NATURE NOTES

Evening Post, Volume CXVIII, Issue 114, 10 November 1934, Page 17

NATURE NOTES

J N.Z. BUSH BIKDS' \^-

WHITEHEAO AND OTHERS

(By B. H. Z>. Stidoljtb, 8.A.0.TJ.) ;' The^whiteheaa.V'bird which at^on^ time was believed to be almost extinct^ but now, happily^w one of our most common bush species] is generally regarded as an insect eating, bird,-but according to the obseivations of the late Mr. J. C. McLean it also feeds on i seeds. 'He thus describes their feeding habits in the Poverty Bay district:— "With-chattering call the t members of the flock move slowly through tthe tops of the smaller trees in *» sloose, straggling body, and in «_ more or* jest definite assuming all,possible * positions while, examining evjeryMoolt ' and crevice in the bark and leaves, sometimes poised' in the air, 1- examining the tips^ of the (leaves; cnt t 'other times clinging, With 'tail r/re£sc'd 'tightly against the supporting trunk, 1 and tearing off chunks of moss / and lichen with their strong beaks/ in' search of hidden insects. -' The tail feathers, which become in time much worn,k ait inherit, and the stiff shafts' project slightly beyond the ivane*. These, together with the muscular legs, are well 1 adapted to the bird's mode of 'climb- * ing about the trunks v and branches 1* its systematic hunting. When feeding on the needs of the tawari, which was plentiful ion, the,ridges, it was interesting to see the birds hanging below the bunches of pods, which are borne at the tips of the branches Elsewhere I have seen them mingled with a flock of blight birds feeding in the same manner from the pods of,the tawhiwhi and karo. Over these trees tan* many vines (Muchlenbeckja) whose clusters of fleshy seed envelopes were the attraction for the bfight-birdsT 'but not fat tho whiteheadi " ~ „, i. *.., i Mr. McLean has something, to 'sayabout the pugnacious disposition of'the bellbird 1- in the spring. .'The bellbird, he states, fhas!been^seen to flyjat an inoffensive ,pigeon resting..' in ' aft res in which the bellbird fed, and in.the nei nei scrub one' day a shining cuAoo could find -no^ quiet spot in which to stay, for no sooner had*it shifted to avoids an angry bellbird thafl it/ f was compelled to quit the, next bare limb on '' which v it alighted by another vigorous onset by a different bird. They also fought among themselves, and ona would now ,aud then be seei» beating a hasty retreat "from tho domain of % pursuing bird ( On one • occasion v , two birds almost flew into Mr. J|McLean, actually touching his hand''in their blind lury. They fell and * fought' on th» ground at his feet,ithe one who shortly gained the advantage pulling and tearing at his (Victim iv ..the most savage manner. There was ,much squeaking} and in'the tussle, » hich lasted some seconds, they fell behind a small log. Then the victor^ left his. mirch. battered 1 foe to crawl away, while he, with strong direct flight, returned to hit patch of ta'whera some forty yards* distant. The wounded bird was so damaged that it could not fly, but it escaped* by crawling away into ' v the felled timber. The alarm, note is a, rapidly repeated scolding "like "tink-tink-tihk." When tho bird is much alarmed it is difficult to approach. Like the tui,' the bellbird possesses » vafaety of notes, but in Mr v McLean's omnioa they can hardly with *the richer and more varied rollicking tones of the tui - Vr , I "Bushmen will tell yoa that 'the* tui y changes its notes every three months," wrote Mr. McLean, "but this statement , is'rather too definite— However, man;" observers have the difference of the song.iv separate, localities and • an instance ««f,^hif ,was paiticularly s noticeable.'/ V** McLean recorded that a characteristic set of notes was first heard near^hw rlast> camp jl in"tawa'couiitry pn September' 28, Ana within a week or so was in use by practically every k one. of'the few tuis inrthe bush, and so wfcs'undoubtedly quite the'dominant ... song of that park dHf'was the liveliest bit of music he had listened to from. ",< this species and, was new to him. Only in*the foJlowirig 'autumn was it heard again, in a Amall patch of Tight bush in a settled .dis'tnet some1" fifteen miles from Maunga Haumia. * TJiere one of . the manyipairsjjSoine.jof whichJiad no doubt nested'in that locality,' wai heaid singing the bush sohg'"tula,~tula" * uf the first "tlitee.'inontiri'of.thai.year and was there to greet him with the same tune^on each of several occasions that he * passed }ts home. On the day Mr. McLean left the bush this , music was ■■ much>j in evidence, but on \ the«foUowing day, ten miles awaj, he heard ' and saw in the Wheau Valley'many tuis in the best of song ? b«it the. dominant nete/»t« "tol tol ■( tol»» and th« bns^note,* was still ringing in,1 ki» ears, wwfypaspicuous by v its-. absence-lH' In travelling over the greater part'of ihe Ewt^Ctofcst district many tuis had later \bmt£t heard but withvthe eieeption aotei above Mr. McLean v nevor» again hid'Jne pleasure of hearing what l{e described as * rollicking song—a memory of the distant hill. . - '■"'""* Stating that1 the T>lJght4>^rd or silvereye is practicallyx;, omniTorous, Mr. McLean observed t*»t tnitt honey, insect life, and' tegeUfi^v-nrbage are greedily flevowed, «nd4*jif'»nordinately fond of fat—butter especially. He haa seen them upon the shiepsjkins at the , gallows and even in the/<pig trough. In "one of' Mr. McLean '»* bush camps the silver eye flocked into the galley and helped themselves to any butter ,pr fat they could find. At one, camp they cleaned ail the fat inside and out * from a cooked 1 leg of mutton and at another they picked the plums from th« > ontside of 3 the Sunday pudding. On •' another occasion Mr. McLean deposited ' a fewWtables on a stump and his back was hardly turned when two silver eyei alighted on the butter. wfn y-