IN TOUCH WITH NATURE

Otago Witness, Issue 2883, 23 June 1909, Page 13

IN TOUCH WITH NATURE

(By Jakes Dbtjmmond, F.L.S., F.Z.S.)

BIRDS 151 WANGANUI DISTRICT.

New Zealand ornithologists regard Wanganui as one of the classical districts of the Dominion. It was there that Sir iWalter Buller made mamy of his notes and collected many of the skins for the iarge collections he formed ; and descriptions of Wanganui scenery form some of the brightest passages in his 'famous "History of the Birds." It will" give a great deal of pleasure to readers of this column, therefore, to learn, on the authority of Mr Thomas Dix, "whose work as a surveyor has given him a wide bush experietnce, that native birds are still fairly plentiful in the district. The quantity of bush destroyed in the back blocks is very small compared with the quantity 6tiH standing there. The time is not far distant, apparently, 'when the axe and the fire will claim most of the bush, but the Government has reserved areas of forestclad land along the banks of the Wanganui River, and those scenic reserves should afford shelter to a number of native birds for all time.

Mr Dix finds that small birds are more plentiful than larger species — a condition that seems to prevail in roost parts of the Dominion. The riro-rko (grey warbler), wren, fantail, tit, lark, whiteeye, shag, tui, dotterel, kaka, crow, shining cuckoo, weka, kiwi, pigeon, harrier, and bell-bird are fairly numerous ; and the rail, parrakeet, swamp-hen, longtaited cuckoo, bittern, and sparrow-hawk, though not very plentiful, are freouently seen. This is a lonjg and satisfactory list. It is specially gratifying on account of the fact that it includes the Xorth Island crow, which in recent years has often been reported 1 to be extinct. These birds may not be plentiful in all parts of the district, but in some localities they are " exceedingly numerous." It is the grey warbler, with Us happy nature, that appeals most to Mr Dix/ "Its whistle can be heard during the heaviest storms, and when there is not even a sound from the other bi<rds. About sixteen years ago an old Maori man in Tarunaki mentioned that the riro-riro ©lightly changed its notes and whistled more shrilly before rain. I have studied the bird closely, and have found' that that is correct. By observing the whistle I have noted that the change in the weather always comes on about two or three days after the alteration in the bird's note, though it is to be adniiitted that there might be only a very slight shower at times, and then we ' would have another spell of fine weather, but all the same, I could distinguish that the wQiistle was shriller than during a term of fin© weather. I have asked bushmen if they have ever observed that peculiarity of the riro-riro, but 1 have not come across one fchat has, or even known another Maori who has mentioned this fact."

Bell-birds are exceptionally plentiful on the watershed of the Wanganui and Mangawhero Rivers. It is only recently tnat Mr Ddx has came to realise what a bemny bird the bell-bird is. One beautiful morning he found' a tui an-d five bellbixds within a radius of half a chain, and there seemed to be a competition as to which should sing the sweetest. All the birds were singing the same tune, and tho bell-birds probably were mocking the tui. All the bell-birds had a finishing note which resembled a nicely-tuned ball, but which missing in the tui's song. Crows also are plentiful on the watershed. They seem to be more plentiful during the winter on the tops of ridges. They are usually found at an altitude of about 2000 ft, and they favour the tawhero more than any other tree for their haunts. The kiwi is fairly plentiful on the watershed of the Waitotara and Wanganui Rivers, but they can also be found, though not in great numbers, on the MangawheroWano;anui watershed. In the former locality Mr Dix recently caught a halfgrown kiwi. He says that it was amusing, to see the way in which it ran. It seemed to be a" black ball rolling towards him,, as its head could not be sepji. Tr"» Maoris, he adds, frequently catch kiwis with' dogs and use the feathers for the better class of mats.

He supix>rts the statements of other coiTespondents ' that the nest of the native pigeon is not often found. About five yeaTs aeo, when he wa-s workinc in the Maunyakaretu district, two of his workmen came across a pigeon's raest with three youne ones in it. Last year another of has assistant's found a ni^eon's nest. On both of these occasions the' nests we™ fairly close to the ground and were built in a mnhop trp^ He believes that •pigeons build their nests eliieflv in tall trees, which pen-ole are enable to climb. and that is why they are not often found.

The shining cuckoo is plentiful all over the district. Last December he taw six of thpse birds in a cluster fpedinc; on grass about half a mile from the edge of the bush. J\ong-tailed cuckoos are not very plentiful. A few years aco he saw two during the winter. On one occasion a Jong-tailed cuckoo alighted on a tree close to where he was standing. After a short time it began to whistle and it appeared to him that it c™ild throw the sound in any direction. T'i» shining cuckoo is believed to ha ye ih'i power of ventriloquism, and Mr Dix suggests that the other New Zealand memberof -the family may have the same gift. Whiteheads are very rare in thp district. and he only once had the pood forture to see a flock of them. Th<*re were abont six, and he watched with pleasure the thorough manner in which they worked a tree in search of insects, all the time chirping to one another.

Wekas axe exceedingly plentiful both in the bush and the open country. The

f gorae hedges provide splendid shelter for them,, and it is thought that it will be a long time before they axe killed out. He was amused at a chase he saw between a weka and a dog. It took place along the banks of the Turakino Eiver. The weka could not obtain shelter to evade the dog, and its only chance was to swim the river. It did this, and swam splendidly, and got away from the dog. Some years, ago, while working close to Shannon, he discovered a w«ka's nest containing eggs. The nest was situated over two feet above the ground: He had not long to wait to ascertain the reason for building it at that height. _A. flood came and stopped the survey party's work for a fortnight; on their return they found that the flood had not reached the nest. The bittern is becoming very rare in the district ; he has seen it only in the locality of Marahau Lake. The grey duck is not nearly so plentiful as it was 10 years ago; it becomes very wary at the opening of the shooting season. The teal and the blue mountain duck are not very plentiful. Some years ago, when working in the Central Otago district, he found a paradise duck mated to a grey drake, with several young. Mr Dix adds that the Wanganui Museum is very fortunate in its collection of albino birds. Several albinos have been reported to him by bushmen lately. Last season a friend was out shooting, and saw a white kaka, and a white kiwi has been reported near Lake Taupo.