THE NATURALIST.

Otago Witness, Issue 3006, 25 October 1911, Page 76

THE NATURALIST.

IN .TOUCH WITH NATURE. NOTES ON NATURAL HISTORY IN NEW ZEALAND. (lis James Dbummond, F.L.S., F.Z.S.) A correspondent at Napier, who has written to' me asking if there is any evidence to show that moas fed upon the smaller birds that were its contempor arias in this country, has raised an interesting. question. The moas were conspicuous members of one of the two grand divisions of the avian class. They belonged to the Rafcitse, an important group of birds distinguished from the other grand. division, the Carinataj, by the absence of a keel on the breastplate. There are about 20,000 species in the Carinatae, and, of course, countless thousands of individuals, but the numbers of the R.atitae are very small. The living members of the division are the ostrich of Africa, the emu of Australia, the cassowary of New Guinea and Northern Australia, the reo. of South America, and the kiwi of New Zealand. The most notable members of the Ratitse who have passed away are the moa and the fepyornis of Madagasjar, which, it is believed, originated the stories of the mighty roc, which took a part in the affairs of Aladdin and his charming princess. The kiwi is a meat-eater. In captivity it eats raw or cooked meat, and thrives well on that diet, and in natural conditions it eats earthworms, insects, and other small game. But most of the living Ratitas birds have a sarprisingly varied fare. " The digestion of an ostrich " has be ' come a common expression, and the extraordinary swallowing feats of the emu have been recorded in 6ong and story. The moa may have had a weakness in the same direction, but all the evidence that has been collected shows that it was a vegetarian. With moa remains—notably in a cave near Queenstown —undigested vegetable fragments have been found, and among them are short pieces of branches and stalks of fern. The remains of rats and of ducks, parrakeets, and other birds have also been found in association with moa bones, but not in a position and condition which would suggest that the gigantic birds had eaten them. According to Mr John White, who obtained much information from the Maoris before they Avere civilised, the moas lived chiefly on the young shoots and roots of fern and glass and on the shoots of a shrub called korokia by the Maoris and Corokia buddleoides by scientists. This is a small tree, with long, narrow leaves and yellow flowers, and is found usually near the edge of the forests. Physically the moa was well adapted for making a living from the vegetable kingdom in a country like New Zealand, ,a.s its strong neck and sharp, pointed bill could be used with g'>ud effect in digging for fern roots, arid its claws and legs were admirably adapted for scratching and digging in the earth. Until there is evidence to the contrary, therefore, it is safe to write down the moa as a strict vegetarian.

In a batch of notes from Whangamarino, Chatham Islands, written on August 30, Mr F. A. D. Cox refers to the deetructiveness of cats amongst small birds. On Mangare, a small member of the group, there is a colony of tortiseshell cais, the progeny of some cats liberated on the island in order to destroy the rabbits, which were present in large numbers. " I do not know if they have succeeded in killing out the rabbits," Mr Cox says, "but they certainly have exterminated the small native birds. The cats have thriven well, as my informant, a young man who is ploughing for me, a.nd who has been on che island, states that he has never seen handsomer cats of the tortoiseshell kind."

In his other notes Mr Cox says : " About a year ago one of our settlers introduced some wekas in order to kill a grub which was destroying the grass at his place by ea.ting the roots. These wekas seem to have developed a wandering spirit. Some of them have been seen miles from the place where they were liberated. The first of the wanderers seen was at a place called Tikitiki, the residence of the stipendiary magistrate. It is puzzling to account for the bird's presence there. It must have crossed a fairly large stream, which could not be crossed without swimming except at its mouth, and even there only when the tide was extremely low, and when there was very little water. There is a bridge a little way up the stream, but to reach it the bird would have to go close to the pa, where there are always many dogs at large. Another weka has found its way to our granary and ploughman's house, still further away. To reach tha.t place it must have passed several places where there was suitable cover in the shape of bush and swamps." Some months ago

Mr Cox mentioned in this column an albino black swan that lived on the main island. Since then it has been killed. A Native, while shooting on the Huro Lake, near the Big Lagoon, fired into a group of birds, and found the albino amongst the dead. Before Mr Cox had heard of the affair the Native took the bird home, plucked it, and cooked it, and even the skin was lost.

The latest reports in regard to the North Island crow, the Maoris' kokako, come from Mr W. Fordhani, of Ohakune. Writing on September 28, he says : —" A specimen was seen on the Main Trunk line, on the high country between Ohakune and HoropitiO. It is always in company when seen. On one occasion six were seen on the ground, apparently scratching among the fallen debris. This was in June, when berries were plentiful on the trees. I saw two en some very low bushes, hopping from twig to twig. The crow seems to frequent the small undergrowth, as anyone who has seen it here has always found it close to jr on the ground. The bird seems to have no fear of man. as it will scarcely move, out of reach. From what I can learn, eight birds were seen in this locality during the past shooting reason. Unfortunately, three or four were s-hot by people totally ignorant of the bird. I obtained one of these birds, and was able to save two others from being shot. They are so quiet that it is really a case of murder to shoot them, and they could easily be caught and removed to soma sanctuary. I have asked some of the bushmen, to let me know if they see any or find any nests ; but it is a very remote chance."

Mr W. Best, of Otaki, who saw a good deal of New Zealand before the face of the country was changed by roads fund railways and other concomitants of civilisation, states that - the district between Tnvercargiil and Riverton was thrf best he ever camped in from a commissariat point of view. Ducks and pukepcs were plentiful, and also kakas when the camp was near the forests. Pigeons were scarce, but he was told that they also were plentiful in the autumn, when berries were ripe. Eels and kokopu could be caught in the streams in large numbers. The sandhill country near the beach was swarming with rabbits, and wild pigs were present in the same locality. The- fernbird, matata, was more plentiful than in any other place he has visited, in both the swamps and the tussock grass on the open plains. He caught many of them by chasing them from on© tussock to another until they became .exhausted, a condition that they soon reached, as they were not strong 031 the wing.

"Is it known," Mr Eest asks, "if the numbers of the pigeon began to decline before the arrival of European settlers? When my father settled in the bush near Wellington in 1851 they were plentiful, but by the time I was old enough to be trusted with a gun, in 1862 or 1865, thev were very scare there. I do not think that up to that urne there had been sufficient shooting or bush clearing in the country, as a whole to reduce their numbers appreciably. Up to the time of my leaving the district, in 1866, tuis, bell-birds, piarrakeets, and all the smaller fry were plentiful. Even the stitch-bird was so common that it did not attract particular .attention ; but soon after that date settlement went on more rapidly, and the bush was cut down, and then, of course, they all disappeared."