NATURE NOTES.

New Zealand Herald, Volume L, Issue 15263, 29 March 1913, Page 5 (Supplement)

NATURE NOTES.

By J. DRDHMOJTD, V.L.8., FAS,

A correspondent has Written asking me if leeches are found in New Zealand. ' For some time it was believed that they did not exist in thif. country, but the fact that they are present".-.was established beyond doubt, about thirteen years ago. . The first. , mention of New Zealand leeches is in connection with the United States exploring expedition, which set out for the Antarctic in 1838 in charge of Wilkes. In the United States National Museum there are ■„ two specimens of land leeches with " New- • ■ Zealand" written on the tube in which they were , placed. Inquiries made by; Professor W. B. Benham, of Dunedin, however, show that the name of the • locality is incorrect. Errors in locality < ire frequent on the labels attached to, the Wilkes collections, and it is thought that the specimens were collected at Sydney when the expedition stopped there after returning from its explorations in southern seas. At the suggestion of Professor Benham a search was made in the narrative • ind reports of the expedition, published in ' Philadelphia in 1845, but no mention was found of ; land leeches obtained in either New Zealand or Australia. Reischek, in: his jtray notes on bird life in New Zealand, states that on one occasion lie was bitten by leeches, and other men who have lived in the open have described similar [ experiences.

, The first authentic record of the occurrence of these creatures in this country was made by Professor A. Dendy arid Miss M- F. Olliver, who, thirteen years ago, ' published a description 35 f an aquatic leech caught in Lake Takapuna. . After that' some aquatic specimens, caught at Lake Haynes, near Queeristown, came into the hands of- Dr. C. Chilton, and in 1903 the presence of leeches in New Zealand was further demonstrated by seven specimens gent to Professor Benliam by Dr. L. Cock* ayne. They wero collected by Mr. W. Dunlop while he and Dr. Cockayne were making an excursion to Open Bay Island, which li&{ off the West Coast. Mr. Dunlop, was searching for, . wetas under some soft tussock-grass in burrows formed by mutton-bird petrels. The burrows were in moist earth on the side 01 a hill. While he was plucking up tufts of grass and groping amongst the roots, which were embedded in swampy soil, he felt a bite on his wrist. He carefully withdrew his hand, and found that a leech had attached itself to his . skin.. Further investigation discovered six more . leeches, and several cocoons. When Professor Benham examined these he was surprised to find ; that they belong to Hirudo, which is not, a land genus, but. an aquatic one; at least all the speciesof this genus that have, been examined live in water or in marshy places. * ' . 1

• ; V'' T«* ' Professor Benham points. out that the. • medicinal leech of Europe" And . Japaii and,./ ■ other countries also' belongs to that genus, •• and he expresses surprise that it, and noti ;. a • new. genus, .is represented -in .this dj#- ( ; tant country. , The common medicmal .. , leech, Hirudo medicinalis, was once used ■* • largely for blood-letting-; >It- is found .in • > the United Kingdom, but is much mora plentiful on the Continent of Europe* [ European countries once developed an im-. portant trade .in • these creature® to the • shorts of the British Isles. , When the in* dustry was at its height extensive swamps * .in - France were some -of the - principal; / sources'of • Oldhorsescand; cattle were uriven ' into enclo' ures in 6>rderf4ft-pro* ; * vide the leeches with food: They we*e <k caught by the peasants, .wlw waded inter _ the water until the leeches fixed, them- . selves on the bare legs.,; •'• It is estimated! that at one time 30,000,000 leech* were ; ' used for medicinal purposes every year: ia .; France and England. Only .five , year® ago a - hatchery] near Hildesheiin; in • GerW., many,. raised 3,500,000 in one yew. Pro- . bably it is still carrying on its work.' The■ most ' approved , method !61 u?inga ,lee<&' ; ."/- medicinally is to place it in an open pill- ." box or in, a wine-glass, and apply this to. , the spot, at which it?is wished the leech: ij should: operate. - When it : will' not. attach,.itself readily it is Sometimes to.',. bite by moistening the part with milk or', ;. blood., When it has filled itself ' with"; blood .'it' usually. drops off,' put if it adheres v-. longer - than is'necessary: it . can.be indtioßdl to relinquish its grip by f salt being .. r .: sprinkled on it.. In some tropical countries members of the genera are very unpleasant companions. In Ceylon ; there ia 1 a species which ' attaches itself. to passers- v.; \ by. •It is stated that it draws blood with so little irritation that the victim is made aware of its presence only -by • the trickling • from the wounds. These leeches live ' oof y . grass or trees, are exceedingly quick : in'. /, their movements, scent prey ; from a long' distance., and ' troop ' in- numbers to : the ,: place- The horse-leech belongs to still t f another genus. It is' a voracious creature,"Vbut is hardly as black as it is painted. £* The belief that nine horse-leeches will stick ' : a ' horse to death' is v' founded on •: nothing ' > more substantial than imagination. 5 This 1 species, Aulostoma gulo, has not' been re- , corded in New Zealand. ; :V; A North Island correspondent has sent, an account of a fight between a, hawk and a teal near Maraetai, on the East Coast of , ; the North 'Island, south' of " Auckland : city, 'Vsome time ago. ; Although . the encounter -, was an unequal one th© hawk by no means had it all its own way. ' Another' hawk, attracted by the noise, hovered close overhead, and evidently was an interested spectator. A brood belonging to the teal was quite unprotected, but the second ' hawk did not try to molest any of . the; young- 'birds. At a favourable opportunity,. some spectators caught the fighting hawk and killed it. " The second hawk then flew, away, leaving the teal in safety with her young ones, but greatly exhausted.

Reports come in fairly frequently tof the | presence of the native quail, in '.different j parts of New Zealand, but as it is impos- '. sible to distinguish ; between the. native; quail and the Australian quail except by a close examination, the publication of the reports may be misleading. Mr. L. M. v Harper, of Okahukiira," states that large" | numbers of quail, believed to be native birds,, are seen in the Kawatahi Valley, about fourteen miles from Raurimu, on the North Island Main Trunk line. :He describes the birds'as slightly smaller than the Californian quail, dark brown all over, [ with no bright plumage whatever, ana - hardly any tail, a description which would-, fit the. Australian bird as well as the New' Zealand one. He adds that, for wild birds, they are exceptionally quiet. ; Ann other correspondent, Mr. G.. M- Haesing, • writing from Feldwick, Otago, states tba# native quail ' have completely disappeared from the Upper Clutha, Hawea, and ( Wanaka districts. They were present in thousands before the discovery of the goldfields, but none has been seen during the ~ past ten years at least. . " Like the poor ; weka," he says, "they have fallen a pres - to dogs, cats, stoat*, vteweb, ferrets, fire and poison." ' _ <" ; ,