FIRST GODWITS SEEN.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXIII, Issue 19419, 30 August 1926, Page 10

FIRST GODWITS SEEN.

ANNUAL MIGRATION STARTS. SIBERIA TO NEW ZEALAND. MONTH SOONER THAN USUAL. SIGN OF AN EARLY SPRING. The first godwits to arrive in New Zealand this season were seen in the Far North last. week. They are fully ft month before their accustomed time, this being considered an indication of an early spring. The godwits, commonly called snipe or curlew, usually arrive at tho North Cape in some of them in September. They come all tho way from Siberia, a distance of 7000 or 8000 miles, This seemingly incredible feat is one of tho most interesting phenomena in the whole range of bird life and has given rise to some interesting deductions. The first report of the arrival of the godwits this year comes from To Hapua, on the Parenga Harbour. Small flocks of birds, averaging 100 or 200 in number, were seen flying low over the harbour last' Tuesday in tho direction north to south. They must have arrived at the North Cape a day or two before, forming tho advance guard of the birds which follow in larger numbers. Never Known So Early. On Wednesday the birds were noticed for the first time-at Houhor'a, feeding on the mud flats' in the estUary. They appeared to be in excellent condition. Residents of tho district say they have never known the birds to arrive so early in the spring. Data pr'ovo that the godwits accomplish their amazing flight in stages. They usually breed in the lakes and tundras of Eastern Siberia and Kamchatka from June to the end of July, and then leave to avoid the northern winter. They pass through China, Japan and Formosa, and then journey from island to island of the Malayan Archipelago to Northern Queensland, tho New Hebrides, and New Caledonia Islands, continuing south to Tasmania, and across the Tasman Sea to New Zealand. . Flocks of.-birds continue to arrive at the North Cape from October to December, and gradually spread south, even a,s, far {is Stewart -Island.;' In March the birds begin to assemble at tho North Cape for the return flight to Siberia, and leave at the end of the month or beginning of April. Unlike the manner of their, arrival, which is in scattered groups, their departure is taken in a singlo body, comprising many hundreds of thousands of birds. The way in which .they jrise from the ground, form a triangular phalanx and fly north like a huge black cloud is said to be one of the most wonderful sights in nature. Theory, of, Scientist.. The migratory instinct in birds still remains much of a puzzle to scientists. It is obviously not sight nor the sense of smell that guides them in their long journeys across the oceau, nor do they possess any extra sense, as far a3 is known; that might take the place of the mariner's compass. The most difficult thing to understand is why they should undertake, imch an' ftmazirig feat -of endurance at the risk of death when supplies < of food can bo found much nearer their breed-ing-grounds than far-off 'Now .Zealand. Warmer clime 3 and food in plenty Can easily be obtained without tho necessity for crossing immense stretches of sea. The theory which now finds general acceptance among scientists is that the birds aro following a line of sunken continents, traversing tho . route that was taken thousands of years ago" by their direct forebears. -In a paper: read before the New Zealand Institute, Captain F. W. Hutton supposes the migration to have commenced in the Eocene period, when the land stretched away to the north-west of New Zealand almost to New Guinea—a time when, although New Zealand was not actually joined to the mainland, it must have approached pretty close to it. The land" sank by imperceptible stages that would'not.be noticed .in the lifetime of the birdsand although ,the.gaps between the land.widened as "the, centuries wetit 'by, they - still : kgjSt -Up the custom, ..crossing'-,the:strips: of .-water because" they knew, ,what lay beyond,-,. ,Thus .have the ;'godwits'. of frday ;come to possess what we call- the migratory instiricrt; " 5