CATLINS.

Otago Witness, Issue 2805, 18 December 1907, Page 23 (Supplement)

CATLINS.

In the Catlin's River district (75 miles by train from Dunedin) wild fowl. although not in large numbers, \wll l-e found in both the Owaka and Catlin's Rivers, and also in the estuaries formed by the sea running inland through the -forest. On the coast in this locality there is also at certain seasons of the year good snipe shooting. In the month of October or November large numbers of these snipe or god-wits, arrive from over the i ea and scatter themselves along the eastern .shores of the coast. When they arrive — and it is conjectured that they come from faraway Siberia — they are practically exhausted after a long flight, and are in very poor condition, being- little more than a bunch of feathers attached to an emaciated frame of bones. They speedily ■spread themselves on arrival along -oa "beaches and feed greedily on a small periwinkle, and in a remarkably «hort space -of time - not much more than a couple of months they become plump and fat, so much so indeed that when shot by the ■sportsman they burst when they fall to the ground. They work their way along the sea beaches and inlets up to the North Cape, and then depart for other lands over the trackless ocean. In the forests of the Catlin's district and through to Chaslands there are Krgc numbeis of woodpigeons and kakas.