IN TOUCH WITH NATURE

Otago Witness, Issue 2857, 16 December 1908, Page 82

IN TOUCH WITH NATURE

THE BIRDS OF TWO COUNTRIES. SOME QUAINT AUSTRALIANS. (By James Drummond, F.L.S., F.Z.S) Although there ie a remarkable dfifTerence between the birds of New Zealand and of Austialia, if each avifauna is legarded collectively, there is quite a long list of individual birds that are , represented m both countries. Seveial birds popularly believed to be peculiar to New Zealand are common in Australia. As a mutter of fact, New Zealand is indebted to- Australia for some of the most attractive members of her bird life. At one time in the really Dark Ages, probably in the Eocene period. a land ridge 'connected! New Zealand with New Caledonia and New Guinea. The ancestors of some of the present New Zealand birds, which belonged to the same species as the ancestors of present Australian birds, probably came to this country along that ridge, which sank again, ard New Zealand was cut off from the outside world. Some Australians, however, must have crossed the Tasman Sea and come to New Zealand by a direct route. The practicability of this extraordinary migration over the water is demonstrated by the arrival of the little white-eye within historical times. _ As the ages passed isolation and a life free" from care brought about changes which have caused many New Zealand birds to become so peculiar and eccentric that their relationship to the ancestral type can hardly be recognised. Mr Will Law6ou, who is now a resident" of Wellington, has supplied me with some notes on a few Australian bircls which are not seer? in New Zealand. " I read with pie" sure your notes concerning the white-eye and its migration to New Zealand."' he says ; " and having some years ago lived for a time in Queen6land, where the little bird is known as the ' silver eye,' ite mention revived memories of bird life in Australia. Your more recent allusion to the white heron prompts me to offer you these notes on some of the more •unusual Queensland birds — unusual, that is, to New Zealanders."

He says that in Queensland, as in other tropical 'and sub-tropical countries, there are many varieties of birds and many of each kind, gaily-coloured and stridenttongued ; finches, parrots, ciows, pigeons, and other sorts. Of pigeons and doves there are quite a dozen kinds, the wongawonga and squatter pigeons most nearly resembling the New Zealand wild pigeon. The Torres Strait pigeon and the bronzewing — the former black and white, and) the latter bronze-brown in colour — are wilder and stronger-flighted birds. As in New Zealand, the finding of the nest of the pigeon is a rare occurrence. There is a Queensland bird popularly known as tbe willie wagtail. In appearance it Ls much like the New Zealand fantail. It is a most confident little bird, and hovers about the pastures wherein cattle are grazing. With ever-swinging tail and quick movements, it feeds on the grass insects disturbed by a feeding animal, and for variety perches on the beast's horns, neck, back, or tail, hunting for the cattle pests hidden in the hair. No one ever dreams of shooting or in any way interfering with the wagtail, except perhaps some stray schoolboy with his ehanghai, when all other sport has failed ; and even he does it half-heartedly. Even nervous honses take no notice of the wagtail when it alights on head or back. Another small bird which occurs in the northern parts of Queensland is the grassfinch, some relation, he believes, of the South American grass-quit. This bird is polygamous, each male having six or eeven. mates. It feeds on the seeds of the native grasses. When on the ground the whole flock is of a brown colour, but occasionally the birds rise to seek fresh pastures, and then the male ruffles his feathers in a way that changes his colour to a brilliant scarlet, thus marking himself out as the leader who must be followed.

Another interesting ground bird in Queensland is the bower-bird. It is about the size of a magpie. These birds dwell in colonies of about a dozen, and each pair ha* its nest, a most untidy, hastily-thrown-together affair, stuck promiscuously in adjacent trees. The whole energy of the colony is centred in the bower, which each group of birds builds, and which is a marvellous construction. Twigs are laid on the ground, and their ends are curved upwards. Then more twigs are woven into these, their ends still curving, until a •woven tunnel is the result, built so strongly that it is difficult to cause any movement by shaking with the hand. These tunnels, or bowers, have several ramifications, and her© the birds play all day long. They decorate their bower with bright leaves, flowers, pebbles, and shells. and if by chance a silver spoon or orna ment falls into their clutches it is given a prominent position in their playhouse. A friend in North Queensland told Mr Lawson that on one occasion he found a bower so strongly and compactly built that he could have raised it and carried it off without misplacing a single twig.

The laughing jackass, or " kookaburra," is a bird) whose fame as a humorist has travelled far, and yet a person must hear two of them laughing to really appreciate this eccentricity of bird life. There are two kinds of laughing jackasses — the grey and the bhw, — and the laugh of each is quite distinct, though given in a somewhat similar way. One oird givc6 a " hoo-hoo-hoo,"' while the other chatters and cackles>. The eound Tises in tone until it is very loud, and then it quite suddenly dies away. Another biid whose cry is a combined effort L« tl'c fctockwhip bird. One of the pair (Mr Lawson does not know which) emits a -whii-tle, sharp and shrill, which Tises in crescendo andi is then cut short off with a "whit."" very like the sound of a wet eto'ek^hip lash. Then the hitherto silent mate gives two quick notes, just as though ii. said, in *ta-\L&d tnnefc. " Ivbat oh!"

Qlosely related to the stockwhip bird are the soldier bird (all uniformed like a red- , coat) and tbe leatherhead. The latter has no feathers on its head. These two chatter all day long in the scrub. There are cur- ' lews in Queensland, too. "Ghost birds" j they were believed to be when Mr Lawson and his schoolboy friends-, passed up or down the river at night and heard jtfiem i calling near the moonlit swamps. Their j call is a moaning whistle, like wind crying through a half-opened casement. Some- j times they were disturbed by persons walk- j ing on the river bank, and they fled .' silently, without any sound at all, just ( like shadows. , j One of the most remarkabw? Australian ' birds is the native companion, sometimes ; called the gigantic crane and the great I grey crane. It dwells on the plains, and I is much addicted to playing and dancing, i Its favourite game resembles a set of j lancers. Pairs march out,, bow, and retire. ' The last act in the performance is the j forming of a grand chain, the birdis run- ! ning in a circle, with wings poised and J fluttering and heads raised over low-curved j necks. Near the coastal rivers and in the . bays are found the pelicans, which belong i to the same order- as the storks, herons, j and bitterns. The pelican's peculiarity lies j m^the pouch depending from the lower j mandible of the head, and used to carry a ) store of the fish which the bird catches. The birds move in flocks, sometimes of 50 or more. Usually 20 or 30 are found together. The enormous beaks make them, unsightly and ungainly. Like the pigeon", the pelican hides its nest well, and few have been found. At sunset, when the red beams of light make the water crimson and the sandbanks gleam like gold, the solemn, pouch-jawed pelicans gather on the sandbanks and watch the sun go down, and their dull grey bodies look quite bright. At other times they are ugly birds. Something between the native companion and the pelican is the " jaheroo." This name is an Australian version of the Brazilian word " jahiru." Long-legged and long-billed), with the bill heavy and thick and slightly curved at the tip, this bird frequents the northern rivers. It is exceedingly shy, but- can be tamed. Its colour is greyish white, with black legs, bill, and skin. The bird also occurs in tropical part 6. Near Port Neury, on the eastern coast of Queensland, there lived an old "jahiru," who was the solitary representative of his kind in a river there. At first he was shy, and fled at the approach of human beings, but as no one molested him he made a short flight at each successive alarm, until at last he stood his ground, if mud and water may be termed ground. He was the wonder of the district, a tame" jahiru : and then there came a stranger on horseback, a pothunter with a gun, and for pure wantonness he slew the old .iahiru and rode on, leaving the bundle of feathers and long legs and beak swinging in the swirl of the tide. "He was no sport and no gentleman," Mr Lawson declares, " who would shoot a bird, even a 'jaheroo,' in that way."