OUR Birds

Dominion, Volume 29, Issue 133, 29 February 1936, Page 23

OUR Birds

You must often have seen the quaint figure of the pukeko with his scarlet legs and bright blue plumage, as be stalks through grassy clumps or swampy patches. Like a policeman ... or a soldier. How many of ypu guessed that the pukeko, together with the kaka-riki (small green parrot), which is seen only in isolated spots or in bird sanctuaries to-day, was brought to New Zealand from Hawa-iki long ago? They came in the great canoe “Aotea,” which was navigated by the chief, Turi. Not only did the Maoris bring the pukeko and the kakariki, but also the edible rat (kiore). the kumara, and the karaka tree, with which most of us are familiar.

Kahu (the garment), the Harrier hawk, was indeed clothed in line feather raiment, sometimes Kahu Rangi, the Mantle of Heaven. Dark brown head, with real hawk eyes and email, sharp beak, encircled by a perfect necklace of tawny white plumes, this, with abundant covering of striped feathers and silvery tail, made the big fellow a beauty among his kind. Slow-flying on a widespread wing, soaring at a low altitude ■where he might <Lrdp upon a bird, a rat, or a rabbit, made him an easy shot for a I’iflc or a eports gun. A cat was said to be the only small animal which instinct taught him wisely to avoid. Th# hawk coud soar without any wing movement for an hour. It was a searcher for duck eggs, and fed greedily upon dead sheep. Great flocks of small birds attack and worry this slow goant of the air until he drops to cover. If the nesting place Was approached they made no fight, but simply left. —Silver Peacock (13), Palmerston North.

New Zealand has several - bird sanctuaries, the best known being at Little Barrier Island and at Kapiti. The last should be well known to most Wellingtonians, for thcTong, bush-clad and steep island is a well-known sight on the journey from the north. Here there are many birds that are nearly extinct on the mainland, including the little green parakeets, the kiwi and many more. And these small feathered creatures have become very tame on their island home, so that they are a great joy to the few people that live there, and can be studied in all their natural haunts by the visitors to the island.