LAND AND WATER.

Otago Witness, Issue 2929, 4 May 1910, Page 57

LAND AND WATER.

COURSING. OAMARU, April 26. The New Zealand Coursing' Association decided to-day to suspend the North of New Zealand' Coursing Club (Auckland), and to disqualify all persons and doge taking part in any meeting held by the disqualified club. WRESTLING. STRATFORD, April 30. The catch-as-catch-can wrestling contest, D. S. Robertson v. Joe l Prechner, for the light-weight championship of New Zealand and side stake, took place here laejj nigh; in what experts describe aa the finest contest ever seen in the island. Robertson's weight was 10.0£. his opponent being about 101 b lighter. Robertson proved 1 the victor, gaining the first fall in 48min, and the second in 23min, the contest throughout beinj? most even and exciting". Both men are finished exponents oi this style of wrestling, Robertson having been six times light-weight champion of Scotland, and Prechner having been feather-weight champion of the world.

THE MALLARD DUCK

Following up our article on the acclimatisation of the English wild duck, or. mallard, in the' Auckland province by Mr Cecil A. Whitney, a few remarks giving at description of the bird and' its habits will no doubt be appreciated by readers. The duck is a plain bird, somewhat like a grey duck in size, but light brown and dingy, grey. The secondary wing feathers show a small patch of green and blue of a meta.llio lustre (between white feathers), which are very conspicuous when the wings are fully expanded. The drake is most beautiful, with gorgeous plumage, and is generally much larger than the duck, the weight of the duck averaging and the drake 3ilb. The phimage of the head' and neck of tlra drake is a greenish colour, which glistens like shot silk with every movement of thehead. A white ring encircles the neck, somewhat similar to that round" the neck of a, cock pheasant. The centre o>f the hack is a handsome chestnut brown tapering to light speckled grey towards the ueok and] dark green towards the tail. Above the tail is dark green with one, two, and 1 sometimes three beautifully-ourled. shiny black feathers sitting' on a* tail of nearly white. The breast is a rich chestnut-brown shaded to cinnamon, and the under-bedy a dingy white finely pencilled with dark lines, the feet having a greenish oramge tint. The feathers on the drake are much' prized by fly-fishermen for making artificial flies, and always command a high paice.

The beak of the duck and drake are dark green bordering- to black on the upper part, the bills being short and fairly narrow. These* domestic. breeds with the mallard strain in them, such as the Rouen duck, although much the same in plumage, yet miss iho-a' distinctive features of the wild duck which centuries of pure breeding by Nature's own method for the preservation of distinct species have so firmly established, and' which characteristics of sporting features and ?olouring of the mallard appeal so strongly to the older port-men who have known him in different eounVies and cannot bo mistaken when once seew by the tyro in sport. Correctly speaking, the Term " mallard " applies to the male only, its mate bain?' properly the "wild duck." The wild duck almost always makes a. bad mother when in confinement, but in the natural state is a splendid mother, exhibiting great maternal courage in the defence of its young. She builds her nest in ruins or on the side of a dry ditch, and generally ' some distance from tlhe watei HDr Border Sharpe states hei has known the wild duck tc nest mile distant from water! instinct telling the mother the youtng birds should not be in the. water more than possible, as it siyes them cramp, until five or six weeks old. when they can live in the water with impunity. The mallard frequents the sea coast of the British Isles, where hev are found in great num bers. and flock" to the muddy foreshores of the bays and estuaries and tidal rivers. to feed on the. sea ovaaa. " of which they are immoderately fond. The bays, harbours, and estuaries of New Zea~ abound in sea grass, and should afford goo species of duck,. fly to the feeding grounds during the twilight, and return to some quiet place at early dawn. The mallard at Ma.ioa- Whitney's residence, near Waiwera, have already taken on these habits, feeding- on the foreshore and returning Lome in the morning-, hut it is a strange coincidence that several paired, and after returning backwards and forwards foi several weeks left, for some other locality: hut ;js their flight was about du.sk, it was absolutely impossible to tell in which direction they went. Mr Whitney has been very short of drakes this year. owin<r to the* birds pairing and then flying away from their home to lock for some quiet foot for nesting, and never returning. Ten ipairs have left their home at Mount Eden cforin.q- the last two months, and never returned, but m-ohably this is one of the ■best ways of "acclimatising the birds. The mallards invariably pair before nestingand do not mate w"th other species of thick, and it, would he entirely contrary to the habits of the true mallard to malewith the grev duck nf New Zealand. It Vonld be a trreat pitv- if the two species became, mixed, hut Nature has provide;! for this, ajid although the mallard mix with all kinds of duck during the time thev aire hot. nesting . they separate and pair wh°.n the pe=+in<r =ea*on anm-oachos. —We aro pleased to hear Mr Whitney ~s ako taking up the rearing of acclimatisation purposes' of thf- Canadian troose and the HuiiQ-irian also thi Paradise duck, which latter Ins practically beecm-e in the northern ravts of New ■Zealand. altHnn-j-h nkr-tiftll in tlta rv-.*o and Southkmd district". We wish Mr Whit mey every success in this good work.

iVEfIR-STJlJvlfffl IVOTF.S.

An exceptionally fins 13-pointer head has been shot by Mr Hsucow, an English sportsman, at present shooting on the Boundary block, Hunter Valley. Writing from teemory, some of the measures arc as follows:—Length, 45£in; spread, *lim; circumf.ercn.ee of antler beneath the brow tine IOA-in. On to a recent date . Mr Had'ow had also shot a royal and an 11pointer, and though both are fair heads the 13-nointer stands in a class of its own, and will bear comparison with most of the good heads shot of iate years. Mr Powley has had fair shooting on the LongCreek block, and returned with a 13pointer, two royals, and an 11-po inter, one of the ovals in particular being "a very heavy head. On the Hopwood and along M'Gregor's Spurs Mr Toll secured one. 14pointer, two rovals, and . a iO-pomter. Major Blew.itt held tho sawmill country., and filled his license with decent heads, a good royal being amongst the number. A fair 14-pointer is also reported to have been shot on the. Tim am run, immediately behind Rooky Point. For the past fortnight the weather has greatly interfered with stalking, especially in the back gullies "rf the Huntei, and jnanv of these are practically untried thra jpasftp. Several parties are still out, and "although rather iate others' are arriving-, ■ one sportsman leaving for the Heao of the Lake on Monday last. : In order that. Colonel Moore—wno was, unfortunately, attacked with pneumonia whilst stalking on the Bull Spur'—mighl be removed to Mr Taylor's homestead a litter was constructed, and -packers, guides. »nd others -.from the different camps throughout the valley acted as bearers on |he journey. In spite of a. swollen river end the streams encountered on the way, good prepress was marie, and the distance —froni 14- to 16 miles—covered in less than seven hours. M««w Brent, Buckley, Cameron, Kino-, p. Muir. A. Muir, D. M'Lennan, and 13. Smith were of the party, atfid considering the nature of ♦he 'country traversed their performance*? ,was a highly oreditable one. At the call for assistance a party of Hawea resi- ■ dents rode through, hut found rpraon arrival at one of the camps ahove the Green Bush that advantage had been taken of the first fine day a>nd a ford&ble river **"t.o wroeeed without awaitine- further help. Colonel Moore bow the fatigue of the Ijouirnev well, and alter a few days rest proceeded bv boat to Ha'wea. arriving here on the 24ih nit. Under the care of Dr ■Ferguson, of Pembroke, who remained with hie patient in the Hunter and _ on the tourney down, a good recovery is being ■ made. The oaxtv who rode from Hawea were received with svery kindness by Mr Taylor, who has recently taken possession of the Highburn runs, and who spared mo effort to ensure the comfort of his Visitors } HOCKEY. N.Z. HOCKEY CHRISTCHURCH, April 27, The annual meeting of the New Zealand Hookey Association was held to-night, when Mr E. Nordon presided. The annual report stated that there were 18 affiliated associations. Two associations during the past Beason had become defunct —Goldfields and Whangarei. The credit balance of the association was £l3 7s 7d, vV-h assets amounting to £43 17s Id. Liabilities were nil.

Competition for the association's shield last season was very keen. The Auckland team was successful in retaining the trophy until the Wellington representatives wrested _ it from them. During the president's visit x> England last year he made inquiries as to the prospects of obtaining a visit from an English team to New Zealand. Very satisfactory progress had been made in the direction indicated by the keenness and generosity of the various associations. Sufficient money had been guaranteed to enable the executive to take the preliminary steps to communicate with the English authorities inviting them to send a representative team, to arrive in New Zealand during May, 1911. An invitation had been received from the New South Wales Hockey Association to send a New Zealand team to Sydney next July to play a series of matches, but the executive decided that it could not entertain the proposal on account of the expense and the prospect of the visit of the British team next season. Applications for affiliation were received from the Wellington Wednesday Association and the Main Trunk Association. —It was resolved to refuse the applications and to recommend the associations named to affiliate with the larger associations in their districts. «.

The following officers were elected: —; Patron, Lord Dickson-Poynder; president, Mr E. Nordon; vice-presidents—Messrs W. Johnson, J. Burgess (Canterbury), and the presidents of the. different affiliated associations ; hon. secretary, Mr F. L. Murray ; hon. treasurer, Mr G. Garrard; hon. auditor, Mr'J. Olliver; committee —Messrs H. A. Goodman, G. S. Cowper, W. E. Burley. N. Goldsbtiry, and D. Yamon. Mr Lindsay (Canterbury) suggested that the Management Committee should endeavour to come to some arrangement with tho other associations relative to the taking of reciprocal action regarding defaulters and disqualified players. The president replied that the executive had already attempted to bring about some such arrangement, but it was found impossible to do so. However, every effort would be made in the direction indicated. It was resolved to ask the executive to revise the rules of the association, and to submit the proposed amendments at a future meeting. In reply to a question, the Chairman ruled that there was nothing to debar a Norther.n Union football team, playing hockey. It was decided that matches with Wellington for the Challenge Shield should be played in the following order: —Hawke's Bay, Poverty Bay, Wairarapa, Canterbury, Wanganui, Auckland, Nelson, Horowhenua, Thames, Taranaki. NEW ZEALAND LADIES' ASSOCIATION. WELLINGTON, April 28. At a meeting of the New Zealand Ladies' Hockey Association to-night it was decided that, in lieu of the annual tournament, the New Zealand championship be decided by means of a challenge cup, to be played for under the conditions governing the New Zealand Hockey Association's Challenge Cup, this not to apply to the present year. A motion transferring the headquarters of the association to Wellington was carried without dissent. The following officers were elected: — Patroness, Lady Dickson-Poynder; president, Mrs Russell Grace; secretary, Miss W. Mellsop; treasurer, Miss L. Macintosh; Management Committee —Misses Kelling, Mackella-r, E. Fleet, Shirtcliffe, Willberg', M. Wilson, and Roberts. It was decided that the annual tournament be held in Nelson this year. HOCKEY IN AUCKLAND. AUCKLAND, May 1. The hockey season was formally opened yesterday with sports and a seven aside tournaments (ladies and geneltmen). There was a large attendance of the public and players, over 500 of the latter taking part. NEW ZEALAND TOUE ABANDONED. LONDON, May 2. The International Hockey Board has decided that a New Zealand tour is impracticable.