THE NATURALIST.

Otago Witness, Issue 3016, 3 January 1912, Page 76

THE NATURALIST.

IN TOUCH WITH NATURE. NOTES ON NATURAL HISTORY IN NEW ZEALAND. (By James Drummond. F.L.S., F.Z.SA About a mile south of Hokianga Heads there is a huge cavern called the Blowhole. It is accessible to the eea, and at high water, when the sea is rough, the waters rush foaming in on both sides and afford a grand sight and create tremendous reverberations. Mr A. C. Yarborough, of Kohukohu, in a note dealing with this romantic place, states that on one occasion, when the water was low and the sea calm, an adventurous man descended into a passage and swam over to a shingle-bed in the middle of the passage-way. There he saw a branch cave, and, swimming into it,, he found that he had access to a fairly large cavern. There were ledges of rock on one side of it, and on one of the ledges there was a deposit of guano about three feet deep. Sitting on a nest and three eggs there was a blue heron, which flew away when it found that its retreat had been discovered. It is supposed that the deafening noise was music to the heron, and, besides, guaranteed her safety from he attacks of robbers of her nest. The blue heron is now somewhat rare on the Hokianga coast, where it was once fairly plentiful. It was in the neighbourhood of this cave some years ago that a dog had remarkable adventures. I think that they have been described in the newspapers before, but Mr Yarborough relates them again and they are sufficiently strange to bear retelling. The dog, a female, was washed overboard from the schooner Queen when crossing the bar. She swam through a stormy sea for about a mile and a-half, and eventually was washed up on a ledge, where the waters left her. There & he remained, it is stated, for nearly three weeks, and during that time she gave birth to several young. On her plight being made known, a man was lowered over the cliff and rescued her and her family. In a recent note in this column it was stated that Sir Walter Duller had been somewhat hasty in including a moundbuilder, Megapodius pritchardi, in the list of New Zealand birds, and figuring it in his ‘'Supplement” to the “ History of New Zealand Birds.” He was guided mainly by the statement of Mr Johnston, who once resided on the Kermadec Island, and who told Mr T. F. Cheeseman, curator of the Auckland Museum, that previous to the eruption of 1876 in Sunday Island, one of the Kermadec Group, there was in the great crater a bird which made mounds of sand and decayed leaves two or three feet migh, and laid its eggs in the mounds. Writing on November 20 last, Mr Cheeseman says that all the e\ idence in regard to the presence of a member of the Megapodidae family in the New Zealand area is given in a .paper by him published in volume 25 of the “Transactions of the New Zealand Institute.” Since he wrote the paper, which evidently suggested the idea to Sir Walter Duller, ho has been informed that the information was not supported. “ I have always thought,” he adds) “ that Sir Walter Duller was a little hasty in actually including the bird in our avifauna.” For many years there stood in the ornithological department of the Auckland Museum a surpassingly beautiful albino kiwi. It is some years since 1 saw it, but the impression of it L have carried away Is that it is an absolutely per feet albino, with pink eyes and legs, and snow-white plumage, whose natural softness is largely enhanced by the purity of its appearance. While it was in the museum it must have attracted the admiration of many thousands of visitors. Mr Cheeseman, in his letter, tells me that this unique specimen did not belong to the museum, but was the property of Colonel G. W. S. Patterson, who is well known in volunteering circles in Auckland. It came from the Taupo district. Colonel Patterson presented the kiwi to Lord Kitchener when he visited New Zealand some time ago, and it has therefore been lost to the country.

Taupo seems to have been exceptionally rich in albino kiwis. It is stated that in the kiwi-hunting season of 1885, the Maoris of the district caught on the Kai-manawa ranges no fewer than 300 kiwis, and included in the number were five albinos, which is a- very large proportion. One of these albinos was taken to Taupo alive. It was in Major Scannell’s charge for about five weeks, but it came into possession of Mr T. Morrin, of Auckland, who sent it to the Zoological Society of Sydney. It is described as a very handsome bird, being snow-white in all parts, even to the bill and legs. On account of the softness of its plumage, when it was at rest, with its bill tucked away, it looked exactly like a ball of white wool. Soon after its capture it became quite tame, and voraciously devoured earth worms, consuming a quart measure every day. It did not survive its removal to Australia very long, however, and it now graces the ornithological collection in the Australian Museum. Sir Walter Buller states that he has seen several partial albinos of the grey kiwi (Apteryx oweni), and lie mentions specially one in the possession of Mr W. Smyth, of Dunedin, obtained at Martin’s Bay. He says that it is an’ almost perfect albino, the whole plumage being of a creamy white, obscuredly stained with grey on the back. Strangely enough, kiwis also have a marked tendency towards melanism, or dark plumage. A large number of abnormally dark kiwis have been recorded in the North Island. Some of these have found their way into museums in other parts of the world. There is an exceptionally good specimen, obtained in the Pirongia Mountains, in Sir Robert Herbert’s New Zealand collection at Ickleton, England. Mr Hugh Boscawen, writing from Auckland on December 1, states that he has just returned from the Warawara Range, north of Auckland, a part of the country that has been undisturbed by either European or Maori. He is surprised at the absence of native bird life there, and at the silence of the forests. Pheasants and blackbirds are present in large numbers on the river flats, but he saw very few native birds. In the forests he did not see one tui. There are no stoats- and weasels if) the district, and he is puzzled to account for the absence of the birds. Dealing with other subjects, he says : —“ On the flats about Hokianga a wasp has established itself, and Mr J. Webster’s orchard at Oponoui is full of these insects. They have a very nasty sting, and manage to get in three or four stings before they are killed. In colour they are brown, with a tinge of red. They live on fruit.” Mr Boscawen thinks that they have come from South America 'in timber ships.