IN TOUGH WITH NATURE.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 15101, 25 March 1911, Page 5

IN TOUGH WITH NATURE.

THE REDPOLL.

(BY JAMES Diiummoxd, F.L.S., F.Z.S.) In many parts oE the this Dominion, especially country, roadsides and farming' districts," there', may be'seeu a brownishgrey bird, smaller.-than v a sparrow, often with a blood-red spot': on the top of its head and the brightest: of :bright red on its breast. It made its .first apueaianoe ■in New Zealand about 43 years ago, when 10 of the species were liberated in Dunedin. Now it has become a recognised member of the community and of the ornaments of bird society. 11l New Zealand, as well as in England and in other countries, the redpoll has made many iriends, partly on account of its charming manners and its modest airs, and partly because it doc 3 much good and very little harm. In. disposition it- is lively, cheerful, and clever, and it certainly makes one of the best of pets. A pair of redpolls in a cage offer amusement for hours together. j

A few years ago I bought two of these birds in Christclnirch, and carriod them home in a than paper bag such as confectioners use for their' goods, which, in spito of its flimsy character, was quite strong enough to make an effective temporary prison. They were transferred to a cage, usually hung on the side of the house, with fruit trees and Ehrabs in front. . They were always very active, fluttering about, alighting on the perch and springing nimbly on to the bars. The female sometimes sat still on the perth, but I never saw the male absolutely still for even a fewi seconds. Even when he was clinging to the bare, which he grasped with his absurdly slender claws, his head moved from side to side, and almost turned completely round, as if it was on a swivel, as he tried to see if his' companion was watching his movements. Ho sometimes leaped back from tho bars, alighted on . the perch, touched the female's bill with his own, gave a peculiar whimper, and then flew, down to llie floor to cat fome of the canary seed. After a few months the male died, and I placed two more females with the original captive. They seemed to live happily and contentedly in the nge until New Year's, day ; ISO 9, when an incident occurred which induced me to give them their liberty. Late in the afternoon I heard a great commotion at the cage, and I was surprised to see a male redpoll cling, ing to the outside of tlie bars, while the tln-ce females were clinging to the same bars inside the cage. They \rero all twittering incessantly, but the male gave a louder note than the others, and .occasionally broke into an attempt at a song. Ho was in splendid plumage, his top-knot showing up like a spot of crimson blood, and the upper part of his breast was resplendent. He flew from the bars of tho cage to the clotlies-line in front of it, and then back to the cage several times. Evidently he kid accidentally discovered the presence of, the imprisoned females, au-d offered them his sympathy. * Ho stayed near the cage for 20 minutes. Hp disappeared amongst the trees, but was recalled by the plaintive twittering from tho cage. I then opened tho door, and tho air wis filled with their joyful notes as tho four redpolls disappeared amongst the trees.

Since that incident redpolls have been fairly frequent visitors to tlio garden. I do not know if tfoey are the same birds as I bad in captivity or complete strangers. As members of the species are known to be attracted to their old homes possibly they have remained in the garden and have brought friends to livo with tiiem. An illustration of this traat in tho redpoll's character is supplied by a resident of Mansfield, England. One of liis captivtss escaped from tho cage in 1903, and was given np as lost. In the autumn of tho next year a wild redpoll was noticed flying about by one of the children. A captive bird was placed out-

fcid-o and, attracted the stranger, which was identified as the wanderer returned, It stayed for several wee Its and then, dis-' appeared again. It returned again in the following autumn, and again each, year until ISO 7. In 1908 the writer removed to another house, a short .distance away, and the redpoll to not seen .that year. It ims present once more, however, in ioo9 and 1910. In the latter year it a ''lived in Hcptemby, stayed' for several days, and then went away. .Early in October the ca-ptive bird died in a moult. Another bird was obtained in-its place,, and the wild bird returned and spent a good deal of time conversing with the iKsh cauliv-e. ■ — -- *

As tho redpoll was not found in the Pf rt of Scotland from 'which', I come," Mr I]athguto ; wrote from Dimedin a few days ago, "I was not familiar,with it in my- boyhood, and I knew it only in cap- ' tivibv. A bird-dealer who used to take jus stand near the top of 'The' Mound' in Jidmburgh frequently had them in his rages, a-nd one in particular had a great fascination for me as a boy. It was tethered to a perch by alight chain. This • ei:-abil:d it to reach its fcod-box, but not the dish containing water. It supplied its wants in that direction, however by nicaiio of a small thimble which was-sus-pended by a chain from its perch, and which reached the water below. lie b'rdi had been trained, to the thimbls up to its perch whenever it wanted' a drink.

The large increase in the numbera o5 redpolls in New Zealand is shown by the statement* of bird-catchers. Mr T. H. Jones, of Christclrui'cli, states : that near ■ New Brighton, a short; time ago, he caught no fewer than 70 ill one p'uli of the net, and Mr C. Bills, of Dunedin, lcports that he could complete.' an order for a thousand in a fortnight.- In South-' land, it is stated, as many ,as 500 have been k:.llod in one day. The destructionis quite wanton and useless. The redpoll's only offenqe against the farmer is during grass-seeding^time, when it takes a very, small proportion of the scattered seed. At all other reasons it is a very useful bird. They destroy. many' different kinds of pests. A correspondent in North Canterbury writes " Up-country life is made more bright by. the_ birds/ and for the ' young people there is a'very'wide field of research. 1, was watching aflock of ' \i redpolls in an orchard,.the .other day. They were running round and'.round the... ' limbs, and through the glasses ! saw that. '■} th-ey were eating the Sc'alyi .Wight." Mr - ' i Jones once tried ,an expertment/aponthem ', ' with green fly. . -He'bad."come' twigs covered with the pest,-add pushed the ' twigs into different cages in- his aviaiy. ' The post, was ignored by. bird after bird '% 'until he came to the refill's cage. As toan.as the twigs were inside the' bars the ;. -.-1 little birds set upon the post, and in a : ' very short time there was not a green fly left. He'frequently, catches .redpolls . when he is trapping sjw-irQws.i a-nd other birds that are outlawed, but he always liberates the redpolls on account of their P usefulness.

Their preser.ee has been "reported from Auckland to Southland, but; there seem ' ' -i'. : to be many intermediate districts in which v they have not- appeared; I :, ( Their movements, indeed, are somewhaterratic, This ■ V has Ik en noted, also, in the United King- J dom, where they frequently change their haunts, presumably because of variations in tho supplies of food. There seems to be no doubi that they are more plentiful. in Stouthhnd and Otago than- in any- v j other part of the. Dominion. They are ' not. at all uncommon in gardens in the suburbs of Chi'istchurch and Cnnedin, and , probably in and near nMny Qther oentres of population. According to "the observar.. tloi)i> of Jir L. • Bastings,>'o£-Dmiediii, ■ th-ey liko tb go in bands-''and l :''if these bands arc lar»e,- sentries are posted when' ' the birds are feeling. On .'several occasions he has seen long.' rows of red polls» perched on the dothes-lines for a long'. ; time, chirping and arranging ' their feathers. ; They are amongst the'easiest:': : birds to observe on the nest, offering little: objection to slight interference andstldonT • abandoning i their- homes. Mr Joiies 'oftpe:,' kept a ixiir in a. small cage, hung on" a wall. Behind the cage, against the wafl, there was a piece of sacking! He left the birds in their cage <on. a '-Saturday, and on the Monday. he found that ttoey had dragged the sacking through-the hole? by which the cage Avas liung, to a nail, and had made a nest in the •water-dish: Mi" Bills has described the redpolls to Dr ■ Fulton, of Dunedin, as the greatest trickbirds he ever known. He believes ithat they may be taught to do almost anything.

It is the lesser redpoll -(Linota rnfescens) which has been introduced into , A New Zealand. Its congener, the mealy redpoll, which has a "mealy" back, £a not found in these parts'. The lesser redpoll is a native of England and Scot- . land, but, according to recent writers, .•■■■■> the mealy redpoll is hardly more than an; .• irregular : winter visitor to'the United Kingdom. The lesser redpoll-ranges over a part of Western Europa,, but it is - believed seldom breeds in that part of - the world. The mealy redpoll, on' the other hand, breeds largely in Northern ' Scandinavia and in North America. - There : < is a belief in England that it is only the , '}& males of the lesser redpolls. that are adorned with briglit colours. But thia nrust be a very . general statement, asi Mr Jones has supplied, evidence which proves that tihe females also are sometimes adorned in the same way. Generally it may bo sakt that .the females' heads ate dark, but the colour ie' more brown than red, and that a red-breasted /female ■ is not very common. It is known that the males ilose their glowing ornaments.: According to one authority, young birds, ' of the first year have no red. on their head or breast, but young male l ; acquire a portion of the colouring-in the following spring, although; it is less brilliant than that of the older males; and-the late' Professor A. W.' Newton states that, the ; males' fine colours are lost in captivity ■ at the -first moult, and are never resumed, the top of the head changing to dark orange, hardly visible-in some lights, so that tho -title redpoll, becomes a mis- ' nomer. In England it is : believed; that redpolls' bills axe much longer in summer, when insect food is plentiful, than in winter, wihon only hard fare is available. It -would be interesting to know if. tins remarkable difference has been noted in ' New Zealand.