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New Zealand Times, Volume L, Issue 11648, 12 October 1923, Page 4

“Birch is wood” was the dictum uttered by a member of the Christchurch Fire Board. The members of the board were worrying through a coal account, and nobody was able to interpret the word “birch,” which appeared in several places. The explanation given that birch was wood was not considered a satisfactory one, and so the mystery is still unsolved. No prizes will be offered for its solution. “What is the scientific exp'anation of earthquakes?” was a question asked of Sir J. A. Colquhoun at ' the Lunch dub, at Palmerston North. He replied that the scientific belief was that earthquakes were' caused' by weaknesses in the crust of the earth and the movement of either side of the crack or faults which are the inevitable consequence of those weaknesses. The shining cuckoo, which delights in foisting its domestic worries on to the warbler, is one of the most beautiful, as well as one of the' most useful birds found. The large hairy caterpillar, so very destructive, is the specialty of the euokoo, and it is just as well, too. for no other bird can negotiate such a hairy morsel. Crops of cuckoos have been found to he lined with tho hairs of this caterpillar. This bird, however, comes and goes with the seasons, for it is only in the spring and summer months that he is seen with us. Every year he wings his way over a thousand miles of ocean in order to enjoy the warm season of New Zealand, and the caterpillars. and five months later he returns to his more tropical haunts. This is a wonderful performance of a bird no bigger than a sky-lark, but with a shining green hack and' goldenbarred breast.