SIGHT AND SMELL

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXIII, Issue 22402, 24 April 1936, Page 9 (Supplement)

SIGHT AND SMELL

THE POWERS OF BIRDS Students of bird life are discussing the power of sight and smell in birds, and agree that birds of prey, which Beem to drop like bolts from a clear sky on prev inconspicuous on the ground, find their mark by watching other birds at a lower level than that at which they themselves have been flying. . As to the sense of smell, which might bo expected to serve as guide, experiments on captive vultures have proved that, although the organ of smell is prominent in these birds, it functions but weakly.'' In the case of the longbilled apteryx, with a highly-developed nervous system at the end of its beak, as if to enable it to smell the worms for which it always seems to be sniffing, tests have not revealed greater sensitiveness of smell than in other birds. those which more closely resemble / wary animals in catching the scent of men or other dangerous creatures are Bwimming birds which frequent shores and marshes. In the old days, when fresh meat was unobtainable during winter months in England, every estate fn favourable conditions had its duck decoy, and it was an established fact that if the wind blew from him toward the decoy the hunter must burn turf or wood to disguise his scent, or the birds would be driven by fear from the snnre. An authority on the subject, Dr. It. T. Mummery, who has placed on record interesting observations of his own, finds the smell of wild ducks and geese extraordinarily acute. At first siglit it may seem mysterious that some birds can detect by scent while others cannot; but perhaps tho explanation is that the flesh-eating hunters have little to fear and need use only their'eyes, whereas those keen of scent are ;thc hunted, and must be able to detect the presence of an enemy while busy gathering food.