NATURE NOTES.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LI, Issue 15563, 21 March 1914, Page 5 (Supplement)

NATURE NOTES.

BY JAMES DBTjMMOOT), F.L.S., F.Z.3. V

Several correspondents recently have re" ported instances of fantails rearing two broods in one nest in one season. Mr. C. Parr, writing from Balclutha, Otago, states that in December last he found a nest that had been used for three different broods. It was a union nest, that is, built and occupied by a black and a' pied fantail. He did not see the first brood, but was told that there were four young birds in it, three black and one " pied. He saw the second brood, which consisted of four black birds and one pied bird. They left the nest on December 22. On December 26 the female, a pied bird, began to lay again, and on December 29 she laid the fourth and last egg and began the work of incubation. The male helped her oifasii.-nally.. but most of his time was spent in feeding the five young ones of the former brood. Mr. Parr did not note the exact time taken by incubation, but .states that it was about sixteen days. A member of the last brood disappeared; two of the others were black and one was pied. "Itis a very creditable performance," he says. " for one pair of fantads to rear twelve young in one season." He draws attention to the large preponderance of Hack birds in the three broods. The proportion, was nine to three. In most cases the numbers are more even. Mr. Parr's note raises theold question whether the New Zealand -• fantails should be classified as two species or only one. It is usual to make two Species: Ehipidnra fiabellifera (pied) and Rhipidura fuliginosa (black), but Mr. Parr feels that this classification is unsatisfactory. He says:—"ln the South Island union nests seem to be just as common— in my experience I have found them more so—as those belonging to two birds of the same ' species.' We may then have a union pair of birds, each of which has come down from a long line of unions or crosses. Some of the offspring of this pair probably will be black and some pied, but all purebred. I know that this question has been discussed in your columns before, but nothing definite was reached."

A short time ago a note was published from Mr. S. Page, of Canterbury College, pointing out that tuis in different districts sound different notes. Mr. H. E. Adams, writing from Fatea, states that he has noted the same peculiarity. " About Nelson in the ' sixties,'" lie says, "bell-tirds or 'mockers,' were very plentiful and she tuis seemed to mock the mockers, instead of the mockers mocking the tuis, and I observed that the notes of the tuis in she North Island were very different from the notes of those about Nelson." Mr. Adams continues:— "About the time I have mentioned kakas / were very plentiful near Nelson, some-. - times a dozen or more would be seen flying together over the town, invariably ! from the northward. We boys had ' call birds,* which we had caught and tamed. When we saw the kakas flying overhead we would stir up the tame bird, and his noise would cause the other birds to come into the'trees, and we snared them. Par- • rakeets also were very plentiful. - They ' came into the gardens and - took the ' cherries. We often snared pamkeets and kept them in cages. The .yellow-headed"." parrakeets always were more plentiful"than the red-headed species." In regard to efforts to acclimatise the robin redbreast in New Zealand, Mr. Adams states thatatoat 1865 the .Nelson Acclimatisation Society imported a number of birds from England and amongst them were a few redbreast, which were liberated in the garden of Mr. Adams's father. They soon - disappeared, however, and he never saw them or heard of them afterwards.-

The long-tailed bat, ChalinoJobus morio;one of the two species of native bats, is still reported from a fairly large number' of districts. The latest report, dated January 29, is from Mr. F."'J;. Hayman, of Oruamuri, Rotorua. ' "I found the" bat recently in the alum cave at OraKeikorako, nine miles up the Waikato River from Atiamuri, in the Taupo district," he says. "It was dead, and another bat ! of the same species was found near it, but was much more decomposed. ~About six weeks ago, five of them were seen alive in the same cave. I did not see any. living specimens when! found the dead one; but this is accounted for ty the fact that at the time of my visit the sun was shin- % ing at, an angle which threw much more light into the cave than was usual.'. Seven years ago, I visited this cave, and members of our party saw "seven or eight .of these bats. They flew about over our heads, sufficiently near for us to see their shape, : but just beyond our reach. -At that time, I did not possess much knowledge of New Zealand bats, but I have learned since, through the pages of 'The Animals of New Zealand,' the interest attached to these creatures. ' There is no doubt that several of them still live in the cave."

An incident in the lives of some grey, ducks, which occurred nearly fifty years ago,' is recalled by Mr. W. Hone, of Waverley. He took a contract to fell timber near Waoganui, and soon after bis mate and he began work they saw ducks flying to and from a tall white pine tree. As the tree did not interfere with their work, they left it until the last, and did not deal with it until the contract was completed. It was late in the day when they began to fell it. The tree soon gave a loud crack and swayed slightlv. and then they heard a bird "fly out of the branches and saw it fly away. Next morning, when lopping the fallen tree, they found in the foliage a nest containing pieces of eggshell and the body of a duck, partly eaten, probably by a•' more-pork owl. They concluded that the drake ■ had escaped ■ when it was obvious that the tree was doomed, but that the female had remained behind and met her death. Measurement of the tree showed that the nest was 100 ft from.the ground.. The question Mr. Hone wishes. somebody to answer is How did the ducks intend to get their young ones safely down to the ground?

A specimen of the spotted lizard, Naultinus elegans, is reported from Otamata by a correspnodent who gives only his initials, "J.G." This lizard has been reported from both the North Island and the South Island.<& It is usually found in low country, but at least one specimen has teen reported from the top of Mount ' Arthur, in the Nelson district, where -it • • was found under stones amongst snow... - The Otamata correspondent adds:— [-..« "About this time last year, while chopping some tea-tree, 1 saw a very large ' green lizard. When I was trying to catch it another creature made off into the ■ thick scrub and escaped, but from the ..,-. commotion it made I concluded that it must have been considerably larger than the ordinary lizards. The green one ap* peared to be acting as a kind of rearguard to it.*' Another correspondent reports several specimens of the green lizard from the district near Taumarunui, and the rock lizard, which usually is black on top, with olive dots, or olive with black dots, is reported from near Milton,

Mr. J. B. Allen reports that when he lived in Papakura Valley, about twenty miles south of Auckland, he' found that" ' mudfish were 'not. uncommon-there. 'He k often discovered them. when he. was niak-' Vv ing ditches in swampy land. ," He' some- - I .' times dug them out.of stiff- clay' from a:-' .'•.' depth of three feet.' '.'■ .They were from two- .• inches to five inches long,-, and fa] ■■ artdU -<§. isluggish. ; On one occasion l\o caught' specimen On one iiwiuimiug m .-. clear^-*.. specimen that was uwimmiug in clean-,-;* water, during a fresh that covered the^s-. land in which!';be fish usually were MtiC'- ■*■?. _ _. - _ " '