"BIRD" LETTERS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXVIII, Issue 20988, 26 September 1931, Page 4 (Supplement)

"BIRD" LETTERS.

THE PHEASANT'S NEST. Dear Miss Morton,—Last school holidays I spent at my uncle's farm in "Whiriwhiri, near Waiuku. 1 bad not been there very long winen I decided to go for a stroll across the farm. Walking through a small portion of it which has been reserved from tho killing of any game, X 6uddenly heard a peculiar noise in a clump of tca-treo about a hundred yards away from where I was standing. Curious to know what it was I proceeded cautiously through tho 6crub. Either I was not cautious enough ur the®bird had very good hearing, for all of a sudden I heard a great flapping of wings and up flew a beautiful cock pheasant. With its long tail protruding out a considerable distance it flew out of sight in a bush-clad gully. During my stay I saw several pheasants. The birds finding themselves fired at on different peoples' farms hide in (lie scrub on my uncle's farm. Unlike other wild birds the hen pheasant does not pay much care to the building of its nest and makes it chiefly under a log. It is formed very much like that of the ordinary domestic hen. Woebetido any per--son who is caught shooting on my uncle's farm while it is a reserve for game. Still it does seem a shame to shoot these iiC'.K'tifiil birds although they are very destructive to t[ie young maize.—Your loving pen-friend, Jim Middleton, D.M.8.G., Buckland (age 10). CATS AND SWANS. Dear Miss Morton,—l understand that you would know a waxeye if you saw one. Yesterday morning about twenty-three of the useful, interesting little birds alighted on our lawn, and commenced digging for grubs. These they very soon succeeded in finding, but alas for them, before I could frighten them away, I am ashamed to say that our misguided cat also succeeded in finding a meal, in which waxeyes or blighties were the chief course. It was just too gruesome to talk about. Have you ever noticed the graceful, dignified manner of swans? While watching the three black swans on our river, the other day, and trying to puzzle out what they reminded me of. T came to the conclusion that they reminded me of the stately, prim old ladies of yore, and their crinolines, but contrary to my views my friend thought that they reminded her of cats by their hissing and graceful movements. Many people think that they announce their dislike, for one, by hissing, hence " a hiss of hatred."—Your faithful birdlovcr, Shirley Colclough, Rata Street, Te Kuiti. THE NAUGHTY SEAGULL! Dear Miss Morton, —I wish I could eing like a tui or a lark. They always seem so bright and happy. The seagulls are very naughty birds. They swoop down and eat any egys our ducks lay in the paddocks, even when I try to shoo tliern away. Sometimes they bring golf balls from the golf course inid it ia so funny to watch them drop the ball on the ground and when they come down to eat it they cannot make out why it isn't broken.—With love from Betty Pntlon.