A PLACE FOR BIRD LOVERS

Evening Star, Issue 22526, 19 December 1936, Page 8

A PLACE FOR BIRD LOVERS

The Pledge. —“ I promise to care for all wild birds, especially New Zealand .native birds, to feed them in winter, and to protect them at all times. I promise also to protect our native trees and bush, and at no time to assist in their damage or destruction, since they are the natural home of our native birds.”-

If you wish to join theßird Club it is necessary to send Is in stamps or postal note, and a badge and bird book will be sent to you. - Address your letters to Big Brother Bill, care of ‘Evening Star,’ Stuart street, Dunedin, C;l. Be sure to mark your envelopes “ Bird Club.” THE WHITE-FACED PETREL. A lover of the open seas, this charming little bird has a fairly wide range of distribution, but New Zealand’s off- - shore waters and the islets near the coast are among its most favoured haunts. To local yachtsmen and seafarers generally it is a familiar species, being extremely plentiful in our northern . and eastern areas, and easily recognised on account of its characteristic flight, its small size, long legs, and slender build. In the markings of the upper parts of the body soft greys and browns predominate, with brown to black on the wings, and a black tail. The unde* parts, breast, face, and -cheeks are white. - On the cheeks, extending from before the eye to the ear coverts, is a patch of black feathers which, together with an ebony bill and nostril tube, afford a fine contrast to the otherwise snowy foreparts. The flight of this storm petrel, though lacking the powerful wheeling and. gliding movements of the larger petrels, is yet graceful and buoyant, and on • the wing the birds are to be met with in companies, .in twos and threes, or singly. In stormy weather, when the more robust seagulls seek the shelter of inland pastures, the storm petrel remains at sea, and, flying low, follows the undulatory movement _ of the waves, the force of the wind being checked by their swelling crests. When feeding, the petrels flit aimlessly hither . and thither, alternately dipping to the water and rising again with a flick of the wings and a simultaneous pat with both feet on the surface of the water, this performance being repeated time and again, with monotonous regularity. The peculiar method of progress in which the feet make contact with the water originally gave rise to the name “ petrel,” through the association with Peter, the fisherman of Galilee, and Apostle of our Lord. The action of the slender wings is moderately rapid, but occasionally this petrel essays a few very quick, darting and turning movements, suggestive of the aerial gymnastics of the fantail. Indeed, our storm petrel, in its airy flight and fragile_ build, might well be termed the fantail of the sea. The white-faced storm petrel was introduced to the world of ornithology by the naturalists in_ the Endeavour in Cook’s first expedition to the South Seas. In the earlier stages of the voyage, when tbe vessel was off the coast of South America, and abreast of Rio de la Plate (December'l3, 1768), immense 'numbers of petrels were seen. Among them was our small white-faced_ friend, the first of its kind to fall victim to the naturalists’ guns.