NATURAL HISTORY NOTES.

Otago Witness, Issue 3330, 9 January 1918, Page 53

NATURAL HISTORY NOTES.

By Henry H. Traviovs. On my first trip to tho Chatham Islands in 1863-64 I did not know anything about collecting birds, so when I went to big Mangare Island—the largest of two small islands on tho western side of Pitt Island, and are only separated from each other by a narrow strip of water, I was quite .unaware that some of the rarest birds in the world were to bo found there, one forming the type of a new and remarkable genus._ MrCharles Traill, now deceased, who -visited the island in 1868 for .lie purpose of cob lecting shells, discovered Sphenceacus rufesceus, the Chatham Island fern bird. On my second visit to* the Chatham Islands in 1870-71 I was again invited to stay with the late Mr F. Hunt, of Pitt Island, and to whom, and his wife and family, I am greatly indebted for their very great kindness and assistance. Mr Hunt informed me that on Mangare there were birds not found on Pitt Island or the Main Island. I was landed on Mangare on the morning of the Friday before Christmas Day, which was on a Sunday, with the intention of being called for on the morning of that day. In consequence, however, of the heaviest nor'-wester that was ever blown, which started on Saturday afternoon, I was not taken off for 11 days after, and then from the other side of the island, where" I had to go down a cliff, clamber on to a rock, and as the boat rose on the swell scramble into it. I had to leave my retriever dog, who would not follow, and all my things behind, -which, as a matter of fact, in consequence of the unsuitable weather, were not obtained for three weeks after. Had I not been detained on the island T would not have obtained Cabolus modestus (Hutton), as it was only on the last evening there that I saw the bird for the first time, as it came out only at night. I got a female and a well-grown chick. The bird was very shy, and lived in rocky places in the bush,'and on the least sound ran into holes. I also discovered the black robin (Miro travel si-buller n. sp.) and got the fern-bird before mentioned (Gallinago pusilla), Chatham Island snipe, and Phinornis novoa zealandioe, the Chatham Island dottrell. All these birds are now extinct.

I missed the opportunity of being the discoverer of the Chatham Island pigeon while I was on Mangare, although they were very numerous and almost tamer than its New Zealand form. In my ignorance I thought it was the "same as the New Zealand one, and did not collect it. The late Sir Walter Buller, in his refer* ence to this bird, mentions that I failed to notice that it was a larger bird, and the plumage on the back different. He also neglected to get specimens when on the Main Island, though there were plenty —I guess he made the same mistake as I did. A few of this pigeon are still existing, but strictly protected by the owners of the bush in which they are. The mocker (Anthornis melanocepha) is extinct. It was a much larger bird than the New Zealand species. Rallus Dieffeubacjiii, named after Dr Diffeubach, who visited the Chathams at the request of the German Government in order to ascertain whether those islands would be suitable as a penal settlement, became extinct soon after his visit. He, however, was fortunate in obtaining the only specimen ever procured. Its destruction was due to the Maoris, who killed it for food, as it was good eating. Another bird now extinct, the Chatham Island v/arbler (Gerygone albofrcntata), has its representative in New Zealand (G. flaviventris). The two shags,. Phalacrocorax Onslowe and P. Featherstonei (Buller), were first obtained by me. Both are very handsome birds. Mangare Big and Little are separated by a strait about 100 yards wide. It was supposed that it was impossible to climb Little Mangare, but bird-hunters proved otherwise, and I was informed some of the rare birds were obtained on it.

Some years before I visited the Chtliams Mr F. Hunt had put goats and rabbits on to Mangare. A few years after my second visit a young man leased the Big Mangare for a sheep-run, but before putting on sheep put on a number of cats to destroy the rabbits, which, with the goats, had increased largely. Had he known what the result would be he would never have put cats there, as they cleared out every bird. He could have made more by farming the birds than by sheepfarming. During my enforced stay on Mangare I caught some blue cod fish ; just threw the line in, and in a few minutes caught a splendid fish. I cooked it in a simple but most excellent way—made a shallow hole in the ground, got some dry ake-ake wood, set fire to it, and, when burnt to embers, placed the fish on them and covered it over with ashes. When cooked, took it out, scales -and skin came off, and the flesh was splendid. One of the most remarkable discoveries was made on Chatham Island by the late Mr Hawkins, a resident of the island, and who secured a great number of rare birds from Mangare, and who found in the sandhills, not far from high-water mark, and buried at various depths, the skeletons of a considerable number of birds that were then not existent on the island. A magnificent i'monocrraph" has been published by the Hon. Walter Rothschild, who is the owner of the finest private national history museum in the world. On my two last trips I found parts of the skeleton of a swan and a rail. How all this number of genera and species got into the locality they are found in is a mystery. Water birds, waders, arid land birds, all mixed Tip, buried often as much as 10ft in the sand, over which the usual seaside vegetation has grown. So far as I am aware, no scientist has ever gone into this subject with the object of elucidating the mystery. It is not only on the sandhills on the coast that the skeletons are found, as

I found portion of skeletons in the sand on top of the Red Bluff, which is at least 100 ft above the sea. Tho principal locality is in the sandhills from the Waitangi township to the Red Bluff, a distance of about three miles.