable report of one having been noticed. “The blame for this must be laid at the door of the collectors, who, when it was known the bird was becoming rare, combed the Dominion from • one end to the other for the birds,” ;aid Mr. Falla. "They took them away in pairs, and as the huia always hunted in pairs, it was a fairly easy matter, to catch them.” ...