THE NATURALIST.

Otago Witness, Issue 3117, 10 December 1913, Page 68

THE NATURALIST.

IN TOUCH WITH NATURE. NOTES ON NATURAL HISTORY IN NEW ZEALAND. (Br James Drummond, F.L.3., F.Z 8.) A struggle between a seagull—presumably the large black-backed species—and an eel is described by Mies Annie Saunders, of Papanui, near Christchurch She was cycling past the mud flats near the tramway lino at Sumner on October 24, and saw the bird struggling with an eel about 18in long. The gull, apparently, tried to peck the eel to pieces, but found that efforts in that direction were unsuccessful. It then took the eel in its bill, between the head and the tail, spread its wings, and rose about two feet from the ground. The eel's weight, however, was too much for the gull, which loosened its hold and dropped its prey to the ground. Miss Saunders, who had to hurry away, did not see the end of the struggle, and does not know whether bird or fish was victorious. Observers in other parts of the dominion, no doubt, have seen encounters between black-backed gulls and eels. In most cases it is the eel that claims sympathy, but a pretty woodcut in Sir Walter Boiler’s “History of the Birds of New Zealand” shows that sometimes the gull is victimised. The picture illustrates an incident related by John Ballance, the Liberal leader. It was in the days of Cobb’s coaches. Mr Ballance, then Native Minister, was travelling in a coach along the western coast of the Wellington province. When the Ngakaroro swamp was reached the passengers saw a gull, evidently in a plight, pecking at something on the beach. The coach was stopped, and investigations were made, and it was found that the gull was held tightly by a large eel, _ which weighed about 61b. The gull evidently foolishly had inserted its bill into the eel’s open mouth in order to tear out the tongue. The eel’s jaws closed on the bill, and its teeth becoming fixed in the bird’s •head made escape impossible. ’The gull could only flap its wings violently and drag the eel slowly along the sand. Mr Ballance liberated the gull. The eel as consigned to the boot in the coach.

The hedge-sparrow apparently likes the South Island of New Zealand better than the North Island. There are not many districts in the South Island where it ie absent, and there are not many in the North Island where it is present. I have a note that it wae introduced into Auckland in the same year, 1867, as it Avas introduced into Christchurch, a year before any members of the species were liberated in Dunedin. While it is seen in almost every country lane and road in Canterbury, and in many parts of Otago, Southland, and Westland, it seeme to be somewhat rare in the Auckland districts. Mr H. Guthrie-Smith tells me that it is not numbered amongst the birds of futira station, Hawke’s Bay, and Mr John dealing. writing from Thames, states that, although he has travelled as much as most men in the northern parts of New Zealand, for more than 30 years, he has never seen a hedge-sparrow in this country. "I have often thought what a useful bird it would be,’’ he saye; “ and if it could be introduced, why not bring the robinredbreast with it? If they have these beautiful insectivorous birds in the south, it would be easy to introduce them into the north. The first consignment of sparrows introducer! by the Auckland Acclimatisation Society over 40 years ago were supposed to be hedge-sparrows, but they proved to bo the common house-

sparrow. lam told by a gentleman who was a member of the council of that society that he pointed out the mistake, but was only laughed at. They said that there was only one species of sparrow, whether it was seen on a house or a tree.”

The suggestion that robin-redbreasts should be introduced into New Zealand is a good one, from both the practical and the sentimental point of view. The robin is a fairly close relation of the hedgesparrow, and doubtless would be quite as useful. Sentimentally, of course, it would appeal to all people of all ages, from the oldest bird-lovers to youngsters who are happy in a belief in the tragical story of Cock Robin and Jenny Wren. Three attempts have been made to acclimatise the famous robin-redbreast in New Zealand. The first was made in Auckland in 1872, when three individuals were liberated; the second in Christchurch in 1879, when several were liberated in Hagley Park; and the third in West Taieri, Otago, but the date of liberation there is not available to me just now. All attempts were unsuccessful. Early files of the Lyttelton Times record the fact that Canterbury colonists hoard the familiar shrill note of their old friend in Hagley Park in 1880, but evidently that was the last of robin-redbreast as far as Canterbury is concerned. A single nightingale that came out with the Canterbury robins died through an unnatural moult, and “deep regret was felt far and wide.’ This, I believe, is the only attempt to acclimatise the nightingale in New Zealand.

The use of common bird names, by tho way, often leads to a good deal of confusion. The name “robin,’ for instance, is applied in quite a casual way. It should not be taken to mean that there is a relationship between the robin-red-breast and the native robins. It was tha practice of British colonists to give the nickname of the redbreast to almost any small bird in the new lands that a weakness for crumbs, a sprightly air, and a liking for human society. There are very few English-speaking countries devoid of native robins, but these robins are distinct from the redbreast. The common robin of North America is a thrush. Most of the Australian robins have red breasts, but they are related more closely to the New Zealand tomtits than to the New Zealand robins. The Persian, Japanese, and Corean robins are closely related to the redbreast, but the Indian and Cape : n j have no more connection with it than the New Zealand robins have. The redbreast is not an exclusive British possession. It nests as far north as the Arctic Circle. It migrates to Southern Europe, Northern Africa, Palestine, and Turkestan, and occasionally has been reported from Persia. The New Zealand thrushes are true thrushes, the parakeets true parakeets, the crows true crows, the cuckoos true cuckoos, the owls true owls, tho ducks true ducks, the pigeon a true pigeon, the kingfisher a true kingfisher. But the New "Zealand bush canary—a better name for it is yellow-head—has no connection whatever with the popular songster of the cages. The New Zealand lark is not a lark, but a pipit. It is more closely connected with tho wagtails of the Old Country than with the skylark. The New Zealand wrens have no connection with Jenny Wren or any other British wrens. The kaka, the kca, and the kakapo are true parrots, although it was believed at one time that the kakapo was half parrot, half owl; and the huia and tho saddleback arc starlings, or, at least belong to the starling family. Mr W. H. Mountfield, of Tauranga, complains of two kakas. Although he lives some distance from Pie forest they have taken up their residence near his house, and, he hears “ their discordant notes from the break of day until dark, and, on moonlight nights, until 10 o’clock.' In regard to the grain-eating introduced birds, notably the sparrow and the yellowhammer, Mr Mountfield expresses an opinion that they eat caterpillars and other insects only when seeds are not available. When lie is feeding his

chickens the yellow-hammers follow him from pen to pen, and take as much as th© chickens do. He complains also of the attacks made by harriers and blackbacked gulls on sheep and lambs that fall to th© ground, and, finally, of the blackbirds and mynahs, which take the best fruit of the orchard, and the larks which pull up young seeds in the spring.