NATURE NOTES.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LX, Issue 18571, 1 December 1923, Page 1 (Supplement)

NATURE NOTES.

TAMING WILD BIRDS.

BY J. DEDMMOND, 8.L.9.. JTZ.S.

! The pair of tomtits tamed last ! winter by Mr. E. 'F* Stead, at his resi--1 dence,- Ham Rood, Fendalton, near Christchurch, reared four young in the site he selected for their nest under the roof of . his verandah. One of the youngsters was i found dead. The others were in the ! garden in the middle of November, alI though the parents had left. Mr. Stead expects to see the pair of adults in his garden again next autumn, when they will receive from him the same help as in the past. He first tried to tamo tomtits two years ago. After they had sufficient confidence to feed from his hand, those two nested in ivy that covers a eucalyptus tree in front of his house. When their young were half-fledged, the female was taken by a cat. The male, helped by Mr. Stead, reared two young. After the male had fed them for three days on top of a T cedar, it went off with them early in November. Returning in April of the following year, lie-resumed relations with Mr. Stead, taking grass-grubs from Mr. Stead's friendly hand. Finding a mate, he. brought her along, and both showed the same confidence in their friend. They left in September of the same year, and were not seen again. A pair visited the garden last winter. Guided by experience, Mr. Stead soon had them tame. With a piece of firewood nailed under the verandah roof, he made an ideal nesting place for tomtits, casing his view on his knowledge of these birds' habits. The visitors confirmed his judgment on August 26, when'they began to make their nest in-that place. The first egg was laid on September 10. The female was so tame that she- took no notice of humans who moved about on the verandah or of any noise, or of the hall light, which, at night, shines through a fanlight on to the wall close to the site of the nest. The malo did most of the ""work of collecting food, but the female occasionally too* grubs from Mr. Stead's hand. As the male on alighting on the hand often had food in his bill, Mr. Stead was able to note the kinds of food tomtits favour. In addition to grass-grubs, there are in the list caterpillars of all sizes, from small ones up to fat green ones an inch and a half long, house flies and other fiies, millipedes, spiders, and cockroaches. It is somewhat surprising to learn that tomtits, forest-dwellers, during the past 10 years have increased in Canterbury, which has little native forest except on the hills and mountains. Mr. Stead explains that this satisfactory position has been brought about by the fact that in Canterbury tomtits frequent large plantations and areas of introduced scrub, mostly gorse, broom, and lupins, on river beds, in the -winter, and stay there to nest in the autumn and spring. ' -In. this way, introduced plants, as far as one species of native birds at least is concerned, are filling the place of the ancient New Zealand forests. The grey warbler and the white-eye, two other native insectivorous birds, seem to be equally different to the place of origin of plants they live among. It is different with the native berry-eaters, the wood-pigeon, the t»i, the bellbird, the kaka, and the rare saddle-back, which still look mainly to the diminishing native forests for food supplies.

When Mr. R. H. D. Stidolph, Makora Road, Masterton, and Mr. A. S. Wilkini son. were starting out in search of haias I in the Tararuas, a male tomtit attracted S their attention before they entered the i forest. It had a grub in its bill, and they watched it fly across a creek, alight on the bank, and appear again without ! the grub. A few minutes later, they were j wading in the icy-cold water, looking for the. nest. It was found in a hollow in I the bank made by flood waters, three feet j eight inches above the water. Two young tomtits in the nest were assuming the ! plumage of the female. V When Mr. Stidolph and Mr. Wilkinson were .-walking down the beautiful Tauberen&au Valley, a ril<rnan was seen to become very excited on the approach. of the strangers.; Although they watched )jjt . carefully, a close examination failed to disclose the nest. They left the place, but returned again, and saw the male and the female carrying insects in their bills. The female, after circumnavigating a rata stump several times,, disappeared into a small hole on the inner side of the stump. The nest was there, but as it had been made at the end <of the hole, the closest examination would have failed to disclose \it ■■ it the female had not given the secret away by flying in. r These two naturalists were successful, also, when they found "a { tui's nest in a titoki tree, 30 feet from the ground. They climbed the tree, almost .'to the top, ■ and .. saw? in t the nest three fullyfledged birds, which did not seem to mind ' the ;■ inspection. ; '>-.■;■■ ;?, ;&'■■ "i:

" The kingfisher, at, times a mournful bird, with, apparently, little to do except to perch statue-like in a conspicuous place, appears in a different character when domestic worries occupy his mind," Mr. Stidolph continues in his letter. "J spent fully an hour watching i a pair of kingfishers tunnelling into a willow stump. They attacked it in different; places, and seemed undecided which to select. Taking up positions 10 to IS.feel'away—each in turn flew like an arrow to a hole. As the loud whack was.;•-heard■ when *- ; the powerful bill struck the : wood, . the kingfisher uttered a ' chop-chop-chop,' then, on its return flight, :a ; ' urp-urp-urp, quickly, and, on alighting, a, * ewah-ewah-—surely a musical,^performance for the , kotare. After ,'i watching ; them. repeat the operations and notes^for.,the7best= part of an hour, I saw one bird; fly away. The other, after uttering a ' querk-qeerk-querk,* also disappeared.' • In five minutes, one of them returned, and, with j a ' keow-keoW-keow,' brought 7; its mate :> home.: Tunnelling began again, and again I heard the musical programme." Native;; birds— tuis and : kingfishers particularly—seem to be I more plentiful; in : the Mac'terton district now than Mr. ; Stidolph '; 5 has known them to: .be, previously. On November 18, Mr. Wilkinson and he saw female paradise duck i; with four . pretty J youngsters: "With a black cap. and stripe down the back, bordered with a white stripe On each side, and black flanks, with a white spot, they surely are as pretty as the voting of any species of duck. It- "was [, a beautiful sight to see the i female swimming in a quiet pool, with her ; ducklings frolicking and diving 'after • her. ! Previous to this year, I did not know ' that the paradise duck was found in this district, and I. was agreeably surprised to find that it had I bred here this season."

The rifleman, referred to by Mr. Stidrlph, is known sometimes as the bush wren. It Js New Zealand's smallest bird. In the South Island, it is seen in almost every forest. In the North Island, it iseems to have a different habitat. Mr. J. G. Mvers states that there it " is confined almost, entirely to beech forests, chiefly sub-alpine, but descending to sea-level where this type of forest does so. Me has a record" of the rifleman's occurence in small pinus , plantations in the South Island. Bearing in mind the . different habitats in the two islands, he regards the rifleman as plentiful in all suitable localities, from the centre of the North Island to Stewart Island; and it is in the company of native birds that find sanctuary on the Little Barrier.; Island. Mr. Mvers states that it is little affected bv adjacent settlement. When it nests, in a tree trunk, it has a very small nest-ing-hole, and this, he believes, is a strong factor in the survival of the species. Its relatives, the green wren and the rock wren, belong to the alpine and sub-alpine districts, and) perhaps, never get into touch with settlements / .',..:

Califomian quail seem ''. to be increasing near Christchurch. ; A correspondent states that they are present in ; fair. numbers in the sandhills near North' New Brighton. " Though % they are reputed: to be very shy,; birds,*'v the correspondent adds, " several brace have been seen in the broom alongside the "tramline, between Burwocd and North New ■ Brighton. They are small specimens, not much.larger than blackbird*.* . : .•,.•" -~..,". ';'■,