LURE OF THE WILD

Evening Post, Volume CV, Issue 123, 26 May 1928, Page 17

LURE OF THE WILD

ON THE MILFORD TRACK PRESENCE OF BIRD LIFE CHOIR IN THE WILDERNESS ; (By 10.13.ir.) Pliuoli from his 111 tie throat Such floods of delirious music. —Longfellow. lii the official pamphlet issued by the Tourist Department describing' the Milford Track- there is strangely enough no mention or! the presence of any bird life iv the district. Considering that below'the snow-line there is a wealth of glorious : bush' throughout Fiordland and that the wholo area has been proclaimed sanctuary for' many years, the omission to us was rather surprising, and our wonderment increased when we inquired of friends who had gone over the track previously, and we could get no satisfactory answer as to whether there was any bird life there or not. Being lovers of birds, and particularly of our unsurpassed native songsters, which we naturally expected to find in the wilds, this cast a dampener on our. anticipations when we. set out, but it had the effect of increasing our delight when we found that, so far from, there being a complete absence of native birds in this wonderful region, they were.there iv sumcient.numbers to add the necessary touch of life to the: whole surroundings. Perhaps the explanation of our unexpected enjoyment lay in the period of the year, Bth to 15th March, when we did the trip, and the birds were feeding on the berries of the forest; but whatever it was wo considered ourselves exceedingly fortunate in seeing most of our native birds in plenty, ami in hearing them iv glorious song. "HOME OF THE WILD BIRDS." Going up Lake Te Anau and rounding Foliage Head, wo focused the- glasses on j;ho luxuriant bush, and were ■interested to see pigeons and kakas- -and smaller birds flying from tree to trocr^-. promising~'evidence that we would at least find some birds along the track. Leaving Glade House and crossing the Clinton River, our hopes were strengthened by seeing the beautiful New Zealand pigeon feeding low down among the trees, while further up the track i kakas screeched'overhead or flew across | the canyon^ and swimming in the river | close- by, or sunning themselves on its clean white ■beaches, we saw numbers ; of Paradise.:and othor.varioties of duck. Next we came upon.'th'ij inakomako, oi-

A.. S>. Wilkinson. Photo.

bcllbird, singing gloriously in the leafy bowers overhead, and also low down among the smaller trees trilling forth in purest music Also coming down the track .to meet us, quite confidently and intensely curious,, were three weka chicks about half-grown; on they came to within a. couplo of feet of us, and stopped^ '-as we stopped for mutual in 'speelionj and then, evidently satisfied with what they had seen, they went offquietly into the fern bordering the track. This convinced us that in reality wo were .in ..the •home of the wild birds.- And so it proved to be from tiieii on wards', right out to Milford Sound, and particularly-in the Arthur Valley, where we found that the bush was abundant in. bird life'and rich in its calls and song... Strangely enough, the only"absentee, .and.<he. was a notable one, was'the tui. witlt.his lovely notes; wo.did notsee or hear a single specimen of his aristocratic race during •the whole time we were on the track. A CHOIR OF BELLBIRDS. But the absence' of'the tui was made up for largely by the presence of the bellbirds, whose bell-like note we heard ■■frequently throughout the forest, and which, jiow :in solo,1 and over and anon in chorus, burst forth frequently into song. Whilei we wove tramping up the Clinton Canybii several in a small bush sang joyously to us, quite undisturbed by our presence. It was in the Arthur Valley, however, that we found a rare musical treat reserved for us. Although it was raining steadily the bush was well stocked in places, with bellbirds in full-song. Passing under one tree there were.as many as six bellbirds singing, almost, in unison, together, while others again were warbling nearby. We could not but stand and listen spellbound to this wonderful choir of the wilderness, so mellifluous in its cadences, full-throated and clear, which will forever live in1 our ears. Listen ere tlio sound be. fled, And learn there may be worship without word/i. ■ ■ • —Longfellow..1 It was a pure delight. What matter the rain when ,wo t were so favoured by New Zealand's sweetest songsters'? Revelling in the bellbirds' song throughout the twenty milcs'or more of bush along the track, I had yet another experience which I must not fail to record. Going, down tlic Clinton Canyoiii. on the return journey by myself, I came upon a bellbird feeding upon the berries of ■ a small tree, shoulder high and-within arm's'length of me, singing ,in between whiles' well nigh as if his little throat would burst in his sheer joy of life and his wonderful surroundings, lie saw me quite clearly. Now and again he nipped another berry, and looking at mo full in the i'iico sang his song deliriously, going up and down the full register of his sweetest notes. Graceful in form, his beautiful green plumage showing out in the" finest lustre,'he was a poem in himself, the gladdest expression of Nature's heart. NOISY, INQUISITIVE WBKAS. The most, numerous species we found on the track, however, was the noisy, cheeky, fascinating little weka. Round about the Pompolona and Quinton Huts whole families of them hunted about, always busy, chasing and fleeing from one another as if for dear life, playing

„. >>. NVUKIIISUII, l-lIUld.

hide-and-seek, insatiable in. endeavouring Jo satisfy their amazing curiosity. All day Jong and. throughout .the night wo heard their •curious calls in the forest; wc:camo upon them everywhere. But it was. at the half-way .'hut down the Arthur Valley that wo were most

touched and amused. "Wo. wore having luncheon when an entire family, the chicks almost fully grown, came up immediately, and plainly expected to be fed. Wo each of us kept on throwing them something which the parent birds grabbed and promptly fed to tho chicks without taking the slightest morsel for themselves; it' was only when the younger ones' appetites had been fully satisfied that the elder birds partook of anything for themselves. We .watched them with 'never-failing- interest and amusement. We were told that the wekas breed twice- a year, aW treat (he first brood with fond parental care, such as we had seen, until, Iliey decide upon having the second family, and that upon that day they turn upon tho first brood with savage peeks and cast them adrift to fend for themselves. And so they p'usa on tho tradition from generation to generation. Such, wo were informed, is the law of tho weka. WEIRD CRIES OP THE KEAS. Of the birds commonly seen on tho Milfo*l Track the weirdest of all are tho keas. They evidently keep constant vigil for the trampers invading their haunts, for on both occasions that wo ascended, out of the bush in the climb over the M'Kinnon Pass they greeted us at on.cc with their uncanny cry, and flew off screeching up and down the mountain sides, telling of our presence. On the return journey, as we broke the bush line, one of them flew off and

alighted on a rock nearby, and deliberately inspected us as wo passed. Wo got an excellent view of him, magnificent iii his green plumage. . Wo were to become familiar -with1 the 'kens' cry among the mountain crags above as. we did the return stage down the Clinton Canyon. . . It was certainly ''the .call of the wild." Wo saw-yellow-breasted tomtits, tiny wrens, and ever-fluttering fantails, though not so many of these as wo would have liked. In the Arthur Val-:L<?y-^ve..:Saw.-«iinikors.;:Q±'.:pig.eons tumbling gracefully in the air and flying from.tree to tree and across the valley; also, when JVC ,\verc voyaging down the ■Arthur Biyer and across Lake Ada there were scores of duck of various varieties, and hundreds of black swans, tho latter 'at rest on the placid waters of the lake. AN OUTLAW OF THE FOREST. My brother, who>was one of the party, writes: "On our return from the glorious ousting wo spent on Milford Sound I took.a stroll'by myself a little way up the.track through the bush towards Lake Ada, and had not gone far when my attention was attracted by sounds of indignant chirpings from numbers of small birds close at hand. Curiosity and the hope, of helping a feathered inhabitant of this beautiful and grand scenic resort induced mo to enter tho forest. A curious sight met my eyes. A morepork owl, perched on a small tree, and in rather a ruffled state, was surrounded, seemingly, by all tho small birds'in the neighbourhood. These were.-living round the owl indignantly chirping and saying hasty things about him. Tho owl ivas being chased . . \

C. Lindsay, l'l.oiu

from branch to branch and tree to tree, and quite a pandemonium reigned until he sought refuge in some leafy recess. It was quite apparent to me" that he was an outlaw of .the forest, and that the birds were scolding him for tho misdeeds: which he had wrought on their kind, during his nocturnal ramblings." •KIWIS SEEK ON" THE TRACK. The rarest experience which any of us had of bird -life on the track, how; ever, fell to my own particular lot ■whenI was fortunate enough to see two very fine specimens of the Great, or Southern Kiwi' which inhabit Fiordland, and which, being a nocturnal bird, is so

Government I'ublidt.v Photo.

seldom seen. The other members of the -party having gone on the previous day to Glade.House in order, to climb Skelroorlio Peaks (5935 ft) on the following day, 14th March, I was left to do the final stage of ten miles to Glade House alone, and I quite looked forward to the prospect, as the weather conditions were perfect, and I proposed loitering by the wayside enjoying the entrancing lSeauties of the bush, canyon, and river in silent contemplation. I set out from Pompolona at 8.35 a.m., and ten minutes later was going silently along a thickly-shaded and mossstrewn' portion of the track, and was coming to a bend to the. right, when a large object clashed across tho path and dived into the fern on the left-hand side. It was certainly a bird, ami, being much larger than a weka, with which -we had all become familiar, I thought it might have been a kiwi, but I did- not..see -it distinctly enough to make sure. Thoroughly alert, slackening my. pace a little, and treading soft-

ly, I came to the bend, and there, about 15 feet away, saw a fully-grown kiwi in all his native splendour. Ho was in full view, standing sideways on, and had his head down, with his attention concentrated on something m tho fern on the left, and had his back turned to the, middle of tho path. He at once saw me, and gave a startled cry. Instantly a second kiwi, somewhat smaller, dashed out on to the track in great alarm. Both birds hesitated for a second, and then the bigger one of the two dashed off down the track at great speed, and in the queerest ambling gait, as fast as his stout legs could carry him, while the smaller one, wjiich evidently did not see me, for I was standing still, rushed up the track towards me! I thought it was going- to charge past me, but when it got within three feet it saw me, stopped dead for a second; or two, and then dashed off into the fern. Meanwhile tho larger bird careered down the track, and had gone fully, fifty yards when it disappeared round another bend. . . "RARER THAN I KNEW." It was an exciting experience, and rarer than. I knew until I made subsequent inquiries. The larger kiwi, I concluded, was the male bird and the smaller one tho female—probably the- same bird I had seen originally flash across the path a few yards further back —evidently a track through the.undergrowth had led out on to the: pathway on the far side of the bend. I. saw both birds very distinctly, being. afforded sufficient time in which -to observe all their salient features, and had no difficulty afterwards in the Otago and Canterbury Museums in identifying the specimens Tsaw as the Great, or Southern Kiwi. From inquiries I made I could get no report.of even any member of the permanent staff having seen a kiwi on the track, or any record of a tourist having been so fortunate, for many years. I attribute my good fortune to pure luck, and to the facts that I was alone, making no noise, and the forest was thick and well shaded at this particular spot. In bird life, therefore, wo found the track full of "fascinating interest; .indeed, to such an extent, that it formed % ono of the chief enjoyments of: our whole trip. ' ■ . , [The next and concluding article will discuss conditions on.the Milford Track generally.] ..-.'.