NATURE NOTES

Evening Post, Volume CVI, Issue 56, 15 September 1928, Page 17

NATURE NOTES

JOTTINGS FROM A DIAR^i IN BUSH AND WASTE LANDS (By E. H. D. Stidolph, E.A.0.U.) Always.neat in appearance, New Zealand's representative of the pipit family, the ground lark, as it is commonly! called by residents, does not appear to be very partial to districts -which are closely cultiyated. Its numbers in such parts of the country arc-almost negligible, except perhaps in winter months or late autumn, when occasional parties sometimes pay a visit in small flocks, Otherwise an odd pair may be observed oh the wastes of. a river-bed; but if a visit is paid to the rougher pastoral country there the pipit will be found in much greater abundance. . One September, when walking along the course of the Ruarnahanga River, which flows throughout the Wairarapa Valley, the writer flushed a pipit from its nest, which was situated beneath a stunted plant of the introduced broom. Tiie nest was a particularly cosy one. Prevailing winds had blown the broom over to an angle of about 45 degrees, and beneath . the shelter tlvus formed tha nest was placed, at the* foot of tha plant. This bird, on being disturbed from its task of incubation, followed the custom of its species and took up a position' on a nearby tree stump and constantly jerked its tail, a habit characteristic of this species. The nest contained three eggs, about the size of those of the sparrow.' They were dirty white in colour, and were thickly mottled all over with light brown and mauve, the former predominating. The nest itself was built of grass. In tho vicinity of Onoke Lake, which is separated from the waters of Palliser Bay by a sand-spit only, blaclt swans find conditions congenial, and at the upper end of the lake, where many lagoons border its shores these birds may be found breeding. Early in one January the writer visited the locality, and on a piece of low-lying land almost surrounded-~by water quite a number of black swans-had--their nests, which were all placed within a few yards of the water. . The sight was particularly interesting, as the birds wero seen .in. various stages of- their matrimonial duties.. Naturally, in order to accommodate such a large bird the nest is a bulky structure, about three feet in diameter, and built of pieces of drift wood, rushes ,of grass, and snugly lined with a plentitude of down, plucked, from the parent's body. In.all, sixteen nests were examined. Two were being built, two were empty, and another two had just been vacated. ; ffho bulk •£ the remainder contained from two to seven eggs each. The e^gs are about four inches'in length and two and a half inches across, the shell being of a granulated texture. -The colour varies with the freshness of' the egg. Those recently laid are much more whitish than tho greenish-toned colour of the incubated eggs. The first nest examined had four young birds, not long hatched, but clothed in copious grey-coloured down, white beneath. Their legs and feet .were greenish-grey and their bills slate. 'Another "nest "contained four youngsters and two eggs, one being chipped, arid a little further on tho actual,emergence of a cygnet from its shell was witnessed and photographed. A number of young birds quickly took to the water on the approach *f the intruders, accompanied by their parents. The black swan, ; by' the .way, 'evidently'has an extended breeding.'season, as on another occasion.a nest of;this bird whs found'on 'a. "lagoon on.the eastern shores of Wairarapa1 Lake at tho end of March. This nest was bui.it amongst a thick growth of raupo, the dead leaves of which it was constructed. Six egga occupied the cup of the nest, which was the only one in use of several in the vicinity. -■' ; . * Banded dc-tterels. find the conditions .existing on the extensive river-beds of the Wairarapa district much to their liking for breeding purposes, and every year numbers arrive to take up domestic duties during the spring and summer months.. In October of one year a banded dotterel came ' running. towards the writer iri: a,series of 'short laps, a mode, of progression characteristic of the species. At every ..step, following the usual custom, it bobbed its head :whcii it uttered a "twit"-like note. The male bird flew overhead in varying circles, and uttered ■ warning notes. The writer hid in some broom nearby, and after flying'over the locality several times one of the adult birds settled on the river-bed, piped for a short period, and then ran silently, again in stages, to'the nest,: upon which it immediately settled. The site was carefully marked, and an inspection revealed the presence of two eggs, and one chick, in a slight, cup-like depression, which served the purposes of a nest. One of the eggs was chipped. ;.The eggs were of a greenish grey colour, marked with bold spots aiid marks of black, with a few markings of,slate. One egg had a yellowish tinge.. The young bird was attractively clad in down of brown and white, its large, well-developed legs and feet, of a grey colour, being particularly noticeable. = '•■■■•• One of the most pleasant features of a sojourn of several days on a small flat in the Tararua Mountains in tho. vicinity of Mount Holdsworth was a visit every morning by a pair of bellbirds. The tent was pitched close to a kotukutuku or fuchsia, and, regularly at daybreak the bellbirds came to the tree to sip the nectar from the many ftowera which hung from the branches. Occasionally one of the birds would utter its beautiful chiming note. As the day was more advanced yellow-fronted parrakeets also visited the flat, paying particular attention to tho fuchsia trees, in order to sample the green berries. A long-tailed cuckoo would often disturb the silence of the,.forest.with its harsh screech, and a company of whiteheads, in bustling mood, would make quite a din with ' thoir .constant chatter. A shining cuckoo would occasionally sen<i forth its penetrating.notes,, and an odj tui would fly over with noisy flight* Perhaps once a day a kaka would utter a noisy announcement of its presence as it flew overhead, and then dived into the depths of the woods. Pert little tomtits would pop up in unexpected situations, and the smallor rifleman wren, would ascend in spiral fashion the trunk of some forest tree in its' search for minute insects.