BUSHLAND BEAUTIES

Northern Advocate, 23 October 1935, Page 4

BUSHLAND BEAUTIES

Northlanders will he interested to note that Tasman Ward , of Okaihau, the fourteen-year-old warrior who wrote this article, cannot run and jump as do other hoys and girls. Despite a crippled leg, this boy knows much of the wisdom of the hush. It is with pleasure that we publish his work below. I think that the bush is loveliest in Spring, with the fresh green leaves bursting from their brown-coated sheaths, and the brilliant flowers showing plainly on the background of green. One feels the glory of Spring when walking through a New Zealand forest. There is the yellow kowhai with its golden blooms swaying gently in a soft, cool breeze. Here and there we see the fragile white clematis, its slender vines entwined among the trees. A sparkling stream passes merrily over the smooth pebbles and golden sand on, its way to the open sea. Mountain trout can be seen gliding about in its crystal depths. Tall stately pungas or tree ferns are numerous, and the nikau, or New Zealand palm, spreads its branches over its smaller brothers. The drtooping rimu and kaihikatea adds to the bush’s beauties. The purple koromiko is now in full bloom. Welcome rays of warm sunshine penetrate the thick foliage overhead. Birds of bright plumage flit about above our heads. The morose kingfisher sits patiently on an overhanging willow branch waiting for an unwary trout to emerge from its un-der-water home. The shy wood pigeon sits on a puriri branch, forty or fifty feet . above, uttering harsh “coo-ees” because it has been disturbed. The little green wax-eye flits about in the miromiro trees seeking the red fruit. Fantails are busily building their neat little nests on a branch out of harm’s way. Bellbirds, invisible in foliage, can be heard in the tall taraire trees, their sweet belllike notes ringing through the native bush.

Tawhara. a food of the old-time Maori, are ripening fast, and the fuchsia berries are ripe and being eaten by the tui. Wekas or water hen run on the floor of the bush and the native quail scratches for food. All these things help to make a glorious picture which is given to us by Nature. Nothing can be more beautiful than our Native bush in Spring.