NATURE NOTES

Evening Post, Volume CXXIII, Issue 19, 23 January 1937, Page 17

NATURE NOTES

BREEDING OF NATIVE BIRDS

AN EXTENDED SEASON

{By It. 11. D. Stidolph.)

Several species of native birds are still engaged in domestic duties, among them the grey warbler, which appears to have a more extended breeding season than is generally imagined. The earliest record of a nest with eggs is in July; in which month a Canterbury resident reported having seen a nest with its complement of eggs. In certain areas of -the Wellington district the first nests are under construction in August and the eggs are sometimes laid towards the end of that month. At the beginning of the present month (January) a nest of this species was found with two eggs and another with three eggs, so that the rearing of the young would occupy the parents for the whole of the month at least. Other pairs observed had their family ties more advanced. In one instance two almost fully-fledged young occupied the nest, together with an addled egg; in another case three young, about a week old, were keeping the adults busily engaged in supplying food while in a third instance the young had just left the nursery and were keeping up a constant squeaking, which urged the parents to unremitting toil to appease their hunger. SILVER-EYE STILL BUSY. Another native bird that is still in the midst of the work of rearing young is the familiar silver-eye, white-eye, wax-eye, or blight bird, as it is variously called. Early in the month two nests of this species, each containing four eggs, were found in low situations in manuka scrub. In one case the eggs had a few very minute spots of black on the pale blue surface, a most unusual departure for the silvereye. This bird, like many others, suffers from the depredations of the stoat and other animals of that tribe. Several days after it was found, one of the above nests had the four eggs sucked of their contents, evidently the work of a stoat, which had also raided a chaffinch's nest containing three eggs, which were destroyed in a similar manner. Further afield, though in the same district, a third nest of the silvereye was found later this month, with three newly-hatched young, which, judging by the eagerness with which -they held up their heads for food, were very hungry. The parents, however, were.attending to their wants to the best of their ability, though it was no easy task to find food for hungry nestlings.. The silver-eye continues to breed until March, so there is still time to observe the nesting habits of this little bird. THE FRIENDLY PIPIT. The pipit, or ground lark, another well-known native bird, is likewise employed in rearing its last brood of the season. ,Not much over a week ago . a pair was seen putting the finishing touches to a nest located in a plantation reserve in a domain, and no doubt by this time the process of incubation is proceeding. Elsewhere, a second nest was found on a bank overlooking a road. The nest, the usual cup-shaped structure built of grass, was placed three or four inches from the edge of the bank, amid grass, and under the shelter of a small piece of dead manuka. When first found, two of the thft three young were huddled together just in front of the nest, one youngster alone remaining in the nest itself.- As the young were only about four or five days old it would be rather interesting to know how they came to be out of the nest. The weather for the previous day had been wet and the suri was ghining for the first time for several days. Perhaps the adult birds shifted the young ones out of the nest to allow it to dry and to get the benefit of the sunshine, but as they appeared to be decidedly cold they were replaced in the nest, and a further visit an hour or two later showed that they were much more snug and considerably warmer. INTRODUCED BIRDS. Introduced birds also are stilly engaged in rearing their young. This month the writer has come across nests of the redpoll, chaffinch, skylark, hedge sparrow, greenfinch, and yelloto hammer, so that there is still plenty of.interesting events in the bird worla to entertain the enthusiast. A feature of • the. redpoll's nest, which was ' placed low down in a tauhinu bush and contained newly-hatched young, was the inclusion of several feathers of the introduced Australian brown quail, the first intimation of the presence of this bird, which was later seen inhabiting a rape crop not far away. There it could be heard calling under the leaves of the crop and could only be seen by flushing it, when it would rise with a great spurt of speed, fly a short distance in a straight line just above the crop, and then drop to cover. The call of this quail is very much like that of a man whistling to a dog. In the Wellington district the brown quail is rather a scarce bird, but it is quite numerous in" parts of the Taranaki and Auckland districts. It was first introduced into the South Island in 1866 and in later years to the North Island. It does not appear to have established itself in the South Island. NESTS OF THE HARRIER. An inquiry in this column as to whether any readers had come across the nest of the harrier in a tree has brought forward two replies. The first reports the discovery of a hawk's nest in the Hinau district, near Rangiwahia, placed on a mass of muhlenbeckia sprawling over some tutu shrubs. The creeper formed a platform for the nest, which contained four fledgling hawks. Another correspondent relates the finding of a harrier's nest on the top of some lawyer, growing over a tree on the edge of-the bush. He adds that in cases wherp the tree is broad and the lawyer sufficient to provide a large platform, the conditions no doubt would suit a harrier very well. Although three definite records of the harrier building its nest in a tree are now known to the writer, the occurrence is a rare one, as this hawk almost invariably selects a site on the ground, often in a swamp. Almost any kind of situation on the ground, provided there is a certain amount of shelter, is suitable. The harrier often nests in the midst of a crop, where it is safe from interference unless the crop is cut before the young are able to leave the nest.