PROTECTION OF BIRD LIFE.

Otago Witness, Issue 3613, 12 June 1923, Page 71

PROTECTION OF BIRD LIFE.

D.L.F. COMPETITION. The following letter is commended to the careful attention of L.F., especially in country districts: Dear Dot, —Let us make a humble start on our bird crusade. We want to interest our Little Folk in our native birds—teach them what they are like, what interesting habits they have, and, above all, to love and protect them. -We want our children to know that many of' these birds, only a few years ago quite common, are now becoming very scarce, and we are anxious that each and every child should learn to use his or her eyes, tell us about these birds and where they are Some of us will select, say, three best letters from Juno, 1923, to June, 1924, and award a prize accordingly. Each competitor should mark his letter “Competition better, No. I,” etc. Of course common sens© would tell you to select your descriptions at fairly wide intervals. of the year, so as to include winter feeding, changes in plumage, mating of birds, nest-building, young birds, natural enemies, tricks or schemes of mothers to protect their young, etc., summer feeding. PRIZES. "We have much pleasure in notifying L.F. that we are carrying out the suggestions proposed by Dr Fulton, and are offering the following prizes: First prize, £2 2s and the book prize donated by Mr Oscar Coliings, entitled “Animals of New Zealand,” by Hutton and Drummond. Second prize, £1 Is and a book prize “Wild Life in Australia,” by L© Souef. Third prize, 10s 6d. COMPETITION LETTER No. 1. . Dear Dot, —The chaffinch (Fringiila Calebs) is a ga.y little bird, always in a hurry, flitting from bush to bush, uttering its simple note of "Twink” or “Spink, spink.” To this cry it odds the note “Tweet,” often repeated in an anxious tone, which always shows that its nest is near, and by which it often, betrays itself. Its plumage is very pretty, the head being black, neck greyish blue, breast light red fading towards the abdomen into white; wings black with two white bands, and the tail black, the two middle feathers grey, the tvo over gu each side being black with a broad white band. In early winter th e chaffinches gather together and feed on various seeds in the fields. In the vegetable g-arden they are a nuisance, scratching up the seeds of cress, radishes, and parsnip, of which they are very fond. The nest of the chaffinch is a very neat little nest, mostly composed of dry grass, moos, and wool, and lined with hair and feathers. It is generally placed in the fork of a tree. The eggs are usually five in number, and of a greenish purple, streaked and spotted with light red and brown. Love to all the D.L.F., not forgetting yourself ours truly, THE BARE-FOOT TRAIL. COMPETITION LETTER No. 1. Dear Dot, —I think I would begin my first letter by telling you about my little companion, the black fantail. Every day during winter we see him, and he is very cheeky, but we seldom see the mate, as she is very timid and shy. He is jet black, and lie has an odd white feather in his tail, which, when spread out, is bigger than he himself is. His head is very small and smooth, and when the sun is shinin'' a beautiful gloss can be seen. He is * only seen here in winter, as h e looks for crumbs and picks the blight off the fruit trees When he is picking at the blight he swings round the branch at about 50 revolutions “a minute, but I have never timed him. He is harmless, and is very good, as he saves us a lot of trouble, spraying all the blight off the trees. When we go outside he is sitting on his favourite fruit tre© or on the flowering currant bush. He gives a cheep and when we turn, round he is busy getting the blight off, as if he was our gardener and does not want to be seen not working We then give a short sharp whistle, and he answers ns back. We go on. for a while, but he soon gets tired, so he sets off at a great pace at the blight again At present he is singing “Pretty birdie” in his own language, and he sings very sweetly too. The. mate is jet black, and" she has no white in her tail. iShe is a lovely colour on a bright day. Her feathers appear to be green and blue. She seldom cranes near the house. Her favourite place is on the willows, so I cannot get a very good view of her. She is very quick in her movements, much quicker than he is. Her tail does not spread out so much as his. They are not like other fantails. The black fantails have a shorter body and a longer tail. There is a saying, “A black fantail brings bad luck,” but I think that is altogether wrong, because their pretty song makes one more glad than sad.

I love thee. O blithe fantail, I love thy sweet song-. Little fantail, whither ccmest thou That thy gong i 3 sweet as day is long? Love to -all the D.L.F., not forgetting Captain Jackson Barry’s Daughter and yourself, Dot.—Yours truly, DAD’S DAISY (Chertsey). COMPETITION LETTER No. 1. Dear Dot, —I do not seo many birds, but I will tell you about a ground lark I saw to-day while we were digging potatoes. He was very prott}’, although he had no gay colours. lie was a kind of dark grey in colour with lighter patches. He was at the potatoes with us a good while before dinner, and it was comical to watch him. He would hop along and pick up something, then hop along little further. He did not seem frightened of us at all. Tie went all amongst the potatoes while they were lying on the ground. He seemed to find a lot of insects to eat. When the. dog ran past him he stood and bunched himself up in a heap just like a hen with chicks would do. He must have boon trying to make himself look bigger, but he did not fly away. When we w'ent back after dinner lie was net there, but he came back, or I suppose it was the same one, and picked up insects for a while, then lie gave a chirp or two, and off he went. Do you think this will be suitable for the competition? When the kowhai trees are in flower the tuis come about the house. If they come this year 1 will watch them and writ© and tell you. What other birds nro we t-o write about? I will be eight next month. Love to all the L.F. and yourself.—Yours trulv, JOYCE DO RITA (Glenorcliy). [The choice is left entirely with yourselves, dear. We want to foster a love of birds in tiie young people, and any that you see, and their various habits, you can write about.—DOT.]