NATURE NOTES.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LII, Issue 16026, 18 September 1915, Page 5 (Supplement)

NATURE NOTES.

ST 3. DSCHMOND, 1.L.5., u.LX.

The collection of: straw and grass, and, perhaps, a few feathers and tufts of wool, which the starling uses when it makes its untidy nest, may be found here in the same kind of place as this bird favours in the Old Country— _ hole in a wall, tree, or rock, a drain pipe, under the roof of an old house or barn, or at disused stable. Two correspondents 'who live in different parts of the Dominion now have Written stating that starlings sometimes frequent native swamp plants. Mrs. A. Shotter, of Kaikumara Bay, Pelorus Sound, states that she has seen clouds of starlings settling down on a rush-covered island near her home, and Mr. H. Fraser, of Murchison, Nelson, has seen them in raupo swamps, where they were so conspicuous as to attract special attention. "It was quite by accident that I noticed this," he writes, "and X at once wondered if you or any of your sT K)ndents had observed the same habit if this bird. I was out rabbitshooting, and when passing a raupo swamp on my way home I saw hundreds of starlings—it might not be an exaggeration to say thousands— overhead and alighting on the dry raupo. It was just' getting dusk, and I waited to see if the birds really intended to spend the night there. As none of them seemed to be making for some trees, quite close to the swamp, I fired a shot out of a pearifle. Hundreds of them arose, but quickly settled down. I repeated the experiment four times. On each occasion the birds arose and settled again on the raupo. As then it was almost dark I felt convinced that they intended to spend the night amongst the raupo, although there was a clump of mixed forest, including beech and white pine, almost overhead.-'

One of the commonest butterflies on the Canterbury riverbeds is a copperycoloured insect, which is a connecting link between the " coppers"' and the " blue** butterflies. It seems to like the warm patches of shingle and also dense cushion plants, with brilliant green colour, found in mountain bogs. Its name is Chrysophanus boldenarum, and it belongs to the family Lycaenidae. In other countries the caterpillar and chrysalis of members of the family are found in association with ants, and Mr. G. H. Howes, of Dunedin, has observed the same strange companionship in Canterbury. He has found the butterfly's caterpillar and chrysalis under stones in the Makikihi River, south of Timaru, and at St. Andrews, near the Pareora River. In each case the stones also sheltered ants' nests, and when he raised the stones at least two of the chrysalids had ants running over them. The relationship between the ants and the butterflies, so different in habits, appearance, and structure, has not been discovered. As Mr. Howes point out, it is a subject that should repay investigation.;

A New Zealander -who spent some months on a holiday in England once told me that the most welcome sight ,he saw there was a group of, cabbage-trees at Kew. He did not expect to see them, and they 'seemed so much like old friends that he felt an impulse Ito run up and ■ shake hands with them. A Canterbury lady and gentleman, who were' travelling in France a few years ago, were surprised to see at Nice an avenue of ngaios. - Other New Zealand plants have travelled 4 far and wide. About five years ago Captain A. A. Dorrien-Smith, "a member of I the family who are proprietors "of the ' i Scilly Isles, spent a fairly long time , in v New Zealand collecting native .plants.. | When he left he ; had ' 2000 specimens, I representing 217 species. He lost 45 species on the voyage Home, and amongst those which he kept "in good condition •were 38 species w that had never been . cultivated in the British Isles. Included in this list there were six different species of the mountain daisy, three species of the grass-tree, and some of the Chatham Island olearia, mountain lilies, bush lawyers. the Spaniard, astelias, and several species of veronica, including one found on the Poor Knights Islands. The Scilly Isles, which are in the English Channel,. about thirty "miles from Land's- End, send \ vast quantities of daffodils and other • flowers to London in the spring, and intermingled with the northern plants there I should be a " fairly large sprinkling of members of New Zealand's flora."

I A correspondent, who asks if the frost- [ fish is wholesome food, has raised a quesj tion that has been discussed in scientific publications. The frost fish, as has been stated in this' column previously, is v long, ribbon-lite, very peculiar fish," which is thrown upon the" beaches of the ! Dominion in frosty weather. There is some difference of opinion as to whether it comes ashore voluntarily, or is compelled to do so by some influence-over which it • has.no control. When found, is usually; dead or dying on the beach. '. It has a flavour unlike < the " flavour of any other New- Zealand fish.' -On. this account, and also, probably, • because it is rare, its flesh r is '' regarded as - a delicacy. ' The retail price, usually is between Is 6d " and ' 3s a pound. Professor J. Malcolm.' of the Physiology Department of Otago University, took the frost fish in hand a few years ago when •he was inquiring "" into • the composition of New Zealand ■ foodj stuffs. His investigations show, that" the s ' I flesh of the fish is very nutritive; : containing over 17 per cent, of protein and over 7 per cent, of fat,: and" is an excel-;. lent article of diet: but he gives a warning, that • the ■ conditions under which • the '. fish, is obtained, its > doubtful ...degree of . freshness, its V; high percentage : of fat, which, on account of its oily nature, prob- " ably will become rancid, and tile presence of "a. special alcohol-soluble substance, : whose,character at : present is unknown, ; call for care in advising the use of the food for ; invalids. ;: Small, round, 'parasitic worms, which; coil up like a watchspring. are found fairly often in the flesh, but Professor Malcolm believes that, probably, they are quite harmless.