EEL-TAKING BIRDS

Evening Post, Volume CXIV, Issue 28, 2 August 1932, Page 5

EEL-TAKING BIRDS

■POWDER* FOR PLUMAGE

THE BITTERN'S SECRET

(By "Layman.")

Does the New Zealand bittern catch eels,,ana does it possess a wonderful natural powder puff an d oil gland, ■wherewith to free its plumage of the slime placed thereon by the' struggling ii-f'e|.t... •.'■';..- •J^^-dat^ o£ Saturday, 18th June, i££?. b, ■'.Times" announces that "Lord « -William Percy reveals the secret of ttie (ingUsn) bittern's powder down ; patches. These are on the upper breast arid; on the outside of the thighs, and their-t»se has long been a mystery to ornithologists. . . . The bittern cleans slime from her head and neck with the gqwder from. her. 'puffs,' and then restores' the. natural waterproofing, of her .feathers by rubbing her head and zfeck over her oil gland."

OIL AS WELL AS POWDER. in the beak, the captive eel las slimed".that-lead and neck considerably, before his back has been broken |tr«iiminary. to his dissection for the fe.e3i#g of the bittern's young. Lord William Percy writes in "The Times": Feathers ;in ■ such" a condition are a source of the greatest danger -to their o.wner, for unless their 'free' and waterproof state can be maintained ill health is soon followed' by death. Accordingly, "as sootf as the bittern has fedher; young and attended to the res»4ir of the nes.t by adding fresh reed stems, she settles down to the serious business of her toilet, an undertaking Occupying on the average 75 minuter It is here that her powder puffs come into play. Again and again she buries Her head and heek beneath .her plumage as she rubs them on the powder puffs, until she presents a somewhat ludicrous spectacle reminiscent of a careless, short-sighted- lady who has used her puff with equal generosity and impartiality :over face and dress alike. After a. period to allow the powder to dry, spent in toying with her children: or in a quiet nap, she can brush, off both powder and slime by a vigorous combing with her feet. But she is not yet prepared for the next hunting expedition. ' ' The. powder has not only dona its work of-removing the slime but has apparently .also removed the ' natural Waterproofing oil. Hence the necessity for 'contortions (illustrated with photographs) as she passes every portion of h'er head and neek over her oil gland, the natural waterproofing ' which Nature provides." .

William Percy observed a bittern arid her nestlings. '■ "Invariably ■when coining, to - the nest to feed her jjfo'ung she would arrive with her head and neck coated with some sticky substance." Eeason: She fed her young almost exclusively on eels. . -. EELmC*.BY HERONS. ~ . ;It is true that Lord Pprcy did not see a bittern, catch and kill an eel, but he saw that operation performed by much more easily" observable birds, the herons, ■which also possess '"powderdown patches." on the upper breast and the outside of the .thighs, producing or forming powder. There is little difficulty in watching a- heron /when deling. "The eel is spearedj lifted from the water, carried on to the bank, and is there slaughtered with' calculated thoroughness. . .. '. The method, among many adopted, which' appears to give the best Results is that of picking the e|l up across its body, and shaking it ■violently." . If the bird is then scared away from the eel, the latter will, lie found with Its backbone apparently dislocated in:several places, at all,events completely inert. "Assuming, that a "bittern adopts similar methods in kill; ing ,a£-'eel, ..there, is no need to look farther f pr'tKeisdiiPCe' of ■'th^liine^lingT ing to'fie*.'head and neck:after every hunting expedition.". ':'■-":

A New Zealand layjinan' might be terapted to ask: Is the New Zealand ■bittern, and is the New Zealand heron, an eel-eateri' and has he (she) powder patches and oil gland? , Is' the cormorant (shag) ' an. eel-eater, and how does he (she) deal with slime?' The shags are 'still connnori in this country, bitterns are becoming rare, so is the tilue heron (though observable Tonnd Wellington harbour), and the .white heron "is very rare indeed;.' The writer of this article is not an ornithologist, but suggests that ornithologists might have mucli to say.

, Slime is always bad for bird plumage, and .dangerous to birds. Thus, birdlime probably kills more ' than it catches. And the fouling of searbirds' plumage is one of the reasons for prosecuting: ships that needlessly release oil in harbour or at sea.