BLACK SWANS IN THE NEW ZEALAND SOUNDS.

Otago Witness, Issue 2403, 22 March 1900, Page 63

BLACK SWANS IN THE NEW ZEALAND SOUNDS.

By B. Henry.

I was acquainted with the swans in Victoria, but only in a casual sort of way, because they were much wilder there thanthey appear to be in New Zealand. This 33oay have arisen from better food generating more spirit and activity, or it may be for want of enemies in New Zealand to clear out the stupid ones and leave only the best. I do not know that the wild swans set much store on seeds, but I know that in captivity they flourish exceedingly on almost any sort of grain in addition to their ordinary food of water weeds. So they may have got more seeds in Victoria, where there were no rats, though I do not remember any seeds that seemed to be much account for food. However, one never knows how little things may make up. The Maoris did not think much of our wheat at first.

The swans seem to -be making a slight departure here by breeding at all seasons, which I never noticed in Victoria ; but I remember going there in the early spring for their eggs, especially if ti.ere was a flood, for then the nests would float up and be easily seen, and easily reached in a canoe; while at other times it was terrible work crushing through the " bamboo reeds " which are often 7ft high and growing as thick as a crop of wheat. Ouf toi-tois are the nearest to them in appearance, but quite different plants, for the others alwa3*s grow in water, have very few leaves compared with the number of seed steins, are hollow and strong like little bamooos, and were ussd by the darkies for spears. Their seed was no heavier than cocksfoot grass seed, yet wherever it was plentiful was the best place to find ducks, swans, and swamp liens.

The Maori raupo reed was common in Victoria. Probably its light-plumed seed may have flown over here, and if so it is a pity the others did not come also, for there are many swamps and lagoons lonely in I\"ew Ze-iland for want of some such good shelter for the young waterfowl.

For her nest the swan gathers a great heap of last year's broken reed«, and in doing so must take care that it is not fastened down or her eggs would be spoiled by a flood ; she must also take care that it won't go away with wind or current. This she is intelligent enough to manage by pulling down the tops of the reeds and fastening them in s-o that the nest can go up or down without floating away. Six was the usual number of eggs in Victoria when hatching ; but I have not seen more than five in a nest in these sounds, and often only four. It says something for their sense that they were able to use successfully the much poorer material they found- in New Zealand to build their nests. In fact they often build here high and dry on the land, which I never saw them do in Victoria. At Te Amni Lake T saw where a pair had worked in n little" branch of a tree and seme pieces of drift wood to help to float their nest, but unfortunately a part of the branch was stuck in the mud and a slight rise had flooded their eggs. In shallow places in this lake a sort of green grass grows, which the sheep and rabbits eat when the water recedes ; this is also a favourite food for the swans, and when the lake is low enough for them to reach it, there are always plenty of swans about, but when the lake rises again they all disappear. I have heard people say that a swan will desert her nest if once hunted off it, but I know that such is not the rule, for I have seveial times passed

nests where I knew the eggs were not fresh, and every time the hatchers would get off and swim away. Of course when I had taken fresh eggs out of a nest the mother swan had sense enough not to lay any more there. I think that their food is very poor, imd that it takes them all the r time to get enough to keep them going. The hatcher's food is grevfly reduced, as is also her vitality, and then to be made to fly away in a fright is evidently a serious injury, so that her reputation for desertion is often gained more bj* dire necessity than want of sense.

When we went into a backwater on the 16th October there was a pair with four little young ones, but next day there were only two. The old ones are silly fools they go away cut in the bay and keep the little ones swimming until they fall be hind or die of hunger. l\'ext day when they saw me "far away on the point, out they went again, but one of the little ones got on the mother's back and went sailing away, while the other was left far behind. Next day they had lost tnem, al' — possibly a fish had taken them. Ho-n ever, they are of no use here, and I have an idea that they tend to reduce the number of flounders, either by eating their food or their spawn. On another occasion we had just the same experience, and I went to some trouble to try and find out what had become of the Young ones, but failed in my endeavour. If a gull or hawk had eaten them I should have easily found some of the feathers, because the wind was all the time iushore, so I came to the conclusion that a liapuka liad eaten them. This fish is sometimes nearly big enough to swallow an old swan, and is bolder than our common sharks, for one of them has several times seized the frayed end of our reef-poinfc and given it a good shaking ; and small fish are more afraid of them than they are ol the sharks. I think the" very young swans would never leave shallow water if they were not disturbed, and as they never dive, like all the ducks, they are easily catight in a canoe. The old ones may know this quite well. If so, I need not call them fools or cowards for being so nervous when they see a man in a boat.

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