NATURE NOTES

Evening Post, Volume CX, Issue 35, 9 August 1930, Page 17

NATURE NOTES

(By R. H. D. Stidolph,: 8.A.0.Ui

BIRDS NEAR MUECHISON

THE CASPIAN TERN

A correspondent living -:in.\,the back country of the Nelson" district, at a place called Grassy Camp-, .via Gowau Bridge, writes expressing his 1 pleasure at reading items in this column on. the

bird-life of the district. Ho stater that from Glenhope! to Murchison the heavily-timbered Country "shelters our feathered friends in great variety." He describes it as a very interesting locality for birds,: but goes- on to add. a note of warning'as to the effects o£ deforestation.": If the bush is destroyed, the land thereabouts is nothing but huge- rocks and-boulders. "It behoves those who see the beauty and worth of the bush and its bird-life to try and have a part of this present sanctuary preserved," he states. Along the Buller River banks the bell bird, bush robin, fantail, and tui occur, while below Gowan Bridge to the: Owen, oa the new railway construction works, the blackbird, tui,v paradise.-duck, native pigeon,, fantail,.-bush-robin, bellbird, harrier, bush iawk, vsnag, and pipit, or ground, lark (plentiful) are found. On several ■occasions along a bush-fringed: part .of the•river below Owen Junction he saysr^hf" black fantail. The blackbird and goldfinch occur at Kawatiri, the next: placo: beyond Glenhope, while.last Npveniber, close to the Oweri.a flock of redpoles wa» seen. The birds were very, busy cleaning up thick, white spider webs, which abound in the rushes: The chaffinch and the : Californian: quail' are also found in the district^ vand "'there are, according to.-this'icorre^onaent, '. * great number of- bullfinches. The native bush canary, or. yellowhead, abounds near Glenhope,- and is equally plentiful at Grassy Camp.:

It" will Be "noticed that" among tlie birds mentioned by this .correspondent is. the bullfinch,. aii;: intrpcluced species, about which reports' borne to hand now and again. There appears to b» no doubt that-the bullfinch has established itself in several parts of th» Dominion, notabljSia;;the-Caf&is district, ;Otago,;:.;in.:.North Taranaki, ia Hawkes Bay, .and -presumibly in the Nelson district. According :-to the Honl; G. :M;;fKbmson,;tt^as!!introduced into Nelson- in- the early "ofays of settlement, : -but: :laiicd.;to.'.;<jSts6lish itself. It is ''Ta'ther ■ unfort^nate that the bullfinch has ■.become 4 acclimatised in this country,: as-it";is: looMed upon m England as one of the-mpst destructive of birds; During the winter it» rood consists exehisiVely of seeds or" various kinds,;, either ■ picked up, from the ground or gathered from lierbs, and shrubs, but in the spring, its tastes alter, and nothing will satisfy it but the blossom buds;.' of fruit trees, especiallythose which , are cultivated. The bird, pays .most-visits- to -gooseberries, plums, and1 cherries, and -if undisturbed, continunes ,to- haunt the ■same trees until . all : hope of ; a' crog~> i|;- destroyed. When,^not occupied'iirdisbudding fruit trees' -t.he b'ulffine;h r;'"is;'most" frequently observed- in ■ tall, aiicl,;: 4 is ick hedges, either in. small ■flocks Opr'in pairs. There shonldbeno chance of confusing this bird with any ; other '-species. The crown, throat*,:- the plunYag'e. "round the bill, the wings, and tail: are lustrous purple-black;; the upper -part of th» back is bluish ash:; thevcheeks, neck, breast.and flanks ate red" (in the female -reddish."brbira'),- the rump and abijoinen :arq/pure iwh^t^ Mnd a broad bufE and grey: band'extend across -the •wirigfs.'-^v.., ' ■■■■> ■■:::r-V:":;i;«-> , ;'*•

; Mr..T.Andrews,, ranger for the Wellington Acclimatisation ■■Society, writing from Palinerstbn North, states: "At the present time-tho'Mauawatu River- is being ■pafarQ.liedjby-:'dozens of Caspian' terns, ■ One ismalfcstseteh of the. river at. Earere was being well fished by nine birds; ir.^jrey.,'seem to make few mistakes. I hid-in some lupins on the river toij^a.jid: watched them take trouV'after'tf'o'utt?? Mr. Andrews acids that it "is "unusual to sea the; Caspian tern-flock, together, but no -doubt;; it .is.-vthW -stormy weather which -has dtiveii'theni inland; The Caspian- tern is a bird of almost worldwide : distribution,'" but is said to be most numerous about the sea from whence it takes its name. The Hebrew word salach is supposed by Colonel C. Smith to be descriptive of this bird more than of anyother common, in- the East. "The Caspian terii,'' he*states, "is not onlyabundant for several months in the year on tho coast of Palestine, but frequents, the lakes .and pools far inland, flying across the deserts to th» Euphrates, and to the Persian and Ked Seas' and : frequenfjhg-thev}NHe. It flies with imme.i)s.e" ■ yelo^ity, darting along the surface oi" the sea-to snap at molluscs or.small fishes,, or wheeling through the air- in : .pursuit ~et insects, and,in..o3lny>v'eatherv;after:"risiJig to a great* height; : it" ;-drop's; ,periren|icula.rly •down to, near;.the"s; !jrf"acCof *c water, but never alights jexcept,on land, and. is at all times disposed, to utler a kind of laughing "scream^'" The Caspian tern is the-largest' of-,the/tcrhvfamily. The . Caspian ..tern is-hardly a common bird in New- Zealand,"bu6' never* theless is widely distributea-in'isuitable localities throughout -the' vDo4inlion. If is usually to be'rse'en::at:'>th"^.;ni6uth of tidal rivers, <amT is a; .jPrgqlieni;' visitor to "Wellington Harbour. V' 'The late Sir Walter Buller recorded the- fact that at certain seasons1 it is atcu'stDmed to follow the Shoals" ol sprats; fjif up the river courses, where; he'statea,' it maybe seen hovering lightly pyer.the water in pursuit 0f... its^finny i-preyi ,and occasionally alighting to-rest on a* jutting' stump or projecting .point .'of j-ock. Th« Caspian tern is known .to.the Maorii as the tara-nui... it.breeds; in manylocalities around ; the A Tew-Zealand coast. , >