IN TOUCH WITH NATURE.

Evening Post, Volume LXXVIII, Issue 9, 10 July 1909, Page 13

IN TOUCH WITH NATURE.

♦ NOTES ON NATURAL HISTORY IN NEW ZEALAND. (By James Drummond, F.L.S., F.Z.S.) (All Rights Reserved.) (For 'The Post.) THE KINGFISHER. . Tfc is somewhat surprising that although many correspondents have mentioned the kingfisher in their notes, there ft none who has said a good word for him. Ferocity, daring and quarrelsomeness are regarded as his most distinguished characteristics. He 6eems to be classed with the h^wks as a marauder and a parish amongst birds. To me he has always been one of the most attractive members of the native avifauna. I like to watch him sitting on a stump or bough overhanging a. running stream, silent, watchful, solemn and sedate. He is Patience on a Monument. He is a philosopher and. a thinker. -He 'has strength of will, or he would not sit hour after hour, in good weather and bad weather, waiting for something to turn up. He has an extraordinarily quick intellect, or ho woulS not know when to call upon all his faculties to act unerringly at the proper moment. I have often wondered what was passing in his mind as he sat there .looking out into world, apparently engrossed with the deepest thoughts on things in general, but always keenly watchful of the slightest flash of a scaly skin under the surface of ■the watier. His flight excites my admiration. There is no fluttering and flustering of plumage. His head, with its long strong bill, is thrust forward, his feet are tucked up underneath the body, and his whole torpedo-like shape is admirably suited to his movements as he, with his bright plumage catching the sun's rays, dashes through the air, "a living flash of light." Above all, he is a. good husband, and his mate is a good -wife, and 1 do not know of any bird parents who attend more assiduously to the comforts of their young, or Who fight more bravely to defend them from their enemies. I intend to write a complete biography of the kingfisher some day, and any kingfisher stories and photographs which are sent to me will find a place in it. Amongst lecent stories received are some from Air. C. Lewis, surveyor, of •East Takaka, in the North Island. He &ay:> that some years ago a friend and neighbour of his, who is a close observer, told him that he had seen a kingfisher swoop down from a high tree near a gate and catch a fantail that was flitting around some lower' bushes. The kingfisher carried the smail bird back to his branch on the high tree, and then patiently, and deliberately, and cruelly, worked at the unfortunate fantail until it was almost dead. The operation of swallowing occupied about half an hour, and when it was completed not a feather of the fantail was visible. Mr. Lewis and his friends wero young men, accustomed to the bush. They took keen delight in watching the birds in their beautiful homes, and after several years he mentioned this incident to another neighbour, who said that he had seen practically the same tragedy, a kingfisher darting down at several fantails who were playing over the water, seizing one, returning with it to his perch, and swallowing it. Later still, Mr. Lewis mentioned the two cases to a third neighbour, and was surprised to learn that he, also, could give evidence against the kingfisher, having found one which had evidently died in trying to swallow a fantail. "The victim's feathers aud head were partly visible, the great swallow having proved too much for the kingfisher's throat. All this shows that the fantail is frequently victimised by the kingfisher. Mr. Lewis, in mitigation of the offence, and in a very charitable spirit, expresses his belief that these marauding acts arc unpremeditated. He says that in these three cases, at any rate, the kingfishers were rather surprised at having caught their victims, but, having done so, followed an instinct which impels all members of this genus to swallow everything chance places in their -way. Sc/me years ago the New Zealand Herald reported an incident which took place in Wcllesley-street, Auckland. Several gentlemen had their attention directed to a kingfisher which had taken up a position on a tree near the thoroughfare. The bird suddenly darted towards a high bank on the side of the street, and quickly returned to his perch. There was «t mouse struggling in his bill. He struck his victim repeatedly against a rail, until the animal was stunned, and he then beat it to death and flew away to devour it in comfort. At Otalci, near Wellington, Sir Walter Buller once saw a kingfisher dart down into the midst of a very young clutch of chicken*. This time, however, the marauder reckoned without his host. The old barn-door hen was near, and, with one rapid thrust of her bill, put the assailant hors de combat. The kingfisher was stunned with the blow, but soon recovered, and made a hasty but effective escape. Sir Walter also records an encounter between a tat and a pair of kingfishers near Wanganui many years ago. The cat had been >treed by a dog, aud was hanging on to the trunk". In that position, she was furiously assailed by the kingfishers, who, apparently, thought that- she intended to interfere with their nest. After she had received repeated thrusts from their bills, she relaxed her hold, fell to the ground, and expired. Captain H. F. Way, of Whangamata, relates an incident which shows that a kingfisher does not confine his attentions to any particular species of small birds. One morning, at the entrance to a drive, he heard an unusual noise like "Whack, whack, whack." Following the sound, he saw a kingfisher sitting on a branch of a tree with something in his bill. He was making a rapid succession of whacks, first to the right and then to the left, and there were feathers flying in the air. It was then seen that the kingfisher had a white-eye, and was beating it on the branch in order to get rid of the feathers. As fast as the feathers disappeared, he swallowed the little bird, and the last Captain Way saw of the white-eye was its lej^s, protruding from the kingfisher's bill. The strength of flight attained by this bird, and the formidable character of its bayonet-like bill, is shown by the fact that there are several records of kingfishers having dashed headlong through panes of glass. Sir Walter Buller states that ihis occurred once in a church at Raglan during the service. The kingfisher, after recovering from the shock, roma-ined to the lust perched on the end of a pew, looking more devout than the Jackdaw of Rheims. Another case is reported by Sir Walter Buller at Wanganui, where the family of the Rev. C. H. Nicholls were startled at dinner one day by the entrance of a kingfisher, which flew through a pane of glass in one of the windows, scattering the fragments around. One more story may be taken from Sir Walter Buller's book. It is connected with a farmer at Paraekaretu, who had unaccountably lost several hives of bees. He discovered that his loss could be placed at the doors of a kingfisher, which was killed, and had its crop, full of bee*.