THE NATURALIST.

Otago Witness, Issue 3169, 9 December 1914, Page 73

THE NATURALIST.

(By J. Drummond, F.L.S., F.Z.S.)

IN TOUCH WITH NATURE. NOTES ON NATURAL HISTORY IN NEW ZEALAND.

A consignment of a dozen specimens of the remarkable vegetable caterpillar —insect at one stage of its existence and plant at another stage—has been sent to me by Mr F. Heveldt, of the Forks, a small country settlement in South Westland. These specimens, probably, are the largest seen in New Zealand. South Westland, apparently, is specially adapted to the growth of this insect-plant, as Mr Heveldt states that ho has never seen it so plentiful. He found his specimens on a piece of scrub ground he was clearing for potatoes. They were present in their hundreds among the scrub, the stalks that grow above the surface dotting the ground like a miniature forest. It has been explained in tins column before that the vegetable caterpillar, in the caterpillar stage of its insect life, goes down into the ground with the intention of entering upon the chrysalis stage. While it is in tlie ground a fungus takes possession of it, fills every part with vegetable matter, and turns the insect into a plant, which, however, retains its original shape. When the fungus has completed' this work, it sends a stalk out of the ground, bearing on the top spore-oases, which give it the appearance of a bullrush. The stalks are about Sin long, and usually spring out of the head of the fungus-eaten caterpillars. Mr Heveldt found one of the caterpillars alive in the first stages of hardening into a plant. It was full of a thick, white fluid, and, .although there was life in it, it could not move. In the ground, many of the caterpillars had placed themselves against- the roots of trees. In some cases the roots were chafed, and in a few instances the sides ot the caterpillars also showed signs of chafing. The shining cuckoo and the long-tailed cuckoo have been in the Dominion for some months. Ihe first arrival is recorded by Mr S. 0. L. M'Call, of Amodeo Bay, on Coromandel Peninsula, who states that the shining cuckoo—the pipiwharauroa—appeared there on September 16, two days earlier than usual. Mr W W. Smith recorded the first of the_ season at New Plymouth on September 26. “I hoard the first pipiwharauroa_ on September 28,” Mr E. B. Clarke writes from Waimate North, “and after some trouble I caught sight of it. Strangely enough, I did not hear another one until October 4, and this convinces mo that these visitors do not make one general flight from Australia and the islands, but come a few at <t lime. On consulting my diary, I find that I did not hoar a p;piwharauroa last year until October 12. Previous to September 28 this year the wind for some days was blowing from west to north-west. I noted this, because I have an opinion that the birds wait for a wind that will help them across the sea.” Mr A. Cox bear'd a shining cuckoo at Tongaporuttt, Taranaki, on October 5, and Mrs S. Thomas writes from Kaurinui, Kaiaka, near Doubtless Bay, on November 13: —“ The shining cuckoo has arrived at last. I heard it hero on September 17 a year or two ago, and i nave been listening every day for a month, and to-day I heard it for the first time, and I thought tnat I would write and lot the readers of your column know. Last year Mr A. Bauckham, of Urenui, 20 miles north-west of New Plymouth, heard the first shining cuckoo on September 23, and the last time he saw a member of the species that season was February 21. This year he heard the first notes on September 29. It has been stated that the shining cuckoo does not always leave its young to be fed by a foster parent, and Mr Baucknain reports that last year he saw a cuckoo feeding its young. Ho watched the pair fly from tree to tree, and saw the older one feed the other three or four times before they disappeared. He had never scon this before, but iie states that he could not have been mistaken. Mr H. H. Travers, curator of the Newtown Museum. Wellington, who supplied some notes on the mysterious nesting-places of the petrels commonly known as Capo pigeons, has discovered that this bird was not seen by Sir Walter Buller during the voyage of flic Coptic from Lyttelton to England, via Cape Horn, begun on March 2, 1893, nor on the voyage in the Doric from London to Auckland, via the Cape of Good Hope, begun on January 27, 1894. Sir Walter Bailor was an exceptionally careful observer. Ho mentions in the “ Transactions of the Now Zealand Institute” the dates and localities where ho saw sea birds during those voyages, and the fact that ho does not mention tne Cape pigeon is accepted by Mr Travel as proof that this bird was not present; and he explains its absence by the theory that all the members of the species had abandoned their feeding grounds along the routes of vessels in order to undertake the work of incubation. Sir Walter Buller was in a position to observe it on the Homeward voyage from March 2 to April 4, when the lino was crossed, and on the outward voyage from February 7, when the line was crossed again, until March 12, when Auckland Harbour was reached. Mr Travers argues that this evidence shows that the breeding season certainly is from the first week in February until the first week in April, as, coming or going. Sir Walter was in the birds’ feeding area during those months, and did not see any specimens; but how much earlier and how much later than those dates Is not known. Mr Travers, after pointing out that the Cape pigeons’ nesting-places are far south of some of its feedinggrounds, raises the question whether, at one time in the world’s history, this bird lived on the Antarctic Continent before it was covered with jco. The gradual invasion ot the ice, he thinks, would compel the species to go north for its feeding-grounds; but it still resorts to the old nesting-places. In his notes on the Capo pigeon Mr Travers states that Sir Walter Buller has recorded a remarkable performance by an albino royal albatross. It first appeared on March 5. three days out from Lyttelton. It appeared again that day, and soon after 2 p.m. on March 8, remaining until the close of the day, and soon after 2 p.m. on March 9, when it left, having flown in a straight line more than 900 miles. Mrs S. Thomas records the experiences of a, tui which was found on the road with its wings injured. It was placed in a cage and fed on roast kumara, honey, and sugar, and

was supplied with water, but it did not recover from its injuries. It showed that it was an expert mimic, imitating many other species of birds, notably a kingfisher, the notes of which it repeated with remarkable faithfulness. It attracted another tui, which, when the house was quiet, came into the room and sat on the cage.