NATURE NOTES

Evening Post, Volume CXXVIII, Issue 145, 16 December 1939, Page 11

NATURE NOTES

UNIQUE POSSESSION

KING SHAG OF THE SOUNDS

(By R. H. D, Stidolph.) Queen Charlotte Sound has the distinction of possessing a species of shag exclusively its own. s It is a handsome bird and is found in a comparatively restricted area at the entrance of the sound. In spite of persecution in the past at the hands of vandals with a lust for killing anything and everything that comes within range, this shag, has survived and for the past ten or twelve years has enjoyed the protection of the law, for what it is worth. It and other species of birds that are totally protected still suffer casualties when certain holiday-makers from Wellington and other parts of the Dominion, imbued with the desire to kill, find free play for their depravity while idling away their hours in the Sounds. Even such birds as the fluttering shearwater and the Caspian tern are the object of attack as well as all species of shags, whether they are protected or not. The fluttering shearwater associates in flocks and fifteen have been known to fall at one shot. Although this indiscriminate shooting is not as frequent as it was, it still persists, largely because there is practically no jurisdiction over the activities of launching and yachting parties. It is a sad state of affairs to find our wild life destroyed in such a wanton man- . ner. AN INQUISITIVE BIRD. It is somewhat surprising that th» carunculated. or king shag has survived, especially as it has a fatal habit of circling at close range any launch, or boat that approaches its breeding station, a cluster of rocks at the entrance to the sound. If a boat is nearby, this bird, apparently out of curiosity, flies right round it and sometimes repeats the performance before continuing on its journey. One factor that has contributed to its survival is its selection of remote rocks on which, to breed, but even here it has been, persecuted in the past to such an extent that for awhile it left its ancestral home and sought quarters elsewhere, only to return later to its original rocks. As the result of circulars distributed by the Forest and Bird Protection Society to the proprietors of all launches plying for hire in the Sounds and to the proprietors of all hotels, boarding-houses, and guesthouses in the area, there is now a more general knowledge that the carunculated shag is a protected bird and this, coupled with the fact that this bird is an exclusive possession, should do much to ensure that tiie bird receives better and more effective protection iri the future. It is a harmless bird and never leaves the coasi in the neighbourhood of its breeding haunts, so that under no possible pretext can it be accused of taking trout. . - t WILD BREEDING SPOT. This shag differs from others in the Queen Charlotte Sound area by having almost the whole of the head black, the white of the underparts commencing at the base of the bill on the throat and gradually extending to the sides. The upper parts as a whole are dark, but there are usually white markings on the wings and on the back. The only other shag with which it can be confused is the species known as the pied shag, but this bird has the white of the underparts extending upwards to include the lower half of the neck and face and thus shows a much' greater area of white plumage than the carunculated or king shag. So far not a great deal has been recorded of the breeding habits of this rare bird, except that it builds a crater-like nest of vegetation and feathers, which soon become matted together with guano and become more or less solidified. The nests are placed close together on a small sloping ledge of rock and the turbulent waters of Cook Strait surround the exposed situation in which they are placed. It is only in the very calmest of weather that it is possible to land on the rocks. This is, indeed, fortunate for the birds, as the angry seas that usually prevail around the rocks no doubt provide the best protection the birds have, while the sea bottom in the vicinity is too foul to permit of an anchorage for launches. It is a forbidding spot. ROCK SHARED WITH TERNS. Although not without feeling a cer^ tain amount of discomfort the writer succeeded in effecting a landing on these rocks two or three weeks ago. A number of fully-grown young birds, besides many adults, took flight at the approach of the launch, the older bird 3 flying away and the younger ones alighting on the water. Only one wellgrown young bird, with fluff still adhering to its neck, refused to take a plunge into the cold waters of Cook Strait and took up a stand on the top of the rock, overlooking a precipi-r tous slope .to the sea, forty or fifty feel\ below. It stood its ground. Overhead scores of white-fronted terns screamed and scolded in anger at the intrusion into their domain, and not without reason, for hidden away all over the top of the rock, in pockets and ledges, were eggs and young. It is as well to keep the face downward when in. such a position, not only to avert treading on any egg or chick, but for the good and sufficient reason of avoiding, if possible, any unpleasant sprinkling from above. In many cas.es a single egg was deposited on the bare rock, in others there were two eggs in a clutch, and in another instance three eggs had been laid, a most unusual occurrence. Several young chicks were in evidence and the indications were that most of the eggs were on the point of hatching. • • » • • WORLD'S MOST VALUABLE BIRD. Although the carunculated shag ii confined to Queen Charlotte Sound, closely-related birds are found at th« Chathams and at Macquarie Island, while more distantly-related birds inhabit Stewart Island, Bounty Island, Auckland Island, and Campbell Island, each group having a distinctive bird: It is of interest to recall that the carunculated shag is almost identical with the most valuable bird in the world. Some people may raise their eyebrows when it is asserted that a shag could be regarded as a bird of considerable economic importance, but such is the case ,as the principal contributor of the rich guano deposits on islands off Chile and Peru is a shag very much akin to the carunculated shag of Queen Charlotte Sound. In Peru a guano administration has been established to control the industry, which is conducted to ensure the welfare and perpetuation of shags and other valuable sea birds which are responsible for the deposits. Under the jurisdiction of the administration the average annual yield has been considerably increased. At a conservative estimate, a pair of thest shags is worth fifteen dollars a year, and on one island alone, in which thes» birds are present in enormous numbers, the shags represent a value of several million dollars. Woe betid* any person in South America who destroys a shag.