NATURE NOTES

Evening Post, Volume CVIII, Issue 90, 12 October 1929, Page 17

NATURE NOTES

THE SPRING MIGRANTS

SOME LONG JOURNEYS

. (By .K. H. D. Stidolphi K.A.0.U.) Spring Jin New Zealand.- is- closely associate* with the arrival in this country of tie -shining -cuckoo,- a- very beautiful "bird, whicti is'now making its appearance in various parts: 'of ; the North Island.-The : annual>yent-.o£ this .little .•■bird's, arrival is .eagerly .awaited by many lovers of bird life in the Dominion, and" it" is usual - for - the first records to cpme to hand from the;. Auckland, district.: Later reports-are.'forth- : coming from localities further" south in. the North Island, and then from tho South' Island: The general,;trend of these reports .over, a period of years leaves'little doubt of the. bird's'arrival from over the. seas,, as.it can usually be roughly followed 'iff its journey south, in New Zealand from the North Auckland district. It is somewhat "remarkab}et . however, that very few specimens" of this bird "have been" obtained outside of New Zealand.... There are two or ■ three' records" from Australia, but it would be expected-that if tho species 'wintered" in that country alone more would have been heard of it. Possibly some of the little-k'nown'island, groups -lying, to the northeast' of Australia arc the real Some of the. shining cuckoo in the winter: 'A Press report published recently attributed:-the'; bird as coming from Siberia, but this is entirely wrong: The shining 1 .cuckoo, it should.be remembered; foists its domestic worries on -to the obtuse little grey warbler, which has a, VeryVwomed existence when it has a' young' cuckoo to rear'-insteadr of its legitimate offspring. V-; ■•■-•' '•','!■..:•.■•. ....;•■-- ■•

_ Another species.of cuckoo alsp-arrivea m * v,w-?. e^land every spring, bufcit is notably different from its much smaller and much mare handsome relative. It is known, as the long-tailed .cuckoo,"or more familiarly .as the. screecher; la appearance it is somewhat hawklike, and as its popular name;': suggests,- ha 3 a long; tail. . Ujilike the shining fcuekpo, which frequents gardens .in;,'.-settled areas .as well, as' the -fpresti. the long-tail-ed cuckoo -shuns as: a;, rule and keeps to...the.vwell-fprested-areas of the Dominion. , In these" districts, however, it can"always be noted during'the period of its sojourn in this country, [more often than not its harsh'screech —a characteristic note—denoting its presence in<the day or nights This bird seems to arrive from the Solomon and nearby islands later than.the other species,. but departs about,the.same time or a. little earlier.; .A.;habit it thares with the shining-'cuckobris that of compelling otherbirds to;hatch its egga and rear.its young. -The long-tailed species, however, usually selects- the whitehead to; attend to those duties. It has, too, ,a habit of mercilessly .devouring any other, birds' eggs or young that it may happen to find. Both the shining and long^tailed cuckoos seem 'to be maintaining their numbers. .They are certainly two of the.most;interesting species f oundVih New Zealand^ and both are protected by law.'. '!'."■'.'. '.. .. '

Perhaps inor,e wonderful than the Annual migrations of-the .cuckoos-are tha .iourneyings of the godwit and other, shore species from Siberia to New Zea.-' land and back again. This-movement takes place every year, ; without fail. Tn the spring months the godwit- arrives in New' Zealand from the North--I firn Hemisphere "and.. departs;', again for its breeding haunts' in .the" tundras ;b£" the Asiatic Continent. Similar' movements, however, are common 'to many species nesting in the.Northern Hemisphere, a number of shore birds, for instance,:'breeding it that-part of the world coming sputh.to Australia, South Africa, and Sputh America. -' About half a dozen species annually, make such a migration to' New: Zealand, the v godwit' being the best-known of ''these birds. It is reported, however, that the numbers'oftne' godwit arb'decreasing. This bird is only partially,, protected in New Zealand—there is an open season early in the year—and it must be remembered" it is probably persecuted throughout iU:. long' journey to and from Siberia. The wastes in which the bird, breeds in . Siberia would , afford, it ,some-' measure of . protection ,;in'.;' that ' country, but for a sppcies : ;'-"to," travel thousands of. miles'through -the lands of many nationalities.to-reach'this faraway ..■ .-.Dominiontit-must- : mecessarily; run grave risks of destruction en route. It'seems almost to.suggest thaf instead of the bird1 being shot in New' Zealand, its winter home, it should be protected ! entirely. The question of adequate protection to migratory species is a. big one,- and .one^.that-can: pttly be determined by co-operative effort on .the part of thcinations-iofiithe^worlcfl!-' ; £"■ •

Other birds %o come.to .New. Zealand from Siberia are the tjipt, ih:e.fcirnstone, the eurleyrsandp'iper,' the1 golden pjiover, and others; Those iiamed are. more or less regular annual visitors, but-in addition there are va; number of Northern Hemisphere birds which have' occurred accidentally in this 'country.:■'-\Snother notable annual visitor 'is" the' skua.i a bird of the gull family. This bird wings its way/from far northern seas southward, and is^reported as a'regular visitor, to the waters of the Auckland coast, occasionally wandering.; efen further south to :the vicinity of Cook- Strait This skua is an unmistakable bird, as it has the two centre .tail-feathers lengthened. All these migratory' birds will now be beginning .to-.make their appearance, in the Dominion,, and doubtless many are at presention-their wonderful journey to the Dominion.