WILD LIFE IN NEW ZEALAND

Otago Witness, Issue 3397, 23 April 1919, Page 55

WILD LIFE IN NEW ZEALAND

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

41.—THE RAIL AND PLOVER FAMILIES.

Sir Watler Buller, in the supplement to the "Birds of New Zealand,' states that a specimen of the Australian coot (Fulica australisj was shot in July, 1889, at Lake Waihora (or, as it is erroneously called in our maps, Waihola), in Otago. He adds: "There is no record of this species having been brought alive from Australia, and, even if it had been, it ie difficult to see how it could have reached that remote district." That is a true Wellington touch. Of course, Sir Walter meant remote from where he happened to be writing at the time, for Lake Waihola does not appear to be very remote to Otago people. He is wrong, too, about its never having been brought here, for the species- was introduced into New Zealand by the Auckland Society in 1869; but only two birds were brought across, and there is no record as to what was done wtih them. The bird killed at Lake Waihola was evidently a visitor from Australia, and the species must be added to those which, are occasional visitants from the island continent, but which do not seem able to establish themselves in these islands of New Zealand. This bird is a true coot, with broad lobes of skin along the front toes, and it lives on inland waters and tidal lagoons, constructing usually a floating nest of decayed aquatic plants. Another Australian bird introduced here was the Australian land rail (Hypottenidia philipnensis), of which a pair were brought in by the Otago Society in 1867 j but nothing is known about their subsequent history. When dealing with quail and their allies I omitted to mention an interesting species, whose history, as far as naturalisation in this country is concerned, is one of the curious failures which we cannot account for. The Virginian quail (Ortyx virginianus), better known in America as the "Colin" or " Bob White," was introduced by hundreds, but without success. The Wellington Society in 1898 introduced about 400 birds, which were distributed as follows:—Eighty went to Otago, 40 to Canterbury, 20 to Stratford, -20 to New Plymouth, and the rest were liberated in the Wellington district. In 1899 another large lot was introduced and distributed—--20 to Southland, 46 to Otago, 90 to Canterbury, 70 to Blenheim, 100 to Wellington, 60 to Wanganui, 44 to Stratford, 32 to New Plymouth, 30 to Napier, 56 to Waikaremoana, 6 to Gisborne, and 200 to Auckland. A very liberal distribution, it must be/admitted, and if the bird was to succeed it got the chance of a variety of condition.-. In 1900 the Otago Society reported that " they were still to be seen in the neighbourhood where they were liberated, but no young birds have been seen." There is no further record of them. In 1902 the Wellington Society reports: " These have so far been a di&Spointmentj reliable information as to eir _ haying been seen during the past year is difficult to obtain." The Pahiatua Sub-committee report says: "They seem to have disappeared." The Marton Subcommittee reports them as " doing well, and that they have been seen with young broods." In the same year the Taranaki Society reports: "Virginian quail are steadily increasing, and will, in a year or two, afford good sport." Two years later we read from the same society's record: "Virginian quail seem to have disappeared." In 1909 the Auckland Society reports: "The Virginian quail have almost disappeared." It is a curious record, and one for acclimatisation societies to ponder over. I can suggest no explanation, unless it be that as at the time of their introduction the stoat-weasel nuisance was at the height of its aggressiveness the birds had no chance to establish themselves.

The great order of the Charadriiformes, or plover-like birds, includes such diverse forms as the plovers, snipes, gulls, terns, and pigeons, and is well represented in the New Zealand fauna. Hutton, using a somewhat different basis of classification, breaks this large group into several distinct orders; but as we are more concerned with the birds themselves than with their grouping, we may content ourselves with the different families.

The family Charadriida? (so named from its type genus Charadrius, or the plovers) is represented in New Zealand by no fewer than 13 genera, including 20 soecies. Many of them, though extremely abundant where they do occur, are only known to dwellers by the seashore or near river beds. Several of them, too, are noted for their extraordinary migratory powers. The first of these migrants to be noticed, the turnstone (Arenaria interpres), "breeds in the Northern Hemisphere, but not so far north as the godwit, and it is found in its breeding-dress in India and Ceylon. In early autumn it leaves its more northern breeding-grounds, and some pass through the Malay Archipelago and New Guinea to Australia ajid Tasmania. In New Zealand it arrives in November, and leaves in March or April, almost all the birds being in winter plumage, although they have never been known to breed here. Stragglers occasionally spread from Fiji through Eastern Polynesia, but there is no regular migration eastward of Fiji." This, from its extensive migrations, is possibly the most cosmopolitan of birds. In winter in the Northern Hemisphere it is chiefly grey and white, which is the normal colour of those we see in New Zealand. But in summer its plumage is clear black and white, the upper parts varied with chestnut and black. It breeds in Northern Europe, Asia, and America) its nest a

slightly-lined excavation under shelter of some maritime shrub or stone, containing four grey- ; green eggs, masked with olive brown. In autumn and spring in the north and in our summer here, this lively little species frequents our muddy shores or seaweed-covered rocks and sandbanks, often turning over the smaller stones in search of food (hence its popular name). The note is a twitter or low whistle.

With all migratoiy birds of this class there is perpetual summer, but to achieve it they never rest long in any one place. They never stay to feel winter's tooth in any country, but keep moving north or south to warmer climes.

The spotted plover (Charadrius dominicus) is another Siberian bird, which migrates regularly to Australia, has spread over Polynesia, and, according to Dr Graffe, has become a resident at Tongatabu. In the Northern Hemisphere it takes on its summer plumage in April. This is black, densely spotted with yellow above, the forehead and sides of the body white. It changes into the winter plumage, when the under parts are nearly white, in August or September. This is the plumage found in the few specimens of the species which have been met with in New Zealand.

The godwit (Limosa uropygialis), called in Hutton's book L. novse-zealandise, is another bird -with remarkable powers of migration. Those which visit this country, leaving Eastern Siberia after the breeding season—June and July,—journey southward through Japan and China to the Malay Archipelago, Australia, Oceania, and New Zealand, reaching these islands in October, November, and December. They go as far south as Stewart Island, and occasionally east to the Chatham group. They are very common in sandy bays and estuaries in the summer months, but to the popular mind they are included among the sandpipers. In the northern summer they are reddish-brown and black above, the head and under parts chestnut, and the rump and tail white, barred with brown; hence the common name in Britain of the bar-tailed godwit. But in the New Zealand or winter plumage the upper surface is chiefly grey and the lower white. "They reach this Dominion in small parties, which evade observation, but they leave the North Cape in large flocks, which have been seen to depart by several observers." According to Drummond, they come to Te Beinga, near the North Cape, in flocks of from 50 to 1000. A constant stream pours in from almost all parts of New Zealand, and by April the birds have gathered together in countless numbers on the sands of Spirits Bay, supposed to be so called because the Maoris thought it to be the departing place of the spirits of the dead when leaving this world. The following description of the departure of the godwits by Mr Buckland is taken from "Nature in New Zealand," a book which ought to be found in every home: " I made the latter part of the journey in tempestuous weather, a heavy rain being drifted into my face by a strong northerly wind. As I stumbled across the belt of sandhills which fringed the shore a strange sound, that half oppressed and half soothed the ear, became fitfully audible—a sound which, when a little later a gust of wind caught it and brought it to me in greater volume, drowned for a, moment the moaning of the sea. I knew it to be a chorus of querulous cries proceeding from innumerable little throats, and, racing up the last ridge of sand which lay between me and the bay, I stood looking at the sight I had come far to see. What with the lowering clouds, the wild and stormy ocean, the low, mournful sound which the wind drew from the thin, wiry grass of the sandhills, with the swarm of birds which looked like grey billows in convulsion, it was altogether a peculiar and an interesting sight: and, natural though it was, -it seemed unnatural. During the afternoon flocks of godwit kept pouring into the bay, each new lot adding to the mad unrest which filled all the atmosphere. As the day wore on the wind veered round to the west, the clouds fell asunder, the rain ceased, and a watery sun pressed «oftly out and tinged the sky and sea and land with a faint silvery lustre. I was recalled to practical matters by a sudden and viollent ferment among the godwits. Frequently those rose with'a mighty rustle of beating pinions. After circling about in the air in an agitated, and undecided manner, they settled again. At length, just as the sun was dipping into the sea, an old cock uttered a strident call, clarionclear, and shot straight into the air, followed by a feathered multitude. Higher and higher rose the host, until it was but a stain in the sky. At this stupendous altitude, in a moment of time, as it seemed, the leader shaped his course due north, and the stain melted into the night. It was very impressive. There was something of the solemnity of a carting about it. In this manner, and for 10 days flocks of godwits (called by the Native kuakas) continually arrive arid dopart from Spirits Bay. At the expiration of that time the fleeting scene is closed, nothing remaining but a few scattered feathers to show that it once existed."

The fourth migrant of this family is the sandpiper (Heteropygia acuminata), but I cannot place this species bv Hutton's name. Most of the birds -which are popularly called sandpiper." are godwits. I give Hutton's statement about this bird as ifc appears in his " Animals of New Zealand": " It breeds in Siberia and Alaska, and from the former country passes through Japan and China to the Malay Archipelago, where it spreads into Australia, New Caledonia, and New Zealand. In Australia it is distinctly migratory, while in Tonga it Is only a straggler, as it does not visit the islands every year. In New Zealand it is doubt ful under which heading it should be placed, for our information about its habits is too scanty, and we do not know at present whether It is or Is not an annual visitor to us. It is a fearless little bird, frequenting marshy places, and has a snipe-like flight." I think the bird re-

ferred to is the common sandpiper of Europe (Tringa hypolcucos). which is found in nearly every country in the world ; but Hutton's name is confusing.