Will Nightingales Become “Naturalised” New Zealanders?

Greymouth Evening Star, 10 December 1927, Page 9

Will Nightingales Become “Naturalised” New Zealanders?

It was recently announced that the writer David Garnett had forwarded a pair of nightingales to New Zealand tn the hope that then would settle here. Sir Maui Pomare has replied that proper authority will have to he obtained before nightingales will be released on Little Barrier Island.

BHE suggestion that nightingales should be imported into New Zealand, has called forth letters, prot e s t i n g against the “ King of

Songsters” being allowed into the country. One writer suggests that it may bring disease, and the Government states that no permits have been applied for, and therefore without permits they could not be landed. It is of interest to know that regulations were framed two years ago, requiring all birds to be examined by a stock inspector at the jport of exportation, to prevent disease, ticks, etc., b6ing carried by the birds. As the nightingale is an insectivorous bird, the question of ticks cant not enter into question, and in regard to disease, it is a particularly weak argument to use, as already there are several birds which migrate, of their own initiative into New Zealand, passing through countries and mixing with other birds entirely foreign to the .native birds of New Zealand. Quite unlike the imported thrush, blackbird and starling, which have a varied diet, not strictly keeping to insect life for sustenence, the nightingale is purely a searcher for insects, grubs and things that crawl and fly, most of which are pests. It has also been stated that the nightingales will not stand our New Zealand climate, but these pretty birds are snared and kept in cages In England right through the winter, and it is on record that specimens have lived for over seven years in captivity, usuallj dying .from fatty degeneration, due to the rich diet given to them. Thd nightingale arrives in. England from the Continent in early April, and though the Southern counties are the usual breeding place, occasional pairs have been noted as far north as Lancashire and Yorkshire.

with dull whitish breasts slightly tinged with brown, and about six and a-half inches in length, the nightingale frequents the woods, dells and plantations, and immediately breaks forth into song, which is a sign that the matink season has commenced. Making a small nest of fibrous roots

and bits of bark, lined with fine grasses, the female lays five olivebrown coloured eggs, and it is during the period of incubation that the male birds pours forth his full song. When the young have been hatched, the male ceases to sing, no doubt due to the necessity of searching for insect food for the young. The nightingale pours out the full volume of his song during the period when the nest is being made, and it is during this time that the countryside rings with the melodies taken up by challenging male birds in the neighbourhood, each one endeavouring to trill better than its neighbour. The song commences with a short series of notes, “Churr-churr-churr,” breaking into varied melodies, and ending with an exquisite harmonic scale.

The song has already been captured by radio enthusiasts, and hae been reproduced on the gramophone

by means of a microphone placed in the immediate neighbourhood of the nest. By this means people in the British Isles who had never heard this beautiful songster were able to receive his broadcast song, relayed and intensified by means of loudspeakers.

In the southern parts of England it is a common sight in the spring months for motorists to travel for miles in large numbers, parking their cars and proceeding to the edge of a wood where a pair of nightingales.

have taken up their abode, and there quietly waiting for the evening song. By common consent, there is no smoking or striking of matches, and conversation is carried on in hushed whispers. Though of a retiring nature, thb male nightingale during breeding time is bold, and the naturalist who is acquainted with the song can bring the male quite close by imitating a few of its notes.

Nightingales are captured in numbers immediately upon the arrival of the male birds, which usually precede the females b; a few days. The capture is effected by means of small wire traps,' covered with grass, and baited with several mealworms attached to the trigger, in such a manner that when the male steps inside he loosens the spring. Mealworms have a great attraction for them, and once the male has seen the bait nothing will prevent him from finding the way inside the trap. Large numbers of these beautiful birds are trapped blit die within a week, owing to their timid nature when freshly caught. Fanciers experienced in the feeding and training of wild’ birds gradually tame, them by a process known’ as “meating off,” which entails the placing of' a few wriggling mealworms under a small tumbler or watch glass, . upOn which is smeared a mixture of food comprising finely-ground meat,/ biscuit and mealworms the captured birds taste the mixture smeared thickly on the glass, and so become acquainted with the taste of the new food. After a few days, when accustomed to the new diet, mealworms are given in addition. .' ’ ’ The fact that -the nightingale can be caught and tamed, and’kept for a period of sev.en years in captivity in England, goes to prove, that if there is a sufficient quantity of food of an insect nature they would live in thfe open in New , Zealand,! provided the instinct. to migrate did not' caiisfe ' 1 ;