NATURE NOTES

Evening Post, Volume CXXIX, Issue 59, 9 March 1940, Page 11

NATURE NOTES

NEW TRAITfOII

ATTACKING STOATS AND

WEASELS

(By B. H. O. Stidolph.)

According to Mr. J. Morris,', of Charleston, Westport, the pukek© is able to defend itself against, members of the weasel tribe and, moreover, is able to vanquish these bloodthirstyanimals. "I have no' hesitation,?-, he writes, "in saying that the- pukeko is the greatest enemy to, stoats 'and weasels in New Zealand today1. t I have seen the1 pukeko hunt them in pairs and give them'a very bad time. The male pukeko does .all the actual fighting. He does • not' seem the least afraid. He will go into the- fern and scrub like-a terrier dog while the hen will .keep watch from the outside." Mr. Morris states that he has seer* the male pukeko rush out of cover at once on hearing a warning note from the female and dive • into . the - scrub near the hen. ' The latter would rush as quickly as possible to take*up a new position on the opposite side. He, has actually seen male birds throw these • animals .about four feet in the air and jump on them when they landed on the ground again. All the pukekos in the neighbourhood, ,he states, join in the fight. ' . BREEDING IN. WINTER. The birds make, a tremendous noise when there are a, number concerned in the fight, Mr., Morris, states. Four years ago there were a;good many stoats, etc., around his-farm. Ali that time the pukeko first appeared pri- his property:' and now,, it is seldom.that he see's a stoat of a weasel. During the past twelve months he has only seen one and that one was seen on a single occasion only. He is certain that i* it came in contact with the pukeko it would be lucky if it ever got away. Mr. Morris goes on to state that he has come - across many pukeko nests, in which he' has found from six to twelve eggs. , He, states that jLs quite a common occurrence to' find the pukeko breeding in winter months. He has seen young one's in midwinter and has also found' fresh' eggs cat various times-during the- coldest months of winter. He knows .of no. other wild bird, which breeds <■ during .this- period of the'year. Mti. 'Morris- states he cannot- recollect- ' ever having < seen a pukeko in moult; and, in keeping with this, he has rarely come across a fea- , ther belonging to this bird. .This leads him to believe that the moult toust be very slight or , over an .extended period. ' \ ' ' - ";' RELATIONS. WITH DUCKS. Referring to' reports that the pukeko may. kill, .ducklings *oh > occasions, Mr. Morris states that,he does ,n.Qt know whether this is true or .not.' f About a year ago he saw a pair, of grey ducks with nine young one's^about a fortnight old, all swimming down a creek about 'five feet wide in, the midst of a swamp. There were plenty of pukekos on either side of the creek and they did not appear to be the least interested in the ducklings. On other occasions he has seen sparrows feeding within three or four feet of pukekos but the former never appeared to- be in the slightest,,danger of attack. He has seen pukekos carrying their young in their bills- Tand removing them a distance oijj||i£gH over one hundred yards from one ""swamp to,..another..,. The. youngs .qnes> squeaked for all they were wortjjk while they were being conveyed;. £q this He considers, ittj mentioning-this procedure, that it^ possible othsspeonW had seen the pukeko carrying its own young^and had been mistaken in thinking that it was getting > away with ducklings. Perhaps some other readers of this column may be able to throw further light on the incidents recorded by Mr. Morris. . ■ ■ ■ \. ■ ■ -■ . DANCING PART*. , Quite a lot could be^learned of the habits of the pukeko. 'Has anyone in New Zealand, for instance, seen this bird indulge in a dance? An observer in Tasmania some years ago recorded an occurrence of this kind. One day he surprised, among the tall; tussocks at the edge of a swamp, a party of bald coots, by, which name the pukeko is known in; Australia and Tasmania. The coots, he stated, were apparently occupied with some kind of social gathering or "dihce". Four" of them were standing together, with the wings half-elevated and one of these had its foot partly raised as if about-to strike it on the ground. About half a dozen others were standing round looking on. He had a few seconds to observe them before they saw him, when the party immediately dissolved. The incident \ was forcibly recalled to his mind when reading an account of Hudson's about the dance of the jacana in . South America. So far as the writer knows, an occurrence of this.kind has not been witnessed in this country, but as there is no reason to suspect any great difference in the habits of this bird in Australia and in New Zealand,' it is quite possible that similar gatherings or parties-are held in this country. SCOPE FOR OBSERVATION. The pukeko does not appear to be as numerous this year in some of its haunts as it was a year or two ago; but, all the same, it is a bird that is familiar to most people and for this reason it affords facilities for observation. In observing birds, however, it is important to make a correct statement of what is seen and not to allow mere suppositions to creep into the record. Many people are apt to imagine or add something that they think should have happened when the actual facts of the case, if an investigation were possible, would provide quite a different story. For instance, if a bird is seen in a wheat crop it is no proof that the bird is eating grain. It may be consuming insects injurious to the crop. The writer recalls an instance of a hawk""that"was' shot-In I*ai:poultry1 * ai:poultry yard. It was suspected of evil intentions, but, when an examination was made, its crop was found to be packed full of large caterpUlars, and ,grubs. In most cases, observations must be isupplanted by scientific evidence if .they are to be of real worth; arid, moreover, the observations need to be made by trained observers.