OUR PUBLIC SCHOOLS COLUMN.

Otago Witness, Issue 2805, 18 December 1907, Page 88

OUR PUBLIC SCHOOLS COLUMN.

FOR SINIORS AND JUNIORS.

[Conducted by Macisteb, to whom all temmunioations must be addressed.]

[Ui.aiSTn will hm glad to receive Nature «*^cs, marked papers containing educational artioles, diagrams, details of experiments, «tc , •f scholastic interest to teachers and pupils. Correspondents using a pea cam* must also **ni aam* and address.]

CORRESPONDENCE.

Can some subscriber help "E. A." and me? The "Porina maire" is sot mentioned in Hudson's Elementary Manual of New Zealand Entomology. Of the " Porina ■agnata" Hudson says: "The larva ie as yeb unknown, but it is in all probability subterranean in r& habits, and feeds on toots of .plants." But this was written 15 years ago, and as there has not been a revised edition brought up to date % cannot give more. I wonder will Mr Philpotte savour us with a note? At the time of writing the specimens of moths and eggs uave not come tp hand. _I'll do my best *to place " them when they do. "E. A." fcas" been trying experiments, or, rather, has been observing the development of the grub and the laying of eggs. Boys and girls would find it very interesting to imprison butterflies and moths, "ana watoh progress. The eggs are laid in such regular rows, and look so pretty, that any trouble would be well repaid. The butterflies and fooths could be kept in well-lighted and ftired boxes, and fed with a syrup. They

are classed at tjepidoptera — wings with scales on, and the scales seem to overlap like shingles on a roof. The Lepidoptera has been described as "an order of hexapod (six-legged) inseote, having a suctorial mouth, four wings covered with minute scales a»d a complete metamorphosis through egg, caterpillar, pup»i and imago stages." I shall ask Dr Benharto whether he cares for specimens. Of this I am sure, however: If there are no good specimens in the Museum, he will be very glad to get them; and even if there are, and specimens are not plentiful, he will be glad to get them for Students and, perhaps, for exchange with other centres. As " A West Coast Girl " fa* adopted a pen-name, I am omitting bet exact address. How far south ar* saddlebacks found? I bad the curiosity to turn up | Butler's Manual of the Birds of New i Zealand and Animals of New Zealand. , The latter says : " The saddleback ie a I noisy, chattering, and amiable bird which j seems to regard its little fellow creatures with great goodwill. A shrill note, unlike that of any other bird, repeated several times in quiok succession, announces its sudden but welcome appearance. Its ! movements are notably prompt, rapid, and decided, and 'ho sooner has it sounded its call note,' says Mr Potts, 'than it emerges from its leafy screen, and bounds before the spectator as suddenly as a harlequin in a pantomime.' % From these abrupt move- j merits, or flying leaps, it seems to perform i a role of its own, that appears almost ' startling amidst the umbrageous serenity of the forest." Of its' notes, Buller says : "It is naturally a noisy bird, and when exoited or alarmed becomes very clamorous, hurrying through the wo6ds with cries of ' tiaki-rere,' quickly repeated. At other times it has a scale of short flute-notes, clear and musical; but the most remarkable exhibition of its vocal powers takes place during the breeding season, when the male performs to his mate in a soft • strain of exquisite sweetness. This lovesong is heard only on a near approach, and it is at first difficult to believe that so clamorous a bird oould be capable of such tender strains." It is said that they I often accompany flights of canaries o§ yellow-heads as if acting as scouts, and I make a charming sight when in attendance ' on these birds. The bird gete its name ' from its two etrongly-oonl^asting colours, black and ferruginous, the latter covering the back " forms & strongly-defined margin across the shoulders, «nd sweeps over the wings suggestive of saddle-flaps." From ' ■ the angle of the mouth on each side " there hangs a fleshy wattle, or caruncle, j shaped like a cucumber seed, and of a changeable bright yellow colour. The winge are short and feeble, and the flight of the bird, though rapid, is very laboured, and always confined to a short distance." This, from Buller/ suggests a reference to " Animal* of New Zealand." The saddleback and the huia are starlings allied to Calornie, of India, the Malay Archipelago, ■' New Guinea, and Northern" Australia. Whence came the connection ? " There ie ' much evidence to prove that New Zealand , was at some former time, probably in the ' Eocene period, connected by a land-ridge with New Caledonia and New Guinea; and there is ample evidence to show that the Tasman Sea, which separates New Zealand from Tasmania, has been in existenoe during the whole of the Tertiary era." Now, I hadn't the slightest idea of 'writing so much on the saddleback, but it is such an interesting bird that I want West Coast folk to tell us more. And this note reminds me that I have not yet been able to come across a cony of Mr Potts'e "Out in the Open." Can any one tell me where to get one, and what the price is? I have the loan of one from j a reader of these columns, but I cannot ' with a conscience keep it much longer. " Ornithologist*" letter wants answering, and ought to spur boys (and girls, too) to make accurate observations of cuckoos. I am sura that, through the influence of these columns, more will be on the gui vive this season in Otago tha.n in any previous year— and perhaps outside of Otago, too. Last week I had inquiries for information from five schools, but why not from 50? Now, let me set boys a definite piece of work. Here is a description of the shining, or bronze, cuckoo: — Above, metallic bronzy green; below, white, barred with bronzy brown. Forehead freckled with white. The young are duller in colour, and the bands on the lower surface are more numerous and not so distinct. Wing, four inches. Egg! brownish olive; length, three-quarters of an inch. . Have you seen that bird? Where? When? What birds nest near where you have 6een }t ? Have you seen the egg ? In what nest? Have you noticed, in any nest, a young bird differing from the others? In the nest of what bird? TDeacribe the birds differing. Circumstances will probably suggest other questions. Next to note is the long-tailed cuckoo. Above, brown, banded and streaked with rufous (red); below, white, with longitudinal streaks of dark brown. Length of wing, seven inches Bjid three-quarters. The young have the upper surface brown, spotted with rufous (reddish brown or tawny) white; the lower surface rufouß (reddish) white, streaked with dark brown. Egg, brownish olive, sometimes clouded with brownish grey; length, seven-tenths of an inch. Have you seen this bird? It# eggs? x Where? When? etc. Apply the same questions as before, and as many more as you can, and let us see- how muoh definite information can be obtained by, 6&y, April next, but send it in as you get it. If { you can obtain specimens of birds — will it j be against the law, thoush ?— do so, and : of the egg* also. The Museum would be ' delighted to get them, I am sure — at any- , rate, the eggs of the latter. I intended calling on Mr Thomson, as " Orinthologist " suggests, but ao far have not had time, I hope I have not made a " hash " of " Ornithologist's " Maori pronunciation. The linotype doesn't descend to vowels with accent or sound marks, apd my interpretation of them is not scientific, so " Maori " must blame me, and not " Ornithologist," if the pronunciation, as 1 ; give it, is inaccurate. '. If "Makinihi" would like to read the ' paper on the cuckoo, referred to by " Ornithologist," I shall be glad to lend it to him. " J.s" letter will be read with interest, ' lam sure. What does he mean by saying that breeders would not like their practice published 1 ? Does he mean the methods adopted? SAVE THE KAURI TREE. I am publishing a letter tliia morning, sent to a prominent Dunedin cifciieo, frho

] is a most ardent lover of Nature in all her moods and forms, and with it an enclosed , extract taken from the Lyttelton Times of the 22nd of Ootober. It comet from an even more prominent gentleman in the North Island— l am purposely vague in ' locating both, so readers will understand that the names attached to the letter are fictitious. But that must not in any way discount their aims. It was my good fortune many years ago to see some of these forest kings, and it ib saddening to think that, to make a few pounds, these magnificent trees, which have taken centuries to grow, unless some special effort is made to prevent it, will in 1 a few years be wiped: out of existence for ever. What a magnificent sight a forest reserve of kauri trees, with their luxuriant under- ! growth, will be to the generations to oome. i From Perth, in Westralia, " wild-flower " ■ trains are run into the, country, and ■ i thousands feast their eyes on the beautiful I sight; and from Melbourne and Sydney j trams are run to fern-tree gullies and •orest areas. So in time, if reserves are made in the Auckland Peninsula, trains I will carry their thousands to see Nature in ' one of her grandest forms. -The following (taken from " Plants of New Zealand") will give an idea of the majesty of this tree: — " The kauri pine is one of the most magnificent timber trees known, but it is, un- > fortunately, fast disappearing under the on- | slaughfs .of bush fires and needy colonists. , ■Tor are new plantations formed, as ie the case with many other trees, for the kauri > is of such slow growth that no man thinks it worth his while to plant trees which take a thousand years to mature. A kauri forest is a wonderful sight, with the clean, erect stems, rising like grey column* to a height of from 80 to 100 feet-^eometimes 60 or 70 feet without throwing out a branch. . . Though from 80 to 100 feet is the usual height of the forest kauri, , trees have been found 150 feet high. There is a specimen at Mercury Bay, which is 80 feet to the lowest branch and 24 feet in diameter. A tree five feet in diameter ' has been calculated to be three centuries I Do you not think that* there should be I some organised effort made to set apart ■ a kauri forest as a park not only for the '• Dominion, but for the Commonwealth also? I have said nothing of the forest being a sanctuary for our native birds, for that follows as "a natural course. Preserve our forests and prohibit killing and our birds ' will continue among us. x The following correspondence is held over i toe next week:— "Waitoru's," wanting information on birds; " Crpescaste'e," on the frostfish (this is "information "Ornitho--logist" has been wanting); " Robin's," on the cuckoo and the laughing jackass; Wm. Aitchison's, on faritaile; S. Hart's, on the disappearing anail (the shell hasn't oome to hand yet; I hop 3it hasn't gone astray); " J 's," on the longtailed cuckoo (he says it : doesn't breed here); Mr White's letter from Hawke's Bay, on €he godwit ; Mr ' Shore's letters in answer to a query from • "Old Boy"; Mr Watt's, on birds gene- ', rally (a chatty letter) ; Mr Campbell's, on the laughing jackass; "Ramblers, on a nest of fantails he had been wdtchinpr; ajid Mr Roberts'* meteorological records for November. Has Mr Roberts seen the meteorological section in this year* xear Book? Til try to find room next week for a note or two or the records it contains. tfnleas correspondents have something unusually interesting to say on observations made on the fantail, laughing owl, cuckoo, etc many years ago, I prefer now to have notes made on recent observations. I am glad to know that many boys are being interested in my columns, and I »™ that we shall soon net notes not too arSent in character. If these columns had been established half a century a«o, » lawe «»ount of invaluable information would have accumulated by this time. South Taieii, November 29. Dear Magister,— l suppose a good number , of your corespondents are "W** ™& SfSr^r #£■ 3& step/? i to the bift ugly pubs which play »o muob mischief wilh the grass JrSL^aLl Plato at times * hftve * 8 «fl quite a number of people what they turned Site, but no one seemed to know, so »ftet the grubs had destroyed a grass plot for me iHnt some to the Government biologist for identification, and for a remedy. He replied that it was the larv« of a native moth, " Porina signata," and told me to use carbon bisulphide, and gave directions. I had most of the grubs picked out by this time though, so haven't tried' it. I dug the plot and got most of them at a depth of about four inches or more; this was m the { winter, but they will likely b» nearer the surface during the summer, so the birds may get them then. I looked up the "Porina signata" in the Museum, but they only seem to have a picture of it, and it didn't seem quite as familiar as it should, considering how plentiful the grubs are. The "Porina maire" looked more familiar. Do you think there would be muoh difference in the grubs of the different porinas? lam sending you some - speoimens of moths and eggs, whioh I stxonely suspect of being -the culprits. Do you think they are a variety of the porina? If not, what are they? They are very common her*. The grub was a good deal in evidence last summer and this one. The aforesaid moths are very numerous. Last night there was a regular plague of them at the lighted windows, trying to get in. boys caught quite a number of them by leaving their window open and placing dishes of water on their table near the candle. The moths seem to be laying their eggs just now. Each one lays a great number of ! eggs, so their larva should be common i enough. If they are the pest that destroys j the grass I believe farmers and gardeners , oould destroy great numbers of them by light- i I ing bonfires outside- at nights at this time of year, or it might be worth while to try putting a lantern over a tub mth some water in it. The water near a light seems to have Borne sort of an attraction for them, perhaps ' it is the reflection of the light on the water. I put a very large specimen of the grub in a tin to develop, and fed it on grass roots. It flourished nicely for a few weeks; then it commenced to get smaller acd continued till ( it was reduced to about a third of its original bulk, when it cast its skin and went into the ' chrysalis state. It has been in the chrysalis state for a few weeks now, and I'm living in hopes that it will develop all right. Do the Museum authorities care to get speoimens of things like that? This letter will likely to too long for publication, and perhaps not of sufficient interest to most of your ' readers, but if my surmises about the moths . are correct, you might please suggest the remedy, or a better one if you have it. E. A, Invereargill. Dear Magister, — As one of your constant readers I take * great interest in cotes on |

our native birds. As a child and as a young girl I lived in "Westland, and had a great interest in the birds, as my father was making a collection to jwnd to England. One bird that was very plentiful at that time (30 years ago) was a pretty red-and-black bird called, by my father, a saddleback. I don't think any of your oprrespondents so far have mentioned it. The fantails were very plentiful, top. A pair built in one of the fpple tree* in our orohard, and another pair in a rosebush. Many a nest my brothers and I found, but never with two plain or two pied birds, and always the male bird w»» the pied on*, so that we have always beto und«r the impression that the pied bird* were ma> and the plain feathered ones female. We often caught lamprey in the Little Grey River, also in the Nelson Creek. One of my brothers and I when out nding on the plains near th« Big Grey River one day caught a beautiful white crane, which still stands in the drawing room at Home in Cheltenham, England, where we Wnt it for our aunts to see what beaufiful j ' x w l had h « re - Tho skinning, curimr and stuffing were dkme by my father, who i* 8 * ¥*? cl€Ver •* such w °rk- When I the- saddlebacks, but have written quit, a letter instead, so with beat wishes for you? interesting column, I will dose. T><a t ii A W]EST Coast Girl. P.S.— I will send «>• -- rata later on

" £*"• " *f?« ißier - '«st week's not«» idJa thai ft 1 ™? 01 " the . »**?*«" out of S idea that the two species of fantail axe only ju.t beginning to interbreed, and "Buri&r" f nit % Jf ho «-a b ? so rough on Dunedin folk for knowing little or nothing of Maori pronunciation. Many do know \ little 3 l^U t Joß}J 08 }? 11 ? 6*6 * I think th «» is * main sort of rule that in words of several syllables the second last syllable is nearly alway. short, and tarely long. For instance, take Tahuna (sandy): this is tah ("a" fairly long) and huna ("a" sHbrt), not tahoona; also, of course, Waitahuna, not Waitahoona— a horrible pronunciation for "sandy water" or ii t hen ' a8?m»a 8? m » Rotomahana (a in ha. Jong), shocking jumble for Rotomahana (o's long, last three • syllables short), a really beautiful word. Manuka (" v " long) • for manuka ("a" long, "v" short) and totara ('o and "a" long) for totara ("a" short), Tarawera (" c " long) for Tarawera (all vowels short). Your explanation of tea tree was mute olear, but might have included the fact that the cabbage tree is in Maori ti, and no doubt old settlers knowing this would say, "That is totara tree, and that is a koromike tree, and that is a ti tree." If you had spelled Hawera Hawra you would have been quite close enough to please most people. "Makinfhi's" letter is splendid— let's have lots more next week, — but he has "knookedme fiat" when he says that robins, tomtits, parrakeets, etc., were fairly common 14 years ago close round Dunedin; if he had said 24 or 34 I should not have been astonished; but w-1lw -1 l you ask Mr G. *M. Thomson, who lives almost in the bush, and on the belt in question, for if anyone can give a reliable opinion he can on this, or any natural history subject. The rifleman can be seen in immense numbers to-day in the Marui» Forest, or any place where sound timber can be got, because he nearly always picks a sound birch or broadkaf, never a rotten one, and the hole is so tiny that a weasel can never sniff it, much I«bs get inside. I believe ther* were a few years ago a number of quail seen on the Three Kings, but Sir Walter Buller "settled the hash" of those who asserted they were Coturnix (Novee Zealandda), and proved that they ■were only ■ the imported Tasmanian quail (Synoecus Australia), a bird very like our quail, but easily distinguished by a specialist. They are still to be found in many places in both islands. The grey warbler often feeds the young of the big cuckoo, but that it ever hatches the egg is not proved, and extremely unlikely, for the reason that even the little tgronze cuckoo cannot get into the •warbler's nest, and when the young bird i» hatched out of the egg, whioh has been carefully p'aoed in the nest by the beak of the cuckoo, it fills the nest almost to burting point, so how such a. n««t could support the weight of the great unwieldy koekoea, even as, a. small chick, beats me. In less than a week the n«st would burst open or tear away from the tree, and the helpless orphan be precipitated' to the ground. The bird is common wherever th«re are English trees and imported birds— in fact, more common there than in or near native bush. No doubt its habits have varied with the advent of our alien friends. Has "Makiniti" found this bird's egg as often as he says, or only found young birds? If he has found the eggs he shcrvs a sad lack of scientific spirit in not having them properly desoribed in our institute transaction, and » specimen presented to each of our museums, in few of J"»cn are there any to be seen. . The habit of taking eega of other birds is practised by the bronle cuckoo as well, though why our buds do this and the Australwn. cuckoos are not known to do vt is to me a jnvatery. The habit of keeping an eye on the hoardad out chick " is known of many of the different Australian cuckoos, but I_™ v « »°* heard of it in our two speoies. If af***; nihi" will read a long article in Volume XXXVI of the "Trans. New Ze»|» n « Institute" he will learn a good d«a! about the long-tailed ouokoo, and see that it is hardly likely that the parent cuokoo in New Zealand ever comes back for her young, and certainly she is not likely to be aewmparued by one of her many mates. Bul.er says: '• Abwt February they begin to J«W« j from Otago, some receding gradually north, | others probably leaving direct, the young on" remainin/till the W" **•£•««»*£ in little flocks, an 4 set out on their long journey to the tropics, the older birds, of course, acting as guides.-I LoGIBT .

Dear Magister,-In reply to "O"^ 1 "" ' gist" on the fantail, there are many thongs fbat have not been noted in the New Zealand birl lift. Should a pair of pied fantails be brea out of so-called union nests, they pair and have an offspring black, this would be nothing odd. There is one species of fantail only on -this island— the Pied and Black. This is a strange bit of nature, but no two species of birds can interbreed. These two varieties have always bred as they do now. and they will go as they came, pure. The offspring of two species is a mule, not fertile. , „ , "Young Colonial" speaks of these birds interbreeding, and that one would expect blended birds. That is near the mark, but both birds are too dark to flake or blend. M«n that breed for blending, even with the canary, have to breed for three or four years for their so-called 1 mule hens, before starting to breed blended mules. They would not, however, like their practice published. j To return to the fantail. All ihe white it has is at ihe tips of black, quilled feathers, except the tail, which is white shafted. The two centre feathers, which «r« black, have E white shafts. That seems very strange. ! pied fantail is the speoies ; it speaks for t ; Nature always does so. Are we to believe that this insignificant bird, Sin from the root of the tail to the eye, with a tail of 3Jin, is to uj?eet Nature, the pgwer whjch j

creates and regulates the material worldi You can assist it in many ways, but it can* not be altered a3 it was completed. Thai im what guide* the naturalist. In the flint place, the pied fantail has its particular markings, always with its whit* shafted taUL Speaking about the pied and the blaoKJ, either bird might throw a blended or a white) bird, but it would be away from Nature^ without a rule. No freak, nor sport, not* blend has a rule. There is another family of birds I wish to draw your tstention -to**viz., the North and South Island crows. Th« one has a blue wattle and the other a yellow wattle. Are the e>y«s of these two. biros the? same, the eggs the same, and th* whistle an call the' same? Are they of a type? r £ they are they would breed and da well, having blue-wattled and yellow-wattled ahkka in th& same brood. This would help the crows much. Hoping I -am not trespassing too* much on your valuable time and space. "&* Inm.

j Wellington, October- 25. Dear Mr Thomson,— l enclose Iwrewith m clipping from the LytteHon Tramr giving m brief account of the birds in lie Waipon State Forest, north of Anck'uidv wmoh wst are very anxious to have set aside as m national park. The farett oaatei&s s large quantity of kauri— great trees mearoxing ftoue to eight feet in diameter. Dr Cockayne says* the sight is most wonderful, and very Besutfi ful. The forest in addition im well xepr» sented by totara, rimu, kmhikatea, totoki, anJ pohutukawa; in fact, the forart v representative of nearly every tree and shruH found in our forests. Dr Cockayne h«« found! over 180 varieties of trees and shrubs and ferns.

What I want you to do is to writ* as strongly as possible to the Hon. Mx M'Nnbv the Minister of Lands, and urge upon him tot do his best to secure this national reserve for the people of New Zealand. If thar« are any other gentlemen in Dunedin who have influence, pray induce them to writs aTso.— - Yours faithfully,

Joser Qujuian.

(Extract.) Animal life in the W«ipua flUto FowutL in the Auckland district, is abundant. Cockayne says that kiwis am vary numerous-. Near the mountain Toetoeharti&o he repeatedly heard the cry of many of the** birds, and saw the holes in the fiound where they had been foraging for worn*. Pigeons, kakas, tuis, and kingfishers, and many of the smaller bush birds are plcntrol. But no* nearly to the same extent aa on tiha Little Barrier and Kapiti Islands. TW* are great numbers of fern birds, and also the descendants of imported pheasants, which do) well in the vicinity. Dr Cockayne also noticed frequently the Vtxge n»tiv« snail "paraphanta." He has Wooght back with him samples of forest soils, which will b* sent to Mr Aston, the Agricultural Department's chemist, for anatyau-, and a specimen of the curious tree ftm Lomarf* Fruseri, which reproduces itself by running along tbs ground and rooting like' -flic common straw* berry.