NATURE NOTES.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LIX, Issue 18275, 16 December 1922, Page 1 (Supplement)

NATURE NOTES.

THE GREEN GECKOES.

BT J. DKUMMOND, F.L.S., F.Z.3.,

The green lizard, one o4»sew Zealand's geckoes, and one of the common members of the somewhat restricted reptilian class in this country, is the subject of a note by Mr. L. M. Monckton, Waipukurau, who found several specimens when he was cutting tracks through manuka recently. "The bluff they put up when first seen is very curious," he writes. "They brace their front legs wide apart and stiffly, then throw their heads well back, and keep their wide, brilliantly purple mouths open as far as possible, in a threatening attitude. They utter very penetrating cries for such "small creatures; the sounds seem to come from the back of their throats, as the jaws do not move during the effort, and the mouths are not closed. They seem to give up as soon as they are caught; they then become quite tame and absolutely silent. I never have been able to make one chatter after it once ■was handled. The cry seems to vary greatly among individuals. It sometimes is like the scream of a frog caught by a cat, at other times more like the chatter of an angry ferret."

New Zealand's green geckoes are absolutely harmless. They bite occasionally, but their jaws and teeth are too weak to penetrate a person's skin. Many people have an instinctive dread of them. Mr. Monckton, a few years ago, took a live one to a postmaster, a keen naturalist. Two Maori men were at the counter, waiting for their letters. He showed the lizard to them, and was surprised at the genuine alarm they showed, and the quickness with which they got out on to the street. Sir Walter Buller, who, when touring parts of the North Inland as a magistrate, got into touch with old-fash-ioned Maoris, stated that they had a superstitious dread not only of geckoes, but also of their chatter, believed to be laughter. "The green lizard's laugh," he wrote, "was enough to terrify the bravest warrior, and its occult power for evil was strangely believed in by all the tribes in every part of the- country. The reptile itself, whether dead or alive, was an object of universal fear among them." All geckoes produce their young alive. Two young, usually, are produced at a time, but a female caught at Pleasant Point, near Timaru, and sent in a box to Christchurch some years ago, produced a single Young soon after arrival, and two more the following day, when she was in a large enclosed place in a garden. She showed neither fear nor arger when she and her young were handled.

Comparisons between New Zealand and Malaya and Siam, from a naturalist's point of view, have been made by Mr. G. M.. Powell. Westport. He states that the song of New Zealand's bell bird is duplicated by a very ordinaryjooking bird, of a dirty yellow colour, unrelieved by any spot or streak, about the same size as the English song thrush. He heard it in both Malaya and Siam. No other bird in either country sang nearly as well. He saw only one individual of many species of the birds, and in splendid "collections in museums at Taiping, capital of the State of Perak, and Kuala Lumpur, capital of Selangor, he saw specimens he had failed to see in the jungles. As might be expected in the tropics, most of the plumages are very gay, but some species are drab, unrelieved by a single touch of colour.

Among the plain birds, there is one in Siam, if not in Malaya, that closely resembles the tui. except that it lacks the I white throat feathers that led early I colonists to christen the tui the parsonbird, a name now generally discarded in favour of its Maori name. Mr. Powell, as far as he knows, did not hear that bird's notes, but one bird, which he did not see, has notes similar to the tax's. The Malayan robin is the commonest bird in its own country. It is about the same size as the New Zealand robin, but; sturdier, and is marked with black and I white, like the New Zealand tom-tit. Without fail every day before day breaks it whistles notes not heard at any other time. There are at least a few robins around every homestead. The natives make pets of them. Species of English birds introduced to Malaya and Siam seemed to Mr. Powell to be less robust than in New Zealand. The sparrow had a wilted appearance, in spite of the fact that, in the noonday heat, it takes advantage of the shade. Its remarkable tameness is accounted for by the fact that there are no boys with shanghais there. Even when it gets away with some rice from the fields it is not shot at, but merely is frightened by different contrivances, if the boy in a cubicle on a stand in the middle of the field is not asleep. In the ferns of Malaya Mr. Powell saw almost a startling resemblance to New Zealand's ferns. On poor country in Siam he saw a shrub which", until h« made a close inspection, he hardly could distinguish from the manuka.

Mr. W. Wright's children reported from Pukekura, South Westland, last month, an instance of a female skylark" removing her eggs from the nest when she feared danger. Mr. R. H. D. Stidolph, writing from Makora. Road, Masterton, records further instances. He writes: — "Last year I found two nesSts of that species. In each case I flushed the sitting bird from the nest. I photographed the first nest, which contained two eggs. When I returned a week later the nest was empty, and there were no brokeri~"eggshells to show that the nest had been robbed by vermin. I found the second nest about a month later. It had three eggs. I photographed it, but did not touch the eggs. When I made another inspection, after some three days, it was empty. In each case, without doubt, tha egg 3 had been removed."

Mr. L. W. McCaskill, writing from Canterbury College, on November 28, reported a partial albino blackbird. "It is a great favourite with most people who live in Rolleston Avenue," he writes. " It appears in the gardens there every day, and it seems to pay a round of visits. A lawn in front of the Museum is one of its favourite places. It is quite black except for its head and neck, which are pure white; and it has a dark spot below each eye. Another peculiarity about it is that, although several other blackbirds in the neighbourhood feed in pairs, it always seems to feed alone, and apparently, has not mated. I am trying to tame it by feeding it, but up to the present I have not been successful."

Mr. R. L. Hill, Raglan, asks for the eggs and chrysalids of the white butterfly of the Old Country, which he believes has been introduced into some South Island districts. Referring to lepidoptera in the Raglan district, he says: "There are not many species of moths here. Wo have a large one, which some people call the kiamara moth, its larva is bigger than the largest silkworm, and odd ones are seen occasionally. We miss the death's head moth and the goat moth." He reports that the cicada is very plentiful in his district. On other subjects he write*: "There are many kiwis in the mountain district, and wekas seem to be everywhere, but disappear for a time when the scrub is burnt. Ducks and swans pass overhead sometimes, and sport about quiet places in the harbour, also the beautiful neron, not to mention many seabirds. Apart from introduced birds, whi?h are very plentiful, the most cheerful birds are the fantail, the white-eye, and the little crev warbler, with its quick, nappy song, which resembles, 'Get ready and cook the din-nah." Sometimes it is the proper time to do so." He adds that the ladybird perhaps the most useful insect introduced into New Zealand, is present at Raglan in large numbers.