NATURE NOTES.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XLIX, Issue 14984, 4 May 1912, Page 5 (Supplement)

NATURE NOTES.

. i h • . ■>&%> 'fSWItOMmmm BY J. DRUMTJOND. F.L.8.; F.Z.&

Dr. "8. M. MoQRHOtrsE, with the in* stincts of : a naturalist,' always makes a .' ' note of the birds tie sees when he is out in the open, and' when he was deerstalking near Manuka Point, at the top of the Kakaia Gorge, Canterbury, in the second week of April, he recorded the native and introduced birds he * met with • there. r He states that he saw- a very, large num- „ her of Paradise ducks, two • pairs ■of blue mountain ducks, and also grey ducks. There were keas high ; ftp in the country, . and harrier's and sparrow-hawks were often seen. There was a fairly large number of wekas, and one brood •of - five frequented f his camp. The other native birds seen, , ' were morepork owls, riflemen wrens (plen- ; tiful)', fantiils, white-eyes/ tom*fits ( very plentiful), grey warblers .(plentiful), and ground.larks (fairly plentiful), , He saw no kiwis,' kakas, bell-birds,. hush.,: wrens, or rock wrens. There were a few pukekos at Double Hill, but he thinks that they hare gone there recently."' It is interesting to-know that he has a strong,"opinion that/, he saw a brown . creeper, although ho did n6t obtain a sufficiently good view to be absolutely certain. His list of English birds comprises blackbirds, thrushes, chaffinches, ' green linnets, and sparrows. The chaffinches and sparrows are well represented ,al the homestead at Manuka Point. . The chaffinch, indeed, probably is . the .commonest bird, there. From the remains. of feathers • and other , evidence he concludes that the sparrow-hawks make very successful raids on the flocks of chaffinches. . There has been some discussion in this column as to whether kiwis are on Soames Island, - in Wellington Harbour, and Mr. 1 Cornish, who Jives, pa the Terrace, Wellington, has sent the following note, which is ■ specially interesting, < because it > deals ;; with v the early day« of colonisation :*—'•* In 1871 1 1 was sergeant in' charge of some six. <. men of the Armed . Constabulary, sent to Soames Island from the township to pre-, vent, healthy immigrants frqm. oommunii eating with .pick persons landed from the ship England, which arrived with smallpox on board. I was on the island for about three months,, and, / although ■ there were many small penguins there,; I never saw or heard a kiwi, whose cry,, as, stated , . in your column previously, is quite unmistakable. : Wekas, ,as well ,as penguins, were very plentiful.§ At that n time' the is- ' land ) was • covered with - native grass and % toi-toi jbushes, but there was little .flax i on it." 81 . | It has been pointed out several times during the past few. years that exaggerated statements have, been /made'in tjie extinction .of sw^l.spejjips, birds, | and veiy convincing 4 evidence a wrong, impression has been conveyed: is supplied by Mr. C. t. McCall,.'of Amodeo Bay, Coromandel Peninsula/ ''Tain sure," says, " that if some -of the bird-lovers who deplore-the. decrease of the tui\ were to come into this district /at the 1 present/ i time they would get ' &' , pleasantsurprise,. | Here tuis 'are simply innumerable; and' the a\r is filled with , their gleeful song, I especially in the mornings and the evenings.' t\ I , counted thirty, in one •; dry tairiri '- tree.; At the same time there were dozens—in: fact, hundreds —in other trees and flying around. I think..that .the; abundance of tuis - here is accounted for by th,e... i . food supply; Strange ;tas itayp fctour fobd; j - is not indigenous, as these; birds are'eating the seed of the 'ink-weed, a plant, that thrives wondorfuliy licre.* it is So dsjnfc thai it 'fa a* pest. . As. eoo^ gettfers .fell andburaihe , bfltfk ; -i» up before ;'s« ;j nif fTi\ least half the ground, chokintr" out tJi* gr*i», and growing rigorously. for several yearf*. Pigeons, . kakas, crows, fantailg, , ■grey warblers, kingfishers;- and,-morepork owls are still fairly plentiful, -with'ibdd parr a - " keets, robins, and long-tailed / cuckt»./ ' [ about, but bell-binds have not been heard * for several years. As we live oh 1 the sea coast.,, it'goes without saying tl>at ieabirds.v: are extremely numerous." ■ "v- . ■ At I the ' end of | March, 1 Mr. Ivan *G. Blythe reported that he. had 1 seen an Aus- ; : tralian swift at Mount Eden, : and asked if' othet observers had noted,; swifts in this Dominion. - Mr. A. Hansen'now,'; states that two, were seen;, by him.»oni Portland, Island,. and were, reported, in this column, in the springs ofclfpy' and'raQO." | Only; wja bird was, seen- on each : occasion. .They ; were to all appearance fyuite^lwppy? ancfi ' felt at home. They dsd not show . the least fear, and allowed him to get quite . closo : to them.' us they were, sitting on the. fence- • wires- or.'dap of the flag-staff. They did / not. leave the immediate vicinity, of tho' lighthouse; on- the island/ and only.,stayed ~ one day: 1 1 Probably they were attracted to the light, during' the -night;' as-'iihey.weto ' first seen early,; in ;the, morning. 'Another:. swift was seen |by , late -Sir, •Barrow-' ; man, a • rsry: • sellable • • Cape Foulwind, near Westport, flying along the railway- line. These are:tfae only instance«. known,to Mr. Hansen in which these stray, visitors from , t over;, the Tasman Sea.:haVei' been seen 'on this side. ; , "It more than passing interest/V he "to*' know .what .eventually" becomes t >or these stragglers. Probably they- find their ; way back again, but no .evidence bo tori is available ; to, prove it.. : » Officers and .passen- V I fers on steamers and;,other 'craft trading etv/eeiv New Zealand /pnd-Australia 'may r be able to tell us, or in time to settle ..the question." * * - The shining cuckoo has been abused .so ! often and '\ so sweepingly i ,'insp l Nftttif^> Notes" thai it is kuite a relief to learft something good of -it; The woi-ds Of praise : are 1 ' from ■ Mrs. - Hallyburtou-John- , i stone;' of Howick,' who ■ writes "An :acquaintance of my husband told him lately that he had < seen the -shining cuckoo very", busy eating the - leeches that infest the pear and plum toes in his orchard;" and' < 'an 'acquaintance" of my own told me this • i summer that every morning she and her. household , wero very interested watching. the cuckook breakfasting off : the black, hairy ■ caterpillars and their moths 1 thai cover the Cape ivy .growing"over '& stone wall -at k the . end of 5 their % yard, V. They p, watched the birds from, behind the'blinds, as thev promptly flew 'away if anyone ' ap- , , peared?" In the same letter 'Mrs. Hallv-burton-Johnstone ' Bays "We | had the largo kind of taro growing for over'ten years in our garden near Patea, and though f; ,' in a warm,' damp situation,"-' flowers-never appeared. We used the leaves' Mid' 1 stalks as vegetables,''the young leaves a spinach. . ' and : the ftalks:! boiled ; like asparagus. Often, when cutting'the Stalks into convenient ■ lengths ■ for ■ cooking, .we found-" a ' ' rudimentary flower' inside the l stalk and ' -! one with it. It was pinkish purple in with the'yellow spike clearly" defined, and that ; was the ? richest and nicest part of the stalk to eat." *" ' *,' f; * 1 * * ( .