IN TOUCH WITH NATURE

Lyttelton Times, Volume CXXIII, Issue 16034, 14 September 1912, Page 15

IN TOUCH WITH NATURE

NOTES ON NATURAL HISTORY IN •j NEW ZEALAND. (By J. DRUMMOND, F.L.S., F.Z.S.) Mr A. Wilson, an experienced surveyor, writing i'rom Hangatiki, in *no ! North’lsland, on notes published soiuo time ago, showing that . English thrushes have taken up their nbedo in largo numbers in native bush m Canterbury, states that theso introduced birds are very general in tho forests of tho North Island. In preparing largo blocks of land for settlement, Mr Wilson sometimes camps t-en or twelve miles from tho nearest homestead or clearing, and ho finds that if a camp is occupied for a considorab’o timo sparrows, ycllowhammers and other members of the finch family find their way to it. In -the King Country he hao found many small isolated clearings in forests, made probably .by Maoris during tho war. At ono timo all theso corners of tho forests held pheasants, but the clearings became infested by rabbits, and poison was placed in thorn, with tho result that tho pheasants woro exterminated in theso placeo. Two years ago Mr Wilson rods in from Otorolianga, through Wharepuhanga, and towards Mokia, across tho pumice country, on the southern side of tho Waikato. 110 sa,w fow native birds except in tho forests, but all through tho' open country ho saw imported birds, especially thrushes and finches. Ho has never seen any bush so well stocked with native birds as the bush at his present camp at Wharopuhanga, in tho King Country.. Ido specially mentions tho whitehead, tho ’ bush-wren, tho North Island crow and tho bell-bird. Mr H. J. Stone, of Woodend, has mado inquiries in regard to “ a queer ! little fish ” which, bo says, lives underground, except at times of long-con-tinued rains, when water-boles remain for days or weeks. It then comer; towards tho surface and swims about until tho water begins to subside, when it disappears under tho ground again. “ Sometimes,” Mr Stono says, “ a water-holo is not left on tho ground for years, but at any timo a person who is digging down to a depth of from four foot to six feet—making.a drain, for instance—may find tho little lad in tho ground. Ho is from three inches and a half to five inches long, spotted and mottled like a. trout, and has a vorv small head for tho size of the body, a good, round, fut body, a very largo tail, and a pair of silvery little eyes.” Tho fir-lx is tho New Zealand mud-fish (Neochanna anoda). It .is usually found in clay, in jilaces which* are overflowed by rivers when they are in flood. Up to the present timo it has been reported, I believe., only from Westland and Rangitikoi, in tho Wellington province. Very little seems to bo known of its habits, but the fact that its eyes are rudimentary, and the absence of ventral fins, are accepted as evidence that it spends much of its time in mud. Mr E. R. Waite, curator of Canterbury Museum, informs mo that it is closely allied to tho innnga, or whitebait, but differs from it in tho absonco of the ventral fins, and that, although eel-liko in appearance, on account of that peculiarity, it m more nearly related to the salmon and trout fumiheo. Mud-fish, of a different species, are found in other parts of tho world. Tho African mud-fish (Protoptcrus anneotans) is Vidcly spread over tho African continent. It is very plentiful in the Gambia River, wbero it buries itseL during the dry season, making a kind of nest, in which it passes a term of torpidity. Tliero it remains for tho greater part of tho year. It resumes its normal aquatic life with tho return of tho wet season. Some years ago, about ono hundred specimens wore dug out and packed in crates, still enclosed in clods of mud. On arrival in Europe tho clods wero opened, and the fish were placed in a tank in a hothouse. From observations of these specimens it was found that mud-fish grow very rapidly, have great vitality, and, although ablo to sustain fasts, aro very voracious, devouring all the snails, earthworms and small fish given to them. They tried to kill and eat each other, creating difficulties in tho way of preserving specimens. They aro most active at night, and seem to keep mostly to the shallow water, where they move about deliberately on the bottom. This fish conics to the surface to breathe at short intervals, and it is believed that tho lung 3it possesses play an important part, if not the chief part, in respiration during tho animal’s active life.

A correspondent has sent a tobacco pipe, in the bowl of which a masonwasp has made its well-known clay nest. Tho pipe, evidently, offered a very suitable and convenient place, tho clay being placed all round, making a little airtight cell. Tho correspondent states that in cases ho observed near Kaikoura a few years ago tho wasp filled tho nests with spiders, which were gathered from the flax bushes, and were of a green hue. with a silver tinge down the back. When tho cells were nearly full tho wqsp began to cover the top of tho nest with clay, and, before completing tho work, deposited the eggs on top of tho spiders and then sealed tho outside. He has opened the nests months after they have been sealed, and hna always found that tho spiders seemed to he plump and bright. The same correspondent, dealing with birds, states that ho saw tiio longtailed. cuckoo in tho Ashburton Gorge on November 20 last year, and tho shining cuckoo at Otaio, near St Anklrews, in tho same district, on January 3 this year. Ho has found tho nest of a native pigeon with eggs in it near a stream at the foot of Mount Bcnmoro, Marlborough, as late ns February. Tho nest had tho appearance of having had one brood already reared in it, and the bird ovidently was rearing a second ono.

“ When reading some notes in your column describing tho inquisitiveness of 1 tho weka.” Mr •!. Joyce writes from I Papanui. “I thought that I would tell | yet another story about tlicso strange, inquisitive birds. A few years ago a j young Indy friend nf mine was staying jat a station in Canterbury. It was in i the summer, and tho nights were warm i and sultry, and she usually left her j bedroom window open. One night she j was awakened by something scratching !on her bed. Tho moon was shining in ‘through the window, and she was sur- ? prised to see a weka standing on- her breast and peering into her face. When the impudent intruder was disturbed it made a swift and sudden exit, and tho young Indy, who did not upprccinto these midnight visits, had closed windows at bedtimo after that experience.”

On several occasions Mr A. D. Downey, of Ponsonby, Auckland, lias ascended tlio Toncariro croup of peaks, and d urine liis last visit lie was impressed with tho presence of muttonbird petrels there. "He states that they malco their nests in holes in tho side of the mountain, quite CCOflfb ah,are sen-level. Ho found that tho nests were somewhat difficult of access on account of tho stesp and rocky character of tho mountain. birds apparently, nest on tho southern ’side. Ho does not supply tho date of the visit, hut states that the you me biVds in tho nests were so fat, that th.ov had to be carried with their necks ' tied. Ho also saw petrols on a small lake, about half an acre in area, on tho summit. Ho thinks that it is strop rm that llicso sea-birds should nest and rear their youny so far from their food supplies; it would be difficult for them to select any place j n tlio North Island further from the E ea. While be was J&! tflJKai-.

ouru at night, birds—evidently petrels —seemed to cross and recross. They flew so closo that ono struck his hat. They flow very low, and uttered a weird cry, somewhat resembling tho final notes in a wcka’s call. Probably they. were black petrols, Mnjaqueas Parkinsoni, on their way back to their mountain homes, aftor Bpending tho day at sea.