WILD LIFE IN NEW ZEALAND

Otago Witness, Issue 3395, 9 April 1919, Page 55

WILD LIFE IN NEW ZEALAND

By the Eon. G. M. Thomson, F.L.S.

No. XXXIX.—WEKAS.

Of the woodhens or wekas five species are known, which differ in some details of colour, hardly enough in my estimation to constitute specific distinctions, but which agree in their general characteristics. Two of 'the species are common, but are each confined to one island-, pr nearly so.- Ocydromus earli is found in the North Island, and, strangely enough, in Stewart Island; while O. australis is found in- the South Island and also in Stewart Island. There is not much to choose between these two forms, except some slight colour differences. Both have a similar egg, which is pinkish-white in colour, with reddish and violet spots sparingly distributed over the surface. The black woodhen (O. brachypterus) is very much darker-coloured than the others, being nearly black in hue; it is confined to the Sounds district of the southwest of this island. Evans, in the Cambridge Natural History, says of this species—which he names 0. fuscus, —that it obtains the name of kelp-hen from the stretches of seaweed that it frequents, where it feeds on sea-molluscs. I think this idea is derived solely from the observations of Reischek, who visited the Sounds in 1884, and specially observed the habits of the birds. "He saw them mostly at dusk, roaming about stone river-beds, seeking food. The numerous dead trees that are swept down along the banks by floods afforded them hiding-places. He also saw bhem on the seashore picking mussels and crabs, and on the mountains, as high as 2000 ft above sea-level, but there they were scarce. The breeding season of this species is in January, when the birds lay from two to three eggs. Mr Reischek saw in April two females, with three young birds eaoh, fully feathered. The young were duller in plumage and smaller in size than the parents. Male and female do not differ in plumage, but there is a slight difference m size, the latter being the smaller. These birds vary much in plumage, but the jet black ones are rare." O. finsohi is a variety of the black woodhen, which has spots of buff on the otrter margin of each feather, and is confined to the district round Lake Te Anau on the west. 0. hectori seems to me to be just a paler-coloured variety of the South Island species; it is found in the subalpine regions of this island. Guthrie Smith, who has observed the North Island species closely at Tutira, says that some of the birds there are semidomesticated, staying about the homestead and garden, but drawing off about the end of July to their wilds. " Wekas breed very early or very late —it is hard to say which, —when the birds are sitting in midJune." Another nest was found on August 22, and two on October 7, each with three eggs. Later on he says : "The whereabouts of the weka's nest is largely determined by the food supply of the vicinity, and in; spring-time, if a beast has beeen bogged or a fat sheep g_ot trapped in an 'under-runner,' it is quite worth while searching for a nest in the neighbourhood. Even after the flesh is no longer fit to eat a great supply of maggots? beetles, and grubs, attracted by the carrion, provide for wekas an ample supply. Weka chicks are very attractive little creatures, and in early life quite black. Like young pukeko, they reach maturity very slowly, and probably it is only the earlier nesting birds that rear a second brood." Hutton's account of the habits of woodhens is very full, and is worth transcribing. Speaking of their trick of picking up all sorts of articles which minister to their remarkable sense of curiosity, he. says: " They steal not only from other birds, but also from human beings, and commit the crime, apparently merely for the sake of stealing, as the articles they sometimes appropriate can be of no earthly use to them. Anything, from ducks' eggs to spoons, pipes, and pannikins is good enough to be carried off. On one occasion a weka stole a silver watch from a hut in Alford Forest, and the article was accidentally recovered only a short distance from the hut. Some years ago a weka entered a bushman's hut in Peel Forest while he was away. After springing on the table it tasted the meat, the butter, and the bread, and tumbled the remainder on to the floor, -with the idea, no doubt, of carrying It off. Failing in this, it took with it, so the bushman said, * one of a new pair of Sunday boots.'" They are quick-tempered birds. "When two of these fiery customers commence a quarrel there is generally nothing for it but to fight to the finish. They sometimes go out into the open, so as to hava room for sparring. When the battle is lost and won there is woe to the vanquished, as the victor is relentless in the persecution of his fallen foe. They possess wing spurs, -which seem to have been acquired for defensive purposes alone. When the birds are fighting and facing each other, the wings are elevated or arched over the back, the neck is drawn in under cover of the wings, and the spurs are pointed forwards. During a combat they injure" most the back of the head. If examined afterwards the -wounds are found to have been inflicted on only the head and neck. Along with the bruises produced by the hard bill there are punctures caused by the wing-spurs. The punctures are always more numerous at the base of the bill and about the eyes, and rarely extend down the neck. The effects of these bouts are noticeable for several days, the little spitfires going about with hard and swollen heads and stiff necks, carried well forward. When plenty of cold water is available, however, they bathe their heads, and, rapidly making a recovery, are again eager for the fray. The females, it is stated, do not use thenspurs very much, one of the parties to the quarrel generally running away, hotly pursued by its assailant. The chase is often kept up till both are exhausted.

The males, being more pugnacious, do not run so readily. Though wekas.are flightless, they are remarkably quick on their legs. If pursued, they 'turn and double rapidly, taking advantage of every shelter until a proper refuge is found." I have frequently tried to catch wekas, both with the assistance of friends and sometimes with that of dogs, but in thickly-overgrown country, such as is common at the edge of the bush, the birds nearly always beat their would-be captors. I remember well one memorable hunt, when three of us were camped on the shores of Lake Hauroto, in Southland. A weka promptly discovered our camp, and gavo us his undivided attention for the three days we were detained there! We had the tent carefully pegged down to the ground and made very secure. One morning we woke to find our weka inside the tent. One of the party promptly closed the flap, and then all three proceeded to catch the weka. We were not cumbered with much clothing, and were free to move about in the small space of 10ft by Bft, and we did move most actively and vigorously. We must have been some minutes pursuing that bird among tne blankets and odds and ends of the tent, and yet he beat us, and disappeared in the most marvellous manner, but not by the door. Hearing a tapping noise, we looked out when he could not be found, and there was our gentleman calmly cleaning out a tin which had been emptied of sardines the previous evening.

As Hutton says, " they are not easily flustered as a rule. After being chased they will emerge from a place of concealment with a look of utter unconoernedness. Captain Cook was struck with their boldness when he saw some at Dusky Sound on his second voyage." They do not hesitate to attack other birds and cats and rats. A weka has been known to kill a chicken at one blow. A story is related of a prospector at Lake Brunner who kept a weka and a rat as pets. They went together every evening at tea-time to get their share of food, and sometimes they quarrelled over it. At last the weka gave the rat a decisive peck on the head, and he tumbled over dead. I have records of their killing young rabbits, and even attacking and killing weasels, while their fondness for mice makes them most efficient destroyers of these pests of the farmer. I have elsewhere related the story of their destix>ying the eggs in a swan's ne6t, told by Dr M'Nab. Lady Barker, in her book on "Station Life in New Zealand/' thus comments on their boldness and inquisitiveness: "I lay back on a. bed of fern, watching the numbers of little birds around us. They boldly picked up our crumbs, without a thought of possible danger. Presently I felt a tug at the shawl on which I was lying. I was too lazy and dreamy to turn my head, so the next thing was a sharp dig on my arm, which hurt me dreadfully. I looked round, and there was a weka, bent on investigating the intruder into its domain. The bird looked so cool and unconcerned that I had not the heart to follow my first impulse and throw my stick at itj but my forbearance was presently rewarded with a stab on the ankle, which fairly made me jump up with a scream, when my persecutor glided gracefully away among the bushes, leaving me, like Lord Ullin, lamenting."

" These birds are omnivorous and inclined to gluttony. They have a peculiar cry, and sometimes go about at night singing a kind of duet. One call, -which is more incessant than the ordinary one, and ia repeated at shorter intervals, indicates rain, and is an excellent barometer. The ordinary call is generally led off by the 'female, and is answered in all directions by both sexes. This, however, it is stated, is peculiar to paired birds before or after mating, as the male or female is often heard solitary, answering others in the distance, while its mate is on the nest."

My esteemed correspondent, Mr W. W. Smith, of New Plymouth, has much good to say about the weka,. and he knows about as much as anyone else of the life history and habits of the bird. After referring to the great destruction which goes on among them by tussock fires, doge, guns, and especially stoats and weasels, he adds: '' To their credit it must be stated that they are of great service to the squatters and farmers in consuming the larvce of Odontria (the_ grass grub), which devastate lawns and English grass paddocks. When a brood is hatched near paddocks infested with these grubs the parent birds lead them there, and dig vigorously over the ground, rooting them out iwith their powerful bills to feed the young. If encouraged about homesteads, they are heard during the night tapping on the walls of dwellings and outhouse 3, pecking off the spiders and insects secreted there. When bags or sheepskins are found lying on the ground they drag them-away or turn them over to procure the worms, beetles, or woodlice hidden beneath. Occasionally, during their nocturnal rambles, they discover the carcase of a sheep, and commence pulling off the wool until they effect an opening in the flesh. . . . When enclosed in small yards they become tamer than domestic fowls, thrusting their heads through the meshes of the wire and feeding from the hand." To quote Hutton again: " The nest of the weka is placed in different situations. Mr Potts has found it .in a tuft of Celmisia, a grass tussock, a thicket of young plants, on the outskirts of a bush, and under the shelter of a rock, without any attempt at concealment The nest is large, and the inside is shaped like a basin. The principal material used is generally grass. There are from five to seven eggs. The young may be seen, like chickens, following the old bird, who collects them around her with the call of 'toom toom • repeated quickly, and much lower in tone than the booming note to which the weka sometimes gives utterance. As the young grow up the dark brown of their early days gives place to a more mottled plumage when they are about onethird grown. Although the legs become

iKghter In colour, the beak still retains its dark appearance." In many parts the wekas disappeared for a time, and this was properly attributed to the- causes already specified by Mr Smith. But of late years they Wv< certainly increased again, and in many districts of New Zealand their familiar cry is quite commonly heard.