TALES OF THE WILDERNESS.

Oamaru Mail, Volume XXXVI, Issue 10967, 6 January 1912, Page 2

TALES OF THE WILDERNESS.

KAHU THE HARRIER

(By Will Lawson.)'

(All Rights Reserved.)

. The summer breeze stirred and rustled; ;■ the tall leaves of the raupo; the sun^. : light shining through the broad lattice,-: i which they formed, fell in ■■ patches on the nest where Kahu the Harrier and his two nest-mates were wrangling and quarrelling: At first there had been : five liestlidgs: . But. one was a weakr ; ling, and one day, when some sense of ; danger had kept the parent birds : from the nest beyond the usual feeding time, the four hearty youngsters tore , the fifth to pieces and devoured her. A similar catastrophe had later on reduced the number'of the; occupants of the, nest to three.'; '■' ':. y L '■'.>.;;;'- '.-''■'■'. Everv now- and again,; a*: shadow in the sky,-one of the ; parents swept over the nest and glanced down through intervening space to see that no peril had assailed rb: The three wrangling hawklots were still intent jupbn.the business in hand,..which was, ,iii brief, the tion of the survival of.' the fittest. Kahu ;was undoubtedly the smallest of the three, and also the fiercest. But the two bigger birds had evidently concluded that together they could settle Kahu. There was nothing whatever in the nature of these birds that could even be "called decent. A low, sneaking selfishness is the characteristic of the harrier. But in isolated instances a fierce,courage is found, coupled with the cruelty of the bird's nature. Kahu the nestling harrier had this courage. When evening fell, and the time for the- parent birds' return drew near, it chanced that a horseman, skirting the raupo swamp, passed near the" - hidden nest. The keen eyesight of the swooping, soaring harriers did not miss this fact, and, cowards to the did not return to the nest,that ,njght. In -the'first glimmer of dawnlight, a dreadful hunger spurring them ori, the nestmates of Kahu the Harrier ( attacked I him fiercely with - cannibalistic intent. llt was a furious, dreadful fight. For a few moments,it seemed that they would ..+ him piecemeal 'without-bothering .to kill.Mm. But by"a lucky thrust he slew one of'his brothers, the weaker of the two. At this turn in the tide of war, the other would have left Kahu alone and devoted Ms efforts to eating as raucEof'the fallen one "as Kahu could not eat. . .TJhis idea .was, liowever, quickly dispelled by Kahu,. and for a quarter of an hour a battle royal raged, \ hideous, bloody battle, between downy nestlings, over the body of the fallen 'brother. - In the end,Kahu slew the other of his would-be murderers, and at once began to eat him. . - If his parents, swinging on poised pinions in the Upper air, saw any decreaso ill the number of 'their family, they doubtless put it down to the manthey saw ride past. At any rate theydeserted their nest for nearly a, week. At the end of that time, Kahu was desperately'hungry again, and his shrill cries-for food were pitiful: Of the others scarcely a talon remained. Without any further interruptions, he was fed regularly on a diet of lizards, grasshoppers, and- other insects, and such portions" of Tabbits, rats and mice that his parents did not require. Being only one bird where there had latelv been three and originally five, Kahu throve on his generous food allowance until the day Came when he was able to leave that blood-stained nest among the raupo and forage for.himself. Kahu was strong. For a harrier," he was brave, and, like his kind, his instincts were utterly cruel. On an autumn morning he swooped silently down to a - place near a brushwood fence, where a weak, old ewe had lam down for the last time to gasp her life out. Kahu alighted on the head of the sheep, driving his sharp talons into the wool and skin. Even the sheep knew that he had come to peck out her eyes, and made desperate efforts to rise. At that instant Kahu gotr the greatest shock he had ever received —in fact, it scared him so that he never really was quite so brave again, brave, that is, for Out of the middle distance flashed aswiftj black projectile in feather which uttered the harsh jarring scream of Karewa, the quail hawk, the falcon of New Zealand. The attacker literally knocked Kahu over, and when he collected himself and spread his wide pinions to soaf away, Karewa attacked - him with fierceness, forcing him to turn again and again with talon aiid beak to beat the little falcon off. Presently, another catapult from the clouds joined in the attack. This was .the mate of Karewa. Their nesting-place was not far distant, and Kahu's offence lay in daring to approach the vicinity of that nest. It took Kahu a long time to beat his dishonorable retreat. Once clear he vented his evil temper, in robbing and wrecking a duck's nest. The eggs he ate,, and the mother, badly scared,-es-caped bv diving into the river. As the months went by, Kahu the Harrier grew in strength "of wing and in depth of villainy. All base things that offered he did, all selfish cruelties he accomplished.' Even his courtship of. the mate he selected, or who selected him, for she was fiercer and crueller than he, was a harsh, unlonely thing. Vnct when the new nest had been made in the raupo swamp and the eggs were laid, he was as wary and as ready as any other harrier to forsake it if danger threatened. The eggs were hatched,-and the feeding of the four young hungry ones kept Kahu very busy. He aiid his mate devoted all their 'energies to the task. Yet one day they utterly deserted their nest and voung," because' of a fancied danger. The young ' ones' cries ascended to Kahu's ears. His keen, extraordinary eyesight saw them below —mouths gaping, eyes staring —starving, helpless things.- But Kahu never returned to thenij nor did his mate, and while they died a lingering death their parents were sulkily making a new, nest, as illtempered a pair ,of birds as it were possible to find. The next nesting was more successful. All the young .throve till by process of absorption the family was concentrated in two' husky J young hawks, whose stomachs demanded immense food surjplies. So it came that Kahu did a terrible thing in the eyes of man. He had often been down to the sheep yards to feed on the offal of the slaughterpens, and to carry it away to his brood.. Sometimes he "managed 'Ho secure' 'a chicken, sometimes a* young duck, and when he did these things chanticler-of the farm yard sounded a warning- which broiigbt the'children running,-and sometimes the farmer'also with his, gun. In a misguided raid; Kahu seized chanticlor, the boss rooster of the farm'yard". As he soared with the dea"d patriarch in his talons, he heard and saw wild excitement at the farm. ' A strange insect whistled past him, and thero followed the crack of a rifle. In another minute K.ahii was out of range.. But he was not to escape easily. At the farm it was decided that there was a great difference between picking off a chicken now and then and taking bodily the lordly cock of the yard. A few days later Kahu again headed towards the farm. A farm hand saw the harrier and desiring some practice, he got his rifle and. cartridge ready. In, a wide sweep, the bird of prey spied out the land, but missed the rifle barrel, which projected above the bedge. At that moment the rifle was fired, .the leaden aeronaut sped straight in a line, to meet Kahu in his slow, sweeping flight. With wonderfully mathematical accuracy the marksman's calculations were realised. Kahu and the bullet met with a shock which sent all the harrier's -norld reeling and crumbling and crashing. He fell a limp muddle of wings and .talons, and hanging spineless, neck and head. Robbed of down into the" quiet fowl yard, fell the remains of Kahu, Kahu the murderer, Kahu the coward. " ,