IN TOUCH WITH NATURE.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 16003, 20 February 1914, Page 9

IN TOUCH WITH NATURE.

NOTES ON NATURAL HISTORY IN NEW ZEALAND.

(Bi Jams Dbdmhond, F.L.8.. F.Z.S.I

It is many years since the Maoris' ahititi method ot snaring petrels was practised in New Zealand. Since an account of the method was described in this column about two years ago, Mr F. A. D. Cox haa made inquiries on the Chatham Islands to discover if the Morioris, the original inhabitants of tho group, used the s>amc means of catching birds. The practice with the Maoris was to spread a net between two poles close to the edge of a cliff on a dark and foggy night. A fire was lighted on the edge in front of the net. Kach fowler, grasping a short stick, sat behind the fire and in front of the net. Petrels—the mutton-birds of commerce and the titi of the Maoris—flying in from the sea to reach their nesting holes in the mountain s : des away iuland, were attracted bv the fire, flew into the net, and then fell to the ground and were killed by blows from the sticks. Mr Cox finds that the Morioris had a somewhat similar method. They did not use a net, but a quantity of dry material, notably bracken fern, was placed on a sandy beach close to a cliff. When darkness began to fall,'the material was lighted. Birds attracted by the glare dashed themselves against the cliff and were caught and killed. The principal victims were the taiko, or black petrel, and a small bluish petrel, which whalers called "Blue Billy." As far as " 'ox's inquiries show, the Morioris new. ...-,ed nets in this method of fowling, although they were. acquainted with the art of making nets, which usually took the form of the Kupenga, the popular fityle of fishing net amongst the Maoris. " A strange fact in connection -with the Blue Billies," Mr Cox says, " was brought under my notice by Mr H. G. Blyth. At this time of the year, that is, during the nesting season, they die in large numbers. The floor of small caves in the cliffs towards the Horns, on this island, the main island of the group, is strewn with the bodies of these birds, but there is no apparent cause of death."

Mr Dudley Le Souef, Director of the Zoological Gardens in Melbourne, has written a short letter in regard to a note in this columns referring to the Ted-bill and the oyater-catcher. The letter is dated January 3, and Mr Le Souef says : —" In your interesting natural history notes, received in Melbourne to-day, you mention the red-bill and also the oyster-catcher, but it should be stated that both these birds aTO oysteT-catchers. ' Red-bill ' is the local name applied to the European oyster-catcher in Europe, which is black, or practically black, all over. In Australia and New Zealand there, are two varieties, the black and the pied, but both have red bilk. As 'red-bill' is_ only a local name, it is not used in bird-lists; the only name used there is ' oyster-catcheT.' (Haanatopus longirostris and Hajmatopus unicolor).*' In " Wild Life in Australia," a book which all Australasian naturalists should read and study, Mr Le Souef records his experience with these birds on the Furnea-ux Islands, in Bass Strait. '' As .we passed by a sandy point,!' he writes, " we noticed a pied oyster-catcher (Haematopus long'rostris), and a pair came circling round us, uttering their plaintive cry, as we moved along. Their tracks in the sand were soon noticed proceeding in the direction of some low sand hummocks not far above high-water mark. Following them we came up to the nest. The two eggs had been laid in a very shallow depression among some pig-face, and were very difficult to detect, even when,we were comparatively close to them. I have frequently noticed that the pied variety of this bird generally nests on the top of sand hummocks among grass or similar vegetation, whereas the sooty variety prefers nesting on seaweed or dry vegetation on the rocks a short distance above highwater mark; but the eggs of both birds are very similar; those of the sooty .variety are slightly the larger." In his letter, Mr Le Souef adds that notes in this column showing that the native snail, Pupurangi, or Paryphanta, eats earthworms, and that eels swallow trout are specially interesting, " but," he says, " I wish that those who made the observations had found the trout inside the eels they caught, as, without that evidence, the statement cannot be -proved-' conclusively."

The " yellow aphis" is dealt with in a note from Mr W. F. Howlett, of Eketahuna. He states that it is not an aphis, but a four-winged insect belonging to the Psyllidas family, which, however, is closely allied to the Aphidas. Scientifically, it is Rhinocola eucalypti, and 25 years ago it was described in the " Transactions" of the New Zealand Institute under that name by Mr W. M. Maskell. He had a wide experience of several orders of insects in New Zealand, but he never found this insect on any plant except the Eucalyptus globulus, a gum tree which is a native of Tasmania, and on which it was very common. He points out that Tasmania may have been its original home, but this point, apparently, has not been settled yet, and the insect may be indigenous to New Zealand. Members of the Psyllidae family in the adult stage, Mr Maskell states, are pretty little four-winged flies, variously coloured, and well adapted .for leaping. Sometimes they are popularly called " leafhoppers." In their older stages they often show colours and forms of remarkable beauty. They live exclusively on different species of plants. This member of the family, Rhinocola eucalypti, it is believed, lives large on a white aromatic gum exnded by the leaves of the Tasmanian eucalyptus. The leaves, therefore, are not damaged by its operations. The insect, evidently, does not find any particular season specially favourable to it. Colonies of specimens in all stages of development may be found at any time of the year, but in cold weather the winged insects seem to be sleepy and sluggish. Mr Howlett refers to the insect as the well-known parasite of the Boronia plant, a native of Australia. His object in writing is not to discuss its scientific name, which, ha says, "really does not matter much," but to point out that it is easily killed by any spray, such as quastia.

Mr F. R. Wykes, of Tokaanu, Taupo, supplies an account of an interesting little study in Nature. One morning a number of children at his school rushed in with a young native pigeon, which had alighted on a pinus insignis tree close to the schoolhouse. It was placed in a box for a short time, and an effort was made to induce it to feed itself, but without success. At last one of the little ones thought of the plan of placing her fingers over the captive's beak. As soon as that was done it opened its mouth, and then there was no difficulty in poking some milk sops down its throat. As soon as it had satisfied its appetite it would fly off to a neighbouring tree, making its presence felt to anybody who _ might bo passing by uttering a little plaintive cry. It came to be fed three times a day, sometimes settling on the fingeT or 1 shoulder, where it remained until it was fed, but it objected to being handled, and preferred to stand quite alone. At first it was slightly disconcerting when earlv morning came to be awakened by the'bird flying in through the open window seeking an early meal. For several months the duty of feeding the pigeon was discharged by members of the family, and most of the 'residents recognised that the bird belonged to the teachers. "We 'have not seen it since the holidays." Mr Wykes wrote on January 27, " but I think it will return later. If a photo : grapher had been here he could have made, a beautiful picture of the children feeding the bird."