A BUSH POLICEMAN

Evening Post, Volume CVI, Issue 132, 15 December 1928, Page 7

A BUSH POLICEMAN

IMPORTANCE OF THE WEKA "The weka is considered by those who have given the matter study and careful observation to be one if not the most important of our indigenous birds that attend to the destruction and therefore control of pests inhabiting the ground," writes Captain E. V. Sanderson, hon. secretary of tho N.Z. Native Bird Protection Society. "Careful tests of this bird's habits will demonstrate how extremely active ho is in destroying snails, wood lice, and all manner of pests. With his strong beak he is able to turn over quite largo pieces of wood and debris in order to gain access to the concealed food, while in the forests his destruction of rats is thus praised by such a competent observer as Guthr.ieSniithj who writes: 'It is.to such species as the crows, the robins, tho tits, the warblers, tho thrushes, the saddleback, the bush-crcepcr, tho ycllowhead, the whitehead, the wrens, tho tui, the bollbird, tho pigeon, and the parrakcots that the presence of the weka is an unmixed boon. If they still continue to survive it is to his ceaseless vigilance, his policing of tho woods, his- eternal patrol of them by day and night, that we owe their lives; and these, species, we may say, ho watches without reward. From other kinds aided in tho struggle for life," such as rails, ducks, pukeko, possibly, and from tho fern-bird and ground-lark, certainly he does take his toll. It is a tribute levied fit and fair, and, the merest fraction of what is robbed by rats; a mere nominal fee, in fact, charged for life insurance. The larger kinds of birds, such as kiwis, hawk, falcon, etc., under normal conditions watch their eggs too carefully to give the weka a chance. If in any way his presence in tho woods affects these birds it is to ensure a high degree of faithful incubation. To them he is a tonic against sloth and carelessness. If, then, in New Zealand any serious interest ever comes to be taken in our native birds, the most efficient method of preserving the smaller tree-breeding species lies in the propagation of the weka. Of all the birds that deserve our care he comes foremost, and assistance ■withheld from him is help denied to half the indigenous birds oil Hew Zealand.' "Where opossums have been introduced it is difficult to see how. this very valuable bird can be re-established, as the traps set jto catch these imported j fur-bearing animals must sooner or later prove fatal to such an inquisitive bird as the weka. Many people assert j that the weka is more than an equal match for the weasel if he gets first hold, and reports state that in the western Nelson district wekas have evolved the idea of attacking these pests in pairs, and are thus increasing, while on Kapiti sanctuary the rat appears to have adopted a system of working in mobs, possibly with a view to combating the weka's activities. Whether such is the case or not rats appear to be gaining an upper hand, and the contents of the nests of many birds arc reported by the curator as having form time to tinio been destroyed. Careful examination of the stomach contents of these rats and of the omnivorous opossum by scientists competent to do so should determine which is the evil doer. The weka when present in numbers was declared war upon by somo acclimatisation societies owing to his liking for eggs, but here again research should have preceded action in the face of the fact that other indigenous ground nesting birds had not been exterminated but had prospered, while a recent case was the nesting of a mateless hen pheasant on an island wliere wekas were present in largo numbers. The bird laid over a dozen eggs, and the nest was not molested. Surely then, aa has been mentioned by GuthrioSmith, the function of tho weka, as shown in this case, is to destroy . the eggs of those birds which do not faithfully attend to their incubation duties. There is yet much further room for experiment and observation with a view of the re-establishment of such a desirable bird as the weka, but unfortunately those in authority are not keen to carry out rrueh work in this direction owing to the necessary cost, even though the results might prove of inestimablo value to our own welfare."