IN TOUCH WITH NATURE

Otago Daily Times, Issue 19349, 9 December 1924, Page 2

IN TOUCH WITH NATURE

THE PAPER NAUTILUS. (By J. Dbummond, F.L.S., F.Z.S.) An interesting sight is described by Mr H. Graham, Gordon street, Dannevirke. Visiting Opotiki, Bay of Plenty, some weeks ago, he took advantage of an opportunity to see White Island. He finds the volcanic activities of the island beyond his powers of description, but he has supplied an account ot an incident that no other New Zealander seems to have recorded. When he reached the island, the paper nautilus was coming ashore in hundreds. “I am a bit of a shell collector,’ he writes, “but this is the first time I have had the pleasure of collecting this very beautiful shell. The creature inside has a long, egg-shaped body, which exactly fits the cavity. There are eight arms, four on each side of the body. When the creature is in its shell, the arms are on top, ready for business. There are two large eyes, almost like the eyes of a rabbit, and a beak somewhat like a parrot’s. The arms, which have two vows of suckers on the inside, are from six to 10 inches long. 1 placed my finger on a beak, and received a good nip. Almost every shell contained eggs. Mr Albert Makomako, the Opotiki phot, w'ho has been on and off White Island for the past 20 years, told me that he had not seen the paper nautilus before. What caused it to come ashore in such large numbers?'’

Those who wish to have information as to this fragile, pretty and exquisite cuttlefish should read Dr C. E. R. Bucknill's book on sea-shells, published recently. He states that it is unique amongst the octopods, as a shell is possessed by the female only. She uses it not only as a nest for her eggs, but also as a nursery for her young. The male is about an inch long; the female is much longer, and may have a shell that measures nine inches at its largest diameter. As she has no muscular attachments to her shell, as other shellfish have, she retains possession by clasping the sides of the aperture with the two arms that spring from her back, leaving six arms tor swimming and for procuring food. Dr Bucknill mentions Mayor Island, another Bay of Plenty islet, as the home of the paper nautilus, but not White Island. Conchologically, as Mr Graham points out. it is Argonauta argo, perpetuating the legend of the Argonauts. Jason’s companions, in the ship Argo. Another New Zealand nautilus, Argonauta tuberculata, also reported from Mayor Island, is stated by Dr Bucknill to be very little different from the species that Mr Graham saw on White Island, but it has more ribs on its shell and more spines on the keel of its shell; and its ribs are cut into small nodes or tubercles. The paper nautilus attracted the attention of fishermen ages ago in the Mediterranean. Their belief that the extended arms are raised above the water and used as sails was disproved when the living creature came under observation, in modern times. Professor Huxley showed that the nautilus should be compared to a perambulator, rather than to a ship or boat.

The feeding habits of song-thrushes have been observed by Mr J. C. M'GillNutt, Ngaio, Wellington Province, for some, time, and he has made notes on their methods of detecting, underground worms and discovering their positions before trying to drag them out. He writes: “I was inclined to believe that they watched for the worms in the short grass, but a close examination of the ground has convinced me that a large number of the worms they take are underground. My attention was drawn to the fact by my elder son, a youth of four, who takes a decided interest in the habits of birds that come within scope of his observation. He noticed that song-thrushes first rest their bills on the ground and then move slightly in a definite direction, place their heads on the ground again, and finally insert their bills in the ground, almost invariably taking a worm, or part of one. lam trying to erect an apparatus to secure photographic evidence of this, but find it a somewhat difficult task. I may be able to send further notes on this interesting subject.’’ Black fantails are common m the South Island, but uncommon in the North Island. Mr M'Gill Nutt saw one in October last in native bush about half a mile west of the .Ngaio railway station. He states that it was somewhat larger ‘than its pied cousin, common in both islands, not nearly as active and stiver.

The whitehead, which has not been reported in this column for some years, although doubtless quite plentiful, is mentioned by Mr G. Palmer, Aria, near Te Kuiti, King Country. His faithful description cf this cousin of the South Island yeliowhead is:—“A small forest bird, grey-headed, not quite as large as a sparrow, quick in its actions, hunts insects, fluffs its feathers out and twitters all the time. I think that its body is dark, but its head is distinctly grey. Many people here have not seen it, and do not know of its presence; others know of it, but not even Maoris whom I have asked know its name.” It is best known to bushmen, probably, as the bush-canary, although it is not a canary. Its commonest Maori name is popokatea. It should bo present in every North Island forest, as well as on most islands off the coast of the North Island. To Mr Palmer, its twittering resembled the voice of a wheelbarrow that required a little oil. To another observer its feeble notes were three like ‘‘viu, viu, viu,” and four like “zir, zir, zir, zir,’’ It frequents forests on the lower and high mountain ranges, but usually keeps to the tops of trees, where members of the species meet in flocks. Male and female build the nest, which is very neat, and is made of twigs, moss and grass, lined with feathers. Thick manuka trees are a favourite site for the nest.

A question by Mr Palmer seems to suggest that the North Island crow is present in Iris district. He asks if it is the bellbird that has deep notes that might be mistaken for a tui’s notes, though the songster does not resemble a tui. There are three notes, long, rich, and clear, like the chimes of a bell, then three notes almost silent, deep down in the throat, which cannot be heard as a distance, but vy'hich ring out so clear and musically that a listener almost hears the swing of a bell. Mr Palmer once heard two songsters sing the same song simultaneously. The bellbird is yellowishgreen, with brownish-black wings and tail, and blood-red eyes; the male j» distinguished by a steel-black head. The North Island crow, which sometimes is given the title of bell-bird on account of its notes, is larger than a tui, dark bluishgrey, and has blue wattles. Its notes, perhaps, are as bell-like as the notes of the bellbird—the Maori’s makomako, corrupted into “mocky” or “mockymock’ but to some listeners they are more like the low notes of an organ, or the notes of a flute exquisitely played.

“In our little native bush we have the parapara, or bird-catcher,” Mr it. T. Kobe re wrote from Horoera, East Cape, on October 17. ‘‘The tree’s of entangling small birds is a source of great interest to my children. No fewer than 20 white-eyes, early this year were caught at the same time, an event that caused consternation amongst the children. The parapara’s niethods are cruel, but I suppost it is Nature’s way.” Although the native forests are rapidly disappearing from that district, a few tuis live in a remnant saved near Mr Kohere’s house, 'and when the berries of the tawa-a-pou, or New Zealand olive, are ripe, a few young wood-pigeons make a fairly long visit to the place.

Mr G. R. Wright, Matamata, has heard starlings in the winter utter almost exactly the same notes as the shining cuckoo. For that reason he feels that observers should not record the cuckoo’s presence in the winter unless sure that the notes they hear are the migrant’s own. An inexperienced observer, he explains, might find difficulty in distinguishing between the genuine notes and those of an accomplished mijnicer.