A WIDE RANGE OP CENTRES.

Otago Witness, Issue 2805, 18 December 1907, Page 22 (Supplement)

A WIDE RANGE OP CENTRES.

Otago. with its numerous lake*. ri\ers. stream-, marshes, lagoon*, plains, hills, forests, and mounta'r.s is a natural homo for wai -rfowl and otlior feat here I game In the «ohtude of pan ages, before the advent of the Maoi i or his pakeha brother the cooing of the wood-pigeon tho liquid not >s of the tui and bell-bird, the screech and whi-tlo of the kaka in tho forests, the varied cries of waterfowl on tho lakes and rivers the weird calling of the weka or wood-hen on the plains and hillsides, and

the mingled mod!<'\ that came from |pukokos and other na,ti\e fo\sl frequenting |->wamps and marshy places weio among the principal sounds that disturbed the 1 stillness of nature. Vast numbers of ducks —grey, brown, shoveller, and teal-fre-quented the lakes, lagoon-,, and rhers; the jmarshy lands and river sides were in,habited by pukr-Los *,tiltn. hoioris bitterns. |and sand-piper-,; on pla'ii :in<l h l'side the wingless weka roamed amid tussock .scrub, and fonM ; wood-pigeons and kaka* ■'frequented tho forest* in Urge numbers; the beautiful i iradiso duek> (or. more properly speakinir. goe-*') in similar numbers spread theiiiM-hes o\cr plains. rivers lakes, and river beds; Blue Mountain duck's iand teal were numerous in river gorges and also on the streams and lagoons in the fastnesses of tho mountains; snipe anrl god-wite at certain seasons frequented the estuaries of rivers, the ocean beaches, and the coastal swamp* and marshes; and a.mid them all, stately and majestic walked tho p-i-yantie moa. With the ad vent of the Maori and the race or racot(if any) that pr"eed"d him. wokas. pukeko ducks, pigonn. kaka*. and other wild fowl found an additional enenn to that of tho

name hawks in ket'ping do w n thvir numbers, but the Maoris or their predeccisors were

nuir.erous

enoug h. all d were not povsesoed of sufficient means of destruction to make any appreciable alteration either in the number or variety of native wild fowl. It may bo that' the early savage, in his quest for food, exterminated some of the more easily captured species, and it is on record against him that he assisted, if he did not actually bring about, the extermination of the inoa. But be this as it may, when the early whalers and the first settlers came to the colony the wood-> and lakes, rivers and streams, marches and plains, hillsides and estuaric* were practically alive with wild fowl. Fift\ or Mxty years of colonisation : the cutting down of forest and the ploughing up of plain, the draining and cultivation of what m> formerly swamp land, tin- establishment of settlements on the co isf and inland, the owning up of the interior of the country with railways, roads, and bridges, the introduction of natural enemies to de*tio> rabbits, added to the wholesale and indiscriminate slaughter of wild fowl all the year round by settlers an I others in the early days. — all these factors have had an influence- in reducing the number and variety of feathered game in the province. To get game the sportsman hae now to travel further afield, and to ensure success he must get well into the back-blocks, where settlement is sparse, and where the breeding places and haunts of wild fowl remain comparatively undisturbed. In such places there is still abundance of native wild fowl and import od swans. a 6 well as some wild geese ; rabbits are all too numerous over the whole province, and hares are plentiful, particularly in Central Otago. With the initiation of a long close reason every year, combined with a short shooting season, a halt has taken place in the former indiscriminate slaughter of game, and, but for the depredations of stoats, ferrets, and wea-els. and the laying down of poisoii"d gram for the destruction of rabbits, the number of native game birds would now approximate to something like the quan:it\ in the province when tho first settlors arrived. But despite the adverse conditions referred to, native water-fowl is still plentiful in mam districts, and, judging by the number to be seen in public and private sanctuario-. where tho bird-, are free from mole-tat mn, they

/ f

.seem to be on tho increase.