NATURE AND MAN

Gisborne Times, Volume LXXIII, Issue 12140, 30 December 1933, Page 12

NATURE AND MAN

• A' SADNESS OF SUMAIER* CARELESS FIRE-RAISERS • (Edited by Leo Fanning) When I have seen the glory of the sky At dawn’Y have heard the music of the . wind ; . . ' , ' Seen iwhite mists myring 'round, a 'mountain, high; ;I'; .' : ■;' Read jToetry to treasure * ;iri mv „ ■ mind: . * • - Hived .in .a.stcirm and . fe’itt.the cold rain wet Mv brow: known the warm sun and watch ed it. make Flow’r petals soft unfold, and sp beget A greater beauty, when I have wandered Alono by the wind-tossed sea,' when the tide . , Preys on the land. have, waited quiet, and hearf}. !A tui, call, and seen “it dai*t. aside Then doth my heart rejoice, niv soul uprise;. . .... \ . And is nofc.of this Earth but .Paradise I ~. . ; . —M. von Keji sen berg jn the “N.ZT. Railways AlagavJne”.

In the bright. colourful country of New Zea’and sumiper brings its own special pleasures and 'inspirations to nature-lovers,' blit, it % fraught w’lh one fires that - mar °r wholly destroy' beautiful native forest- Although the driest, period of the season, i® ordinarily after Christina,s, already some noble, scenery pf the Alar I borough Sounds has perished in flames, and - a pall of srnoke has been, hanging brer .a stretch of Orongpronga range, visible from Wellington C;ty. Usually this Toss' of a. delightful asset is due to the-carelessness of pmnic .parties or Other excursionists. Unquenched ashes of cooking-fires cir “live” butts of cigarettes or pipe dobbles may be the cause of a deplorable flare. Even an empty bottle concentrating the sun’s rays on li’-gb-ly inflammable material, may.start a eouflagraV°n. The smoke of these horrible fires is a reminder - tba,t the beauty of Nature is. offered up as a sacrifice to the devils of carelessness and recklessness. The destruction, of the woods is a terrible loss of chatrming scenery 1 , the loss of shelter and food for native birds, the loss of protective covering on the slopes of watersheds.

Year after yca,r appeals have been made for careful conduct in the forests, hut the disastrous fires, do not cease. In many cases the bas’c cause is That many individuals lack a proper sense of responsißTty to the general community. As an example oi that, attitude one may mention the selfish stupidity' of some men who belong to a Public AVbrks camp in a northern district of the North Island same years ago. AVliile they .were out hunting during a week-end, some wild pigs took cover in a clump of thick bracken and scrub. The men set fixe ifO the vegetation, and thus began a blaze which spread to a native forest, and destroyed many acres of big trees, centuries old. THE FAAIOUS JOHN AUDUBON. Occasional (reference io the ’ Audubon Societies of the U.S.A. in the “Nature—and Alan’’ series ' has induced a correspondent to ask a. simple question: “ Why the name Audubon?” Well, that name in the naturecult associations is the perpetual honouring of a great man. John James Audubon. “It is doubtful if the life of any other great- American has become more "invested with undyjng interest and romantic charm than that of John James Audubon, illustrious naturalist, and painter of birds, ”/.y,wites. r . Alden.s..-Hadley- - 'kin! .“Bh'd-Loxe;”

‘•'Audubon was born on April 26, 1785, on the Island of Haiti. His father was a French. sea-captain', and early in life young Audubon wnstaken to France where his boyhood days wore spent. lit his early manhood, his. father sent film to look after an estate in Pennsylvania. Here he lived for a dime, and here lid met and later married Lucy. Bake well without whoso unwavering faith and constant devotion Audubon could net have successfully completed his great life-work. This was the painting of pictures, in life-size of North American birds, and the writing of them descriptions. To this task, Audubon set himself with loving enthusiasm and grim determination. The great work which he had undertaken required much time, and there was a fanyly to support. Before long all his property was gone and, from time to time, Tip was cpmpelled to turn- lys hand t-o various callings in order to keep the wolf from the door. He gave fencing, dancing, and music lesspns. He also tried business, hut in this he was a failure. He painted portraits, landscapes, and st-reet-<ygns, During this time, too, lie travelled many (thousands jof miles, eolleeVng and studying bird's whose beautiful likeness were portrayed in colour by the genius of liis brush. At one time he lived tin. Kentucky; at- anothe, in Louisiana. “After many years full of hardships and. disappointments,’ it- seemed that. Audubon’s dream of painting aud describing the birds of America was aboqt; 1 • tobo fulfilled. There remained, dyowover, the . very difficult task of raktng money and. securing a. publisher i who could faithfully vZ produce these great paintings in the form .. of -life-size colour-plates. Such an individual Audubon at last found in London, England, in the person of Robert Have.l. Thirteen years were required to complete the publication. of the Elephant Folio Edit-on of the ‘Birds of America, and Audubon himself took subscriptions for the set at 1000 -dollars each.” -

• The kind of work which'John AucL übon dt'd for thq birds of the U.S.A. is being done for New Zealand’s Lyrds by the Native Drd Profciction Society. Already the .society lias published on© he’pful jioek' with;- >a 'number -of reproductions of \ fitllcoldurlad paintings of birds, and other s in readiness for similar use when the financial position permits the enterprise.

... IMPRISONMENT OF BIRDS • : ,Grc a t • ©retain.' has a; law which nrohih'ts the capture of; - c«*tanx birds -for wh, find forbids the sale ; of "such birds ~ In. the -original Bill, promoted by Lord Buckniaster --power was eought rfp prevent the keeping of such birds in cages, but unfortire nately [this section was struck out. However, distinguished men and twomen are busy % a camaign for thd reusing of public opinion aganst the ' callous or thoughtless imprison, ment of birds, and the friends of freedom will wm, if their present zegl is maintained.' - *- ' “The caged' wild bird,” says Dr Af/ioj!'only .exists because the'snp* porters ,do,not know of the cruelty attached to the capture and taming of the victims, and base their jucU merit on the hardy hfrds that wru> v.ive.. If they realised that for every ■survivor they see ten die, under bore rible conditions, many who snppdrt the cult would cease to do so. Aly ad, vice to those who doubt the cruelty of the caged . wild bird traffic - is.to see the various stages of capture and' trainljng from sita/rr to finish. Dr, if that is not possible, accept the. statements of those nvhp have—-and nne out of ten wll cease toe support a system they* knew is iniquitous.y “Owners of caged bjreds will see many specious arguments to how thqir birds prefer the safety of k captivity' to the perils of freedom. ■ Do not believe them, .fjor they don’t believe it themselves. The birds will continue to exFgt a® prisoners, hut their whole attitude, as they sit dully in fhrir prisons, bewildered and unhappy, is one of protest against restraint. Wild things crave one thing alone ,in life, and that is freedom.’’ “The subject of cageing (wild birds,” states Aliss Irene Vanbrugh, “is tone upon which no one can reflect without sorrow for the ; >r sufferings and horror that so much cruelty can be inflicted, even if ignorantly

and until? nlringly. ... Every stretch of woodland or of open country and every garden should lie a sanctuary for all species of -wild birds, and the law should be only concerned with the limitation of such birds as are a, danger to agricuH turn.” - ■ •