IN TOUCH WITH NATURE

Otago Witness, Issue 3556, 9 May 1922, Page 7

IN TOUCH WITH NATURE

NEW ZEALAND’S BLUEBELL.

By

J. Drummond, F.L.S., F.Z.S.

A native bluebell, sent by a ladv at Elstow, Te Aroha, Auckland, on April 6, is accompanied by interesting notes. "1 found three plants growing in a paddock of young grass last year,” the writer stales ‘'Although I carefully searched the locality this year I could find no trace of the species, until I accidentlly found the speci--1 men enclosed . The flowers are very beautiful, but they wither and fade quickly. : A small dry rise in the same paddock i was a garden of wild flowers this season, j There were several clumps ‘of the little blueoell, the starry scarlet flowers of the pimpernel, and a red, velvety flower that I always have known as the wild Sweet , William. Although I have lived here for j several years I never saw so many wild flowers before as I saw this season.” The bluebell’s official title, Wahlenbergia gra- | cilis, is not altogether in keeping with | its tender beauty. It usually is an annual, | seldom a perennial. The gently swaying I bells may be seen as earlv as November. | and until the end of February. This year j they seem to be late. New Zealand, by the i way, shares their possession with Australia | and Tasmania, even with South Africa and 1 parts of Asia. The letter continues: ' Last winter two pied stilts stayed for months in a small turnip paddock here. I do not know j whether they were - nesting or not. If anybody approached the'paddock they swooped around and looked very hostile, making a noise like a pup yelping rather than like a bird screeching. 1 believe that hawks have accounted for more pheasants than sportsmen have taken. A few years ago I saw ; a hawk circling where I knew a pheasant | had her chicks. Drawing near I heard the male pheasant making a noise. Looking | through a hedge, I saw the pheasant holding his ground with a large hawk. They were so intent on their quarrel that I was quite close before either of them saw me. The pheasant then flew into a tea-tree clump close to the scene. Hawks’ bills would be worth more than they are if j people realised the harm the hawks do.” | An albino sparrow frequented the neighbourhood for months; an albino starling was seen once in a flock of about 500 other birds; and partial albino blackbirds are seen always on the same hedge. Although the starling is an English bird and the mihah an Indian, they belong to the same family, and have somewhat the same habits. It might be thought that they would have a friendly feeling to each other, but the Rev. G. S. Cook, Palmerston North, reports that, so far from that being the case, there actually is enmity between them. He wrote on April 5 : ‘‘My house is a twostorey building, on an acre and a-half. My near-door neighbour has a correspondingly large area. As there are ample cover j and large trees, bird life is plentiful, in | spite of the fact that we live in the centre of the residential area cf the town. A colony of starlings nested on my roof. As my study is upstairs, I enjoyed the company. A week before Christmas, 1920. a solitary minah appeared. It was very noisy and very much in evidence, spending a good deal of its time on the topmost twigof a tall tree, calling at the pitch of its voice. The starlings deserted the place two hours after the n ,: ill’s arrival. The sparrows united and chased it a good deal at first. At the end cf a week it was joined by a mate. One day the pair went off. Two hours later the starlings were back The minahs appeared again and drove he starlings fiercely from the roof to the nearest trees, and from the trees to the I adjoining section. Six weeks later the minahs left for good. Within a few hours of their departure the starlings returned to their old haunts on the housetop. After a few months a large rat found its way into the roof. Tho starlings stopped nesting there, or their eggs were taken, but adult starlings sheltered in the roof. On three occasions I heard the rat seize one and carry it off after a short struggle, the bird’s shrieks becoming fainter until they died away. Those bird tragedies gave me a new vision of the possibility of rats hunting at night and carrying off birds from their perches in trees. The rat has met its fate, but the starlings have deserted the roof as a dwelling-place.” Sir Walter Puller gave 1871 as the year in which the last New Zealand quail was reported to have been seen. The place lie mentions is Raccoon iso Island, Okarito South Westland. Dr R Fulton, of Dunedin. reports that several of the quail were caught at Blueski.n, Otago, in the late “sixties.” Its extirpation—there seems to he no possible chance of the species surviving— must have come with surprising suddenness, as Dr Fulton states that at West Taieri it was innumerable in the “fifties.” It has a strong superficial resemblance to the Australian brown quail, which is present in large numbers in some districts of New Zealand, to which it has been introduced

by Acclimatisation Societies. Dr Fulton states that many collectors of bird skins nave been duped by unscrupulous taxidermists who have palmed off the almost valneless Australian quail for the highly valuable on , , ancl . s i? ecles - Quoting Sir Walter Duller s description, he helps those who wish to make the distinction by pointing out Eat tile Australian quail has transverse arrow-head bars of brownish black on its under surface, while on the under surface of the New Zealand quail the marks are horseshoe shaped, with pale centres; and while the legs of the Australian quail are vellow or straw-coloured, the legs of the New Zealand quail are brown. Extirpation was brought about by several enemies, amongst them grass fires in the tussock, cats, dogs, and guns. The history ot this handsome, little bird is a depressing one. lhe end is somewhat unaccountable m view of the fact that -wide tracts of country suitable for the species are untouched and unfrequented in both islands Another factor in the quail’s favour was' the large number of eggs laid by the female. As many as twelve have been found in one nest. Other native birds, poorer fliers than the quail, less shy, and laying fewer eggs, have increased, although besot by the same enemies. The early Canterbury settler who boasted that he shot 60 brace of those quail before breakfast on the place where Cathedral squire now stands surely never dreamed that he was taking part in the work of extirpation. Some settlers kept native quail in captivity as pets. They thrived well on soaked bread, grain, anil grubs. The male was not an attentive mate at meal time. When several quail were kept in one enclosure, bickerings took place, but actual hostilities did not result. The nest was a humble and lowly one; a few bents of grass were twisted into a depression in the ground. The quail flew feebly, but on the ground they were active. They often uttered a low purring sound, typical of an insect rather than of a bird. Their call notes, which were louder, were repeated several times in quick succession.