WILD LIFE IN NEW ZEALAND

Otago Witness, Issue 3398, 30 April 1919, Page 55

WILD LIFE IN NEW ZEALAND

By the Hon. G. M. Thomson, F.L.S. No. 42.—THE PLOVER FAMILY. (Continued.) The knot (Tringa canutus) is the fifth bird of this family which breeds in the far north, and crosses the equator twice in each season to visit New Zealand. Its popular name is supposed to be derived from Canute; but this is very doubtful; most English dictionaries do not refer to the bird at all. It apparently does not breed in Arctic Europe, and only occasionally in Northern Asia, but is found abundantly breeding within the Arctic Circle to the north of. America. In its migrations it goes both east and west as it works its way south to Brazil, South Africa, India, Australia, and New Zealand. The bird, as we see it in its southern summer season from November to May, is ashy-grey above, the upper tail coverts white, and the whole lower surface white. In the breeding season it has a reddish head and neck; the upper part oi- the body is black, cinnamon, and white; the under surface chestnut, and the white tail coverts are barred with black. Hutton says : "Generally the birds are in their winter plumage here; but there are two ~ specimens in the Canterbury Museum in summer plumage. One of these was shot on April ,2, and the other in November, 1899, the latter being in company with others in which the summer plumage is just beginning to show. They were shot at Lake Ellesmere."

Of the non-migratory birds of this family, two of the best-known are the oyster-catcher (Hfematopus longirostris) and the red bill (H. unicolor). Both species are common to Australia as well as to New Zealand, and in the former country are respectively distinguished as the white-breasted and the sooty oystercatcher. Our common oyster-catcher is a greenish-black colour above; the lower surface and tail are white; there is a white band on the wing; the bill, legs, and eye are crimson. It is a handsome and attractive bird, its white wings and breast showing very conspicuously as it nimbly trips over the sands. Low muddy flats under the influence of the tide, sandy bays on the sea-shore, estuaries, the mouths of rivers, and marshes are its natural places of resort. During the greater part-of the year it may be observed in small companies of from three to 10 or more in number, associating with other shore birds that seek their food on beaches and sand-banks, where each receding tide leaves numerous shell-fish and other marine animals. Potts says of this species:—'*Years ago, in 1858, before the shores and estuaries were frequented so much, these shore birds were exceedingly abundant. Thousands of them were to be seen together, and as late as 1871 they were abundant on the mud-flats in Lyttelton Harbour. The oyster-catcher is one of the wariest and most restless of our birds. It is always ready with its clamorous alarm-note to wake up each echo and disturb every bird within the sound of its shrill cry. But in the breeding season it exhibits an intensity of slyness that is almost supernatural. Usually it breeds in our river-beds, on the sandy spits, without any other shelter than -what may be afforded by some drift flax, grass, or stick, near which it makes or discovers a slight depression in which to deposit its eggs. There are usually three in number." They are about in long, of a pale yellow brown colour, spotted and blotched with brownish black. "The young are grey, with a dark longitudinal stripe on each side above the wing. They are very active, and are early lead by the old birds to the margins of the water holes or pools. On being alarmed, the old bird sidles off the nest quietly, takes advantage of any broken ground that helps to conceal its movements from observation, and • makes a long detour. A close scrutiny will very frequently enable the observer to detect the head of the bird carefully peering out behind some vantage ground watching all his proceedings." In the winter the oyster-catchers assemble in large flocks on the coast but when the breeding season comes on thev retire in pairs up "the river beds, sometimes far into the mountains. In my early rambles in Otago I very often came across these pretty birds in the high upland country. The top of Maungatua used at one time to Be a favourite breeding ground of this species, but owing to the frequent burnings to which the hill was subjected they appeared to have abandoned it. I also met with it in numbers on the open ground at the head of Paterson Inlet in Stewart Island, and in similar unfrequented localities. The red bill or sooty oyster-catcher (H. unicolor) is a stoutly-built and powerful bird of a dark greenish black colour, looking almost sooty in some lights; the eyes are red, and the bill and legs of a brick-red or even crimson colour. It is fully larger than the other more brightlycoloured species, being about 15in long. It is rarer than the oyster-catcher, and is found chiefly in the sounds and inlets of the west coast of the South Island. Its food is molluscs and crustaceans, left on the sea-shore among the tangled masses of brown sea-weed." It is regularly robbed of its food by the red-billed gull, which systematically attends this bird while feeding and makes it give up much of what it finds. 'Tt generally breeds near the sea, and only occasionally in river-beds, its nests being a few twigs and grass-culms. The eggs aro two or three in number, 2fin long by lfin broad, of a light greenish-brown colour, blotched or thickly spotted with large irregular markings of dark brown, some of which appear as if beneath the surface and of a purplish hue. The birds become exceedingly clamorous if the nest Is intruded upon, frequently uttering shrill calls while flying backwards and forwards near the breeding place. The young are very active, and

run about freely with the parent birds. It is many years since I saw several of these birds on the fiats at the head of Milford Sound.

The dotterel (Octhodromus obscurus) is a species confined to New Zealand, and belongs to a different genus from ti.e European bird of the same name. It jS, indeed, interesting and remarkable how many of the species of the northern hemisphere are represented by allied, but quite distinct, species in the southern. Oar species is somewhat similar in colour lo the northern one, being brown aboi'e, with the forehead, chin, and under tailcoverts white. Underneath it is reddish brown in the breeding season, but pure white in winter, with a band of brown on the breast. This is another bird that "has had to beat a retreat before civilisation. At one time it was found on the Canterbury Plains, but it has now gone up into the mountains of the back country It is described as an excellent game bird, and one of its principal characteristics is the artful manner in which it endeavours to protect its young from danger. No description, Mr Potts says, oan do justice to its contrivances for misleading an intruder. Swift runs, short flights hither and thither, with the click, clicking call resounding again and again, often effectually puzzle the disappointed collector, and lead him astray." In this respect also this species differs from, the European form, the parent birds of which are tamer than most plovers at the nest. "Some well-grassed land, in a situation that affords plenty of insect life, such as crane-flies and grasshoppers, is generally selected as a fitting place a nest. The structure is very slight, and may easily escape observation. A few grass bents are twisted into a rounded shape in a hollow in the ground, arid the whole is put together so loosely that it is difficult to pick it up and at the same time preserve its form. There are three eggs, and they fill the nest." These are if in long, and are of a brownish yellow colour, spotted and blotched with black. The young leave the nest almost immediately after hatching, and accompany the parents on their rambles in search of food..

The banded dotterel (O. bicinctus) is a species of wide distribution throughout all Australasia. It is a 'prettily-marked bird, which appears -to be resident in New Zealand all the year round, although in Australia it is credited with being more or less migratory in its habits. In the adult state a broad stripe of white crosses its forehead, above which the feathers are black, which colour gradually fades Into the uniform pale brown of the whole upper surface; the white throat is surrounded by a narrow line of black, which commences above the upper mandible and continues down the sides of the neck,- and forms a broad band across the breast. Across and down the centre of the abdomen is a- broad band of bright chestnut ; the rest of the under surface is pure white. In winter these two lower bands and the black bands on the neck are brown. It is a very distinctively-coloured bird, and is common in those localities where it occurs.

"Mr Potts says that it is one of the earlier breeders, whether of the tussockclad plain or .on riverland spits, in the latter place often selecting a dense patch of raoulia for a resting place. Sometimes the mottled eggs (which are greenish grey, speckled with black) may be discovered on the bare sand; just screened, perhaps, by an uprooted tussock or other waif that has been washed down stream and stranded on the stony flat. He re-, cords the fact that the birds do not appear to be much disturbed by settlement, as they have been known to breed on farms, sometimes in the immediate neighbourhood of the homesteads. The eggs may be found as early as the beginning of August, and the season lasts almost through December, according to locality. They are described as among the most restless and wary birds during the breeding season. On the approach of an intruder they fly round and round uttering their notes of warning, and then, alighting on some rising ground, they steadily keep v/atch. During the time they remain on the look-out, they have a peculiar, habit of jerking the head backwards and forwards uttering a monotonous 'twit-twit' at intervals."

These birds run over the ground with great swiftness; all in the flock take flight together, and mounting high in the air, which they pass through very quickly, suddenly wheel about, and after flying a mile or two return and pitch again within 100 yards of the spot from whence they had arisen.

The sand plover (iEgialitis, or Thinornis, novsa-zealandiee) is a bird I do not know, but it belongs to a very large genus of three-toed plovers, -which have a worldwide distribution. This species is only found in the islands of the New Zealand group. In colour it is greyish brown above, with the forehead, cheeks, throat, and a ring round the nape of the neck black, the lower surface is white. It was once "common in sandy bays from the Great Barrier Island southward to Otago, but is now very scarce. It never went inland. For a nest it is content to collect a few leaves of grass, bent and twisted into a circular form just about large enough to contain the eggs, which are protected by this flimsy structure, as it keeps them together." The eggs, three in number, are 1 l-3in in length, and are cream or buff coloured, with small dark spots and lines. The bird only breeds in the south, and passes the winter in the North Island. Mr Potts says of this species: "To the north-by-west of the main Chatham Island lies a small group of rocky islets known as The Sisters, or Rangitutahi. One of these wave-beaten islets, rising to about 150 ft above the sea, and having an area of only about five acres, affords a nesting place to the sand plover. This very exposed and unsheltered site is shared only by the huge albatross and the Nelly, which there rest awhile from almost ceaseless wanderings over the surrounding ocean. Exposed to gales that sweep over a vast unbroken expanse of sea, and

break against this little speck of rock, the only screen that may shelter the Band plover is the tussock of wiry grass or sawedged Carex, for no tree is found there to furnish a kindly shelter." A slightly different species of sand plover (A. rossi) is found only in the Auckland Islands, where it is very rare, if not extinct.

A very' interesting little plover is the wry neck (Anarhynchus frontalis), which is quite peculiar. I am sory to say that I do not know it in the flesh. It gets its name from the peculiar shape of its long, slender bill, which is turned to the right. Hutton says that the object of the bill being bent to right "has been much discussed, but no satisfactory reason has as yet been given for it. Perhaps the most feasible suggestion is that it is used as a lever for overturning stones to get at the insects underneath them j but it must be remembered that a very large part of the bird's life is spent on sand and mud flats. It is only in the breeding season that it feeds among, stones." It is probable that the twist enables it to pick up around stones with the greatest ease. This is a pretty little plover, ashy frey above and white beneath, with a lack band on the breast. "It breeds in the South Island, and goes to the North Island in the winter. It is supposed that, in the breeding season, the bird is less wary, perhaps, than any other species of the family. It displays remarkable instinct in selecting the ground for depositing its eggs. They are laid in a slight depression amongst the pebbles of a river-bed without any addition of vegetable material, and their grey tint narmonises with the general colour of the shingle. The breeding season extends through spring and early summer. The female usually lays three eggs. Many years ago Mr, Potts, it might be said, lived amongst them at breeding time, and, when sleighing driftwood, had plenty of opportunities of observing their quaint ways. He says that the pa-rent birds are seldom seen far apart. If disturbed, they trot off at a fast pace, partially opening their wings, which gives a broad, flattened appearance across the back. If distressed by top close an approach to the eggs, they utter a low ourring sound, carrying the head low, the bill pointing downwards, and just clearing the ground. The young endeavour to' escape observation by dropping down close to stones, and they may be readily oassed over, as their colour matches that of the pebbles round about them. 'When frightened, they utter a shrill piping cry, and, if closely pressed, take to the water, for they can swim well. These breeding places, however, it should be stated, are now almost deserted."