NATURE NOTES

Evening Post, Volume CVII, Issue 10, 12 January 1929, Page 17

NATURE NOTES

THE CHAFFINCH A WIDESPREAD SPECIES (By It. 1-1. D. Stidolpl^E.A.O.U.) ■■■ A. fairly numerous' introduced' bird in tho Waimarino district-is the; chaffinch, one of the most attractive, of the species brought to New Zealand. It is found there alike 'around the' homesteads and in the depths of the forest. Tho-chaffinch, is a pretty, bird, .and its sprightly actions makes, it« a general favourite. The male -bird is clad in beconii))j,'.garb. The rich"'colour of the back, which is reddish,, chestnut,' the ■bluish colour of the.crown' and/sides of the neck, and the transverse "white, bars on the wing at once attract attention. Tho female is not quite so; attractive, having the bars on the wing much less distinct and a generally more drab plumage. The chaffinch was first introduced into New Zealand between 18G2 and 18G4,'wheh. the Nelson Acclimatisation Society liberated thes'pecies. Later other societies, notably the. Canterbury, Otago, Hckland,, and Wellington, followed. The Hon. G. M. Thomson,, who wrote up the history of acclimatisation in New Zealand very completely, states that, though the birds ■■' ■•are 1., now. very abundant, .especially in the North, they did not always succeed in establishing themselves. 1 For the first; few .years after their introduction into. Otago, he states, they became fairly common, and then disappeared altogether. They. probably fed 011 the poisoned .grain put. down for rabbits, and it -is, only within tho .;la'st twenty years that'thcy have begun to come back..,-: , „;: -

■ Referring, to the fboil of/the, chaffinch in the' Old Country; the 'late Rev. C. A. .Johns,' a most'charming 'writer, .stated: ' 'During the open weather of .'autumn and early winter'-.chaffinches '.-. frequent stubble aiid ploughed fields, .where,they busily'collect grain and;: the/seeds of various weeds, and are not very: scrupulous whether. they are,'." engaged as gleaners of what is. lost or robbers of, what is.sowri. In severe weather-they resort to farmyards' ■: arid' ■ homesteads, whore, along with sparrows, buntings, and greenfinches, they equally;consider all they can find as provided for their own especial I'use. :. On the-, return of spring they /feed! upon the. : young; shoots, and for a few weeks show them-' selves great enemies to horticulture.' Their'visits to bur flower -.gardens;' paid-very-early in-tho morning,'arel attestedby scattered buds- of polyanthuses,, which they attack and pulj to:, pieces as soon as they begin to push': from be--■tween:the leaves.'.'ln the kitchen:garden they' are yet more mischievous, show-: ing a Wong inclination for all<pungent: seeds. Woe to the unthrifty gardener: who, while drilling his mustard,'.or.cress,; or.radishes, scatters a few seeds on the; surface. The quick eye of-some-passing; chaffinch' will, .surely detect, them, sot surely will the stray, grains serve as a^ clue to the treasure, concealed 'bciieath, ■ and .so 'surely '■'. will;: a hungry: ■ :bhnd of ■ companions rush to 'the diggings 3 and leave the luckless, proprietor a. poor tithe of .his expected, crop.',: Yet so: large" is the 1 number -.of: the "se.eds of' Weeds that: the chaffinch .consumes in: the course of a year,'-more: particularly of groundsel, 'ehickweed,:,:: ajidi buttbrcup, ■ that he, without doubt,-'more than com-: peiisates for: all his misdeeds;';''; alid as his summer food'partially,: and that' of his young family, exclusively,.. consists of caterpillars and.other noxious insects,- he is in -reality 1 among\ the gar--dener's best friends, who : should be ■sciared away at -the -seasons when his; Visits ;ai-o not .welcome,, and encouraged ■'■at' all other,time's^.", ■ „''^ V ■.-.;" '''■';■... . '

The starling, another bird introduced to New Zealand from England,- finds' conditions much to'its liking'in the country around Ohakune. Large tracts of; country carry thousands of dead trees, '.■standing": like "tombstones in memory of the [ magnificent 'forests which have passed away, and" in these the starling finds many a convenient nesting'hole.: In the latter part,of December many of the starlings 1 there had reared a brood, the members of which accompanied their parents with harsV cries uttered at frequent intervals. The starling is now widespread' in', both islands, and is probably the most; plentiful of introduced birds/: unless the sparrow claims that honour. It was in .1862 when- the first starlings wore brought to. New Zealand, 'in • that year the Nelson Acclimatisation Society introduced some birds,..and in. 1867 other societies Jiberatecp'^numbers.sof this species.. . A description; 'of,' such . a familiar bird- is'■ not' .necessary. As a nesting site the: starling usually selects a hole in a hollow tree, in,which direction the district around Ohakuue offers unlimited 'scope. According 'to the Hon. S. M. Thomson, the starling also -builds among creepers, like ivy and the native Muhlenbeckia in"districts, cleared of .Jargo timber, and in some baie country it has, oven been; ';found -nesting among the tussocks. -A-favourite : site is a suitable cavity in 'a...building.'or in copper chimneys.. Extended reference has already been, made in this-, column to the food of the s|ai-Jing. . The fact remains that the starling . has.' found conditions ideal.,in' New. Zealand, and it is now present in vast numbers. It is asserted by some naturalists that the numbers of the starling are; responsible :■ for the" scarcity of ■. game birds, as the.disappearance of such species is probably due more to the"' paucity of ground insects, brought .about by starlings consuming the,bulk,of the supply, than-to .'any other'cause; ■.',.; ;.- J