IN TOUCH WITH NATURE.

Evening Post, Volume LXXVII, Issue 133, 12 June 1909, Page 13

IN TOUCH WITH NATURE.

(By James Drummond, F.L.S., F.Z.S.). (All Rights Reserved.) (For The Post.i BIRDS IN THE WANGANUI ' DISTRICT. New Zealand ornithologists regard Wanganui as one of the classical districts of the country. It was there | that Sir Walter Buller made many of his notes and collected many of the skins for the large collections he formed, and descriptions of Wanganui scenery constitute some of the brightest passages of his famous "History of the Birds." It will give a great deal of pleasure to readers of this column, therefore, to learn, on the authority of Mr. Thomas Dix, whose work as a surveyor has given him a wide bush experionce, that native birds are still fairly plentiful in the district. Tho quantity of bush destroyed in the back blocks 18 very small compared with the quantity still standing tbera. The time is not far distant, apparently, when the axe and the fire will claim most of the bnsh, but the Government has reserved areas of forest-clad land along tho banks of the Wanganui Rivor, and those scenic reseives should afford shelter to a number of native birds for all time. Mr. Dix finds that small birds a2'e more plentiful thaD larger species, a condition that seems to prevail in most parts of Now Zealand. The riroriro (grey waibler), wren, fantail, tit, lark, ■white-eye, shag, tui, dotterel, kaka, crow, shining cuckoo, weka, kiwi, pigeon, harrier, and bell-bird a^e fairly numerous ; and the rail, parrakeot, swamp-hen, long-tailed cuckoo, bittern, and sparrow-hawk, though not very plentiful, aro frequently seen. This is a lon<r and satisfactory list. It is specially gratifying on account of the fact, that it includes tho North Island crow, which in recent years has often been reported to be extinct. • Thcso birds mi>y not be plentiful in all parts of the district, but in some localities they are "exceedingly numerous." It is the grey warblei, with its happy nature, that appeals most to Mr. Dix. "Its whistle can bo beard during the heaviest of storms, and when there is not even a sotmd from the other birds. About sixteen years ago an old Maori man in Tarauaki mentioned that the riroriro slightly changed its notes and whittled more shrilly before rain. I have studied the bird closely and have found that that is correct. ,By observing tlio whistle I J have noted th;'* the change in the weather always tomr-v on about two or three days after the alteration in the bird's note, though it is to be admitted that there might be only a very slight shower at times, and then we would have an- j other spell of fine weather." Bell-birds are exceptionally plentiful on the watershed of the Wanganui and Mangawhero Rivers. It is only recently that Mr. Dix has come to realise what a bonny bird the bell-bird is. One beaulilul morning lie lound a tui and five bell-birds within a radius of half a chain, and there seemed lo bo a competition as to which should sing the sweetest. All the birds were singing the same tune, and the bell-birds pro- i bably were mocking the vii. All the j ! bell- birds had a finisning note which resembled a nicely-tuned bell, but which ! was missing in the tui's song. / Crows ! also are plentiful on. the watershed. J They seem to bo more plentiful during i the winter on the tops of the ridges, j They are usually found at an altitude i of about two thousand feet and they favour the tawhero moio than any other tree for their haunts. The kiwi is fairly plentiful on the watershed of the Waitotara and Wangnnui Rivers, but j may also be found, though not in great , numbers, on the Mangawhevo-Wanga- j iiui watershed. In the former locality , Mr. Dix recently caught a half-grown j kiwi. He says that it was amusing to \ see the way in which it ran. It seemed j to be a black ball rolling towards him, j as its head could not be seen. The Maoris, he adds, frequently catch kiwis with dogs and u?e the feathers for the ( better class of nidts. Ho suppoits the ( statements of other correspondents, that j the nest oi tho nt'.tive pigeon is not often found. He believes that pigeons build, their nests chiefly in all trees, which people are unable to climb, and tiiat that is the reason. ' j The shining cuckoo is plentiful all over the district. Last December he saw six of these birds in a cluster feeding on gra^s about half a mile from the edgo of the bush. Long-tailed cuckoos 'are not very plentiful. A few years ago he saw two during the winter. On one occasiou a long-tailed cuckoo alighted on a, tree close to where he was standing. After a thoit time it began to whistle, and it appealed to him thai iL could throw the 'sound in any direction. The shining cuckoo is believed to have the power of ventriloquism, and Mir. Dix suggests that the other New Zealand member of

the family may have the same gift. Wbiteheads are very rare in the district, and he only once had the good fortune to see a flock of them. There were about six, and he watched with pleasure the thorough manner in which they worked a tree in eearch of insects, ail the time chirping to one another. Weka.s are ."exceedingly plentiful*' both lan the bu^li and the open country. The gorse hedges provide splendid shelter for them, and it is thought that it will ( be a long time before they are killed out. I He was amused at a chase he saw be- | tween a weka and a dosx. In took place along the banks of the~Turpkina River. The weka could not obtain shelter to evade the dog, and its only chance was to swim the river. It did this and swam splendidly, and got away ftom the dog. Some years ago, while working close to Shannon, he discovered a weka's nest containing eggs. The nest was situated over two feet above the ground. He had not long to wait to ascertain the reason for building it at that height. A flood came and stopped the survey party's work for a fortnight ; on their ' return they found that the Hood had not i reached the nest. The bittern is becoming very rare in the district; he has seen it only in the locality of Marahau Lake. The grey duck is not .nearly so plentiful as it was ten years ago ; it becomes very wary at the opening of the shooting season. Tho teal and the blue mountain duck are not very plentiful Some years ago, when woiking in the Central OUigo district, he found a paradise duck mated to a grey drake, with several young. Mr. Dix adds that the Wanganui Museum is very fortunate in its collection of albino birds. Several alibnos have been reported to him by bushmen lately. > Last season a friend was out shooting and sak a white kaka, and a white kiwi has been reported near Lake Taupo.