CHILDREN STORY.

Northern Advocate, 30 August 1919, Page 4

CHILDREN STORY.

HEARD IN THE DARK

. a wingless, tail-less bird, Less feathered too than furred, . the kiwi." :•

—Domett.

Of all the useful New Zealand biras

j there were none thought of so highly las the kiwi. Tis true the kaka could

} b«- tamed and taught to mimic; the : pigeon was excellent food; and the ! huia gi-ew the much-prized white-tip-ped tail feathers, but the kiwi with its rich browny fur-like feathers and ■ a beauty all its own. Indeed, when ; the feathers were worked up into a flax mat, they looked so distinguished j and, handsome that they were deemed .too ffood for any but persons of high rank to wear. Only chiefs and chk'ftainesses were allowed to clothe themselves with the feathers of the kiwi.- •■••.- ..'.'■.• ■ :: . . At one time there was.very little known about the life and habits of the kiwi. If disturbed in the daytime, it was dazed and dazzled with the light, so there was no way to observe it in its natural state, but by watching it by night. ~ Now Para who was just oife of the common people became very interest- j ed and curious about .this shy bird: accordingly, one evening he threaded his way through the bush and concealed himself in the sedge grass by a big rata tree. Presently a pair of kiwis emerged from a hole in the base of this tree. And fortune-favoured Para found his ears so opened that he could perfectly understand what the bird 9 were saying. "K-vee, k-vee, come on my dear, it is dark enough for us to see clearly by now." "K-ruck,k-ruck, I am close behind," answered his mate. "More-pork! and good evening to you," screeched an owl from aloft thi rata. f^ "Glad to see you, old friend," responded Mr Kiwi. "Glad you say 'old friend,' " replied Mr Owl in a more comfortable voice. , , ; , :;£j}Ui "Certainly," said Mrs Kiwi, "we have known you and your kind for many years." But being a reticent little bird she cut short her remark to fossick and scratch among the ferns. "Pity we aren't on closer terms, don't you think so?" continued the owl, looking as solemn as a gra idfather clock. "iSeems a3 though we ought to become better acquainted seeing that we are almost the only birds who choose to be abroad at -night." Bui Mr: Kiwi's plaintive voice answered, "lou must rein-u.vj^i - have not always ibeen night birds, and we do not readily adapt ourselves, to their company." "Remember?" exclaimed the morepork, "No, I don't remember; I am ?aid to b e a wise bird (here Mr Kuru puffed up his feathers) but my memory does not serve so far." The two kiwis whispered together. "Seeing he knows how to keep good counsel, I think we might confide in him, don't you, my dear?" "Yes, I think we might, for Mr Ruru isn't a gossip," she replied. "Well, to begin with I can't seeyou very well!" Mr Kiwi's shrill voice addressed the owl; and he tilted his head side-ways in an effort to do so. "My ancestors used to very keen sight, but they got lazy and went to sleep in the daytime, instead of bustling round and looking for food. That is why we are nearly blind in the daylight, and simply have to make our travels in the dark." "Well, I shouldn't like to be blind," said Mr Owl, opening his own, size-of-a-shilling orbs. "Tell ■ the owl we don't need good eyes," said Mrs Kiwi, defending the kiwi tribe as a whole. "Of course not, of course not," said her mate, "and you will soon know why—but I was telling you about our ancestors, In those days we had wings and a tail, (but it was such an easy life with no enemies to fly away from, that we gave up α-y----ing to fly; so our wings became weak and our tail disappeared. You wouldn't think we still have wings would you, but we do have small useless ones tucked away in our feathers. When we go to sleep we try and tuck our heads under them in the old way." "Oh, that explains it," said Mr Ruru. "I used to wonder if you were animal or bird, and from what you say it seems as though you are a bird, but don't you grow fur?" "The owl couldn't have such good eyes after all," said Mrs Kiwi. "Np, w ( - have feathers, not fur." "Some peppje thought we were de- • scended from the moa," went on the story-teller, "but that is quite wron,?; nevertheless our forerunners were much larger than we are; you can guess that by the large egg we lay which is too big for our smaller bodies to cover properly. I have heard it said that we are a cross between the. emu, the heron and the common fowl, but if you ask me, I say we are a race of our ovrn." "Are you tired my dear, that you rest your head on your bill?" questioned Mr Kiwi. "Indeed no, I am listening and sniffing," Mrs Kiwi told her mate "There are worms underground here and I can hear them wriggling to the surface; I can smell il nice little breakfast for us both," ,f What an awful cute bird you are," said Mr Ruru. "Can you actually hear them under the earth? You certainly make up for blindness by a most remarkable hearing! Well I never, never, never did see such a marvellous, extraordinary creature!" Para, you can guess, hoped these sharp birds would not hear his heart beating; he did not want to miss this novel entertainment.

"Come now, enough talk about the past," kr-ucked Mrs Kiwi. "Can't y6u see I am listening hard to keep you alive and fed in the present? Ah! here is the dainty morsel, I can snu-li it with my nostrils at the tip of my bill." She scratched it up.- . "Here, Mr Kiwi, you may share this j if you stop piping to the -owl. If you don't, I'll have it myself!" j Mr Kiwi-was hungry, so you know what happened. And how about Para? He didn't want them to know how much he haJ j heard. It would scare them so after all the family secrets they had been telling. So he remained still until the pair of kiwis went back to the hole. In one way it was a great pity that Para found out all this, for it gave him many hints useful in the art of trapping the birds, and many, many more of them fell a prey to this knowledge. A few nights later, Para led a hunt. His method was to rustle flax gently on the ground, i'he kiwis, thinking it was some insect, j would move towards it,. Then, the ( party, previously concealed, would i rush out waving lighted kauri torches to dazzle them. After that it was a simple matter to catch them, but they were often killed too, for kiwi flesh' was good to eat. To do Para justice it is only right to tell that he would, never harm the - two kiwis in ( the rata. i Bush fires and thoughtless sports-' men with dogs and guns now destroy the kiwi at a much faster rate than ever happened through the old Native devices. If this is not stopped, the famous bird will become extinct.

RIRORIRO