NATURE NOTES

Evening Post, Volume CXXI, Issue 21, 25 January 1936, Page 17

NATURE NOTES

LITE OF OUE BUSH BIRDS

WHITEHEAD AND CUCKOO

(By R. H. D. Stidolph.)

v One of the most engaging natlv.t birds inhabiting the more extensive forested areas in the North Island ii the whitehead, or popokatea, as' it is known to the Maoris.. Lively and cheery, its merry notes may :be heard in many directions and in most bush areas it is the life of the forest. Not so many years ago bird-lover.s and others were bemoaning the i act that the whitehead was on the verge /of extinction but either the information oh hand was misleading or/the bird has since increased largely innumbers, as nowadays the whitehead, except iit North Auckland, is one, of the most common of native bush birds.' If has, however, apparently vanished ; front the country north of Auckland arfd its absence from the few forests re» maining in that part of the island casts quite a gloom over the bush'to those accustomed to its lively notes in other districts. Its disappearance from North Auckland is most regrettable, at it was at the Bay of Islands in/1824 when a French naturalist named Lej»son secured the first-known- specimen of this bird. In the South Island;'t&« whitehead is replaced by its ■ near relative, the yellowhead, which'ap pears to be much less common. ;'(

A fortnight spent in the home of : th* whitehead enables the writer to ./obi tain many intimate glimpses into its life. Breeding operations are now in full swing and the first brood of young ones have just left/the nest;arid/: the: parents, are now busy, with the. second. One pair under close observation ,was, feeding the young, just out; of ■; th» nest, in the first week.in January, and at the .end of .the second week had another nest completed and'four, eggs laid, so.not. much time,is lost between the two nests.. The nests of this .pair, were placed in a manuka, a favpurita nesting tree in some localities.. Most of the nests of the whitehead;seen by, the writer, upwards of fifty all told,have been found in the manuka, ,whil« a fair number have also - been seen ;■ in other low-lying shrubs, such as small-; leaved coprosmas; and one was placed; in a white rata vine growing oh a tree fern. Although many nests may be found towards the top of highgrowing manukas perhaps up to 20ft from the ground, many are to be seen, much lower down, some not more than five or six feet from the ground.

The nest of the whitehead Is a beautiful structure, about the size and proportions of the chaffinch's nest, but differing, of course, considerably in its construction. It is usually placed towards the ends of the branches, especially when in. a manuka, but sometimes, as when located in a thick-grow-ing small-leaved, copi-osma, it may be seen near the main stem but usually, well towards the. /top. of: the bush. Pieces of moss; strips" of 'bark, blades of thin grass, and skeleton leaves ara the materials, usually 'employed,., well bound together with spiders' webs..The cup is finished' Off with.finer material* and often contains a few feathers. One pair watched for a short period was engaged in building a nest.- The female approached somewhat cautiously _ with.. her bill literally crammed with, building material, in which strip's- of reddish bark were conspicuous. While she placed the material in position the male bird encouraged: her by uttering a few trills. The egg of the whitehead is slightly smaller-than' that - of the sparrow and varies considerably in colour and markings. .Usually.itis white, more or less marked with spots of brown. • ■ • ■- ■

The life of the whitehead is closely bound up with that of the long-tailed cuckoo, one of the two cuckoos that annually visit New Zealand from othee lands across the sea to foist their domestic duties on unfortunate. native birds. The whitehead is the bird usually entrusted by the long-tailed cuckoo in the .North Island to rear its young and at a favourable opportunity it places its egg in the nest of the whitehead. In-due course the young cuckoo appears and soon .be-, comes" the sole occupant of the nest, the young whiteheads being,promptly ejected by the juvenile cuckoo, whick grows at an amazing rate, and soon completely fills the whitehead's. nest. In the second week of this month th« writer saw a young long-tailed cuckoo in a whitehead's nest. It was: then well-feathered, and, as it appeared i» the nest, with its head drawn backwards and sidewards over its back; with its large hawk-like bill, rat-like eyes, and its big, orange-coloured mouth wide open, it raised a. feeling of repulsion as a being unfit to occupy such a beautiful nest in place of the rightful owners. The young cuckoo certainly has a sinister appearance and judging by its actions in later life i the impression is not a false one. ':

Fortunately, the nest occupied by, this cuckoo was placed in a coprosma, only about seven feet from the ground, so that it was possible to watch the bird at ease. On the first day it was: seen the adult whitehead approached the nest very quietly, and in no great haste and fed the young bird without making a sound. Immediately the bird was fed, however, the male sang and twittered for a few moments and then both disappeared- to find more food. The next day, when watched for abour an hour, the cuckoo was fed by one bird and was then brooded for about twenty minutes, \vhen the: other bird arrived and fed 'it. The cuckoo now made a chirruping sound, like a clock-spring being wound up.; Both the adult birds left the nest and returned twenty-two minutes " later, when the female fed it, settled on it for a minute or so, and: left it when the male approached to appease its hunger. The following day the ciickoo uttered its squeaking notes much more loudly and more: frequently, the bird being fed at. intervals., of-.five-" or ten minutes, sometimes by one,adult bird and sometimes by both.' Among the food seen to be given to th» cuckoos were a cicada and a caterpillar.