NATURE NOTES

Evening Post, Volume CXV, Issue 123, 27 May 1933, Page 11

NATURE NOTES

A yiSITOR FROM OTHER \ LANDS. -..• ; .

DOLLAR BIRD IN WESTLAND

(By R. H. D. Stidolph, K.A.0.U.)

; According to a recent Press report a strange bird, picked up near Greymouth, on the West Coast, was identified as a dollar bird or roller. It is a particularly handsome species, and is,a native of eastern parts of Australia, and also has an extensive range from India and Burma to New Guinea. The upper parts are brown and ,the under parts green, with a light blue area on tthe wings, which arc further ornamented by a silvery spot in the centre, from which marking the bird derive* its name. These spots are very conspicuous when the bird is in flight. Other notable features of the bird's make-up are -the red bill and feet, while the inside of the mouth is yellow* The dollar bird is an occasional visitor to New Zealand. There are\about seveu. or eight occurrences of the bird in the Dominion. The" first records were iv 1881, when, quite a number of birds of this vspeeies must have reached New Zealand, as no fewer than five speciment. were obtained that year, two in Westlaid, -two in Taranaki, arid one ia. North Auckland. Eleven years later several were reported to have been shot in the "Wairoa district/ North Auckland, In 1894 one turned up near Blenheim. Since; that year it had "not occurred again, according to available reports, until this year. The bird found near Greymouth' was picked up dead, although still warm. It breeds in Australia, arriving in that country about October and leaving in April.

Describing the dollar bird in their book on the birds of Australia, Messrs. A. H. S. Lucas-and W. H. Dudley 1». Souef state: "Like so many birds it feeds chiefly in the early morning and again near "sunset. In sultry weather it perches motionless 'on some dead branch. It is a very bold bird at all times, but particularly' so^in the breedingl season, when! it :■ attacks v/ith th« utmost fuiry any intruder that may venture'rto ;apprdach theT-holeiin the tre» in which^its eggs, are''deposited.: It play* tjlie-game- with .anyone' seeking to find tlie nest. It will dart into any hole around, except th« true one, leading you to believe that you have located the nest for a'certainty. When you have laboriously gained the spot, out flies the dollar bird, and you find nothing, but can watch the bird fly fifty; yards off to another hole, to which you make your way, only,to, be again bamboozled. The flight is unlike that of any other bird. It odes not fly, straight, but dives down ; and rises again with many turns, as if delighting in the easy control of difficult wing movements. It is a very noisy bird, uttering a peculiar chattering note.' r This note is said to be particularly harsh and discordant, and is uttered most when the bird is flying. Tho. food of the dollar bird consists of insects caught in the air. Three or four eggs are reported to form the clutchj and no attempt is made to build a nest, a hole in a tree being sufficient. Tha eggs are pearly white.

At the mouth of the Waikanae Kiver there are extensive areas of lupJn, which have taken, possession of the saijd" hills almost to the exclusion of other vegetation. These lupins are a favourite haunt of the hedge sparrow* which can be observed perched in a prominent place and peeping forth their wails or their joys to the world. Tho hedge sparrow is fairly numerous, .iv.' this typo of country; It has, in fact, a strong attachment to shrub lands, and is one of the first birds to appear in. newly-planted forests of exotic pines. When tho-trees are only two or three feet high the hedge sparrow finds .the conditions sufficiently attractive to induce it to take up its residence among them. Another species which delights in roaming about ,iv. lupins is the redpoll, a pretty little introduced bird, which has many claims to popularity. It is probably more numerous than the hedge sparrow, and, unlike that bird, keeps more to the open^ flying from place to place with jerky; flight, to the accompaniment of jingling notes. Leading a quieter life> than the redpoll and being content to fossick among the leaves and branches Lof the bushes the grey warbler, a. natives species, finds the thick growth of lupins a boon to its mode of life. Make an, unusual noise and a warbler will soon appear from among the thickets, greatly agitated and curious to ascertain tha reason of the commotion. The clothing of the sand hills in lupins has extended its range, and it is now one of the most plentiful of native birds.

Has anyone seen the robin'on th» eastern side of the Tararua Banges iv. recent years ? At one time this beautiful and trustful native bird was fairly; numerous in most forested districts, and although it has recently been reportei from the western side of the langeg nothing has been heard of it on th# eastern side. It is qujte possible thafl it survives still in some portion of thi< extensive mountain range other tha< the locality on the Manawatu side i*f which it survives. The> robin was als# present at one time in the EimutakjJ Banges, but it is now many years sine* one was seen there. Members of tramping clubs, who are constantly visiting the ranges, should haye admirable opportunities' of observing the bird-life, and it is somewhat surprising that more reports are not'forthcoming from this source.