UNUSUAL GOLF HAZARD

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume LV, Issue 17607, 24 October 1931, Page 16

UNUSUAL GOLF HAZARD

CROW THAT STEALS BALLS : \ MAGPIE AS PLAYERS’ FRIEND

A ball-stealing crow and a magpie were objects of great interest on the Canberra golf course recently. The birds played a small part in a match for the Waterloo Cup, a trophy given ! by Mr. W. Adams, of Goulburii, for 1 competition between the Goulburii and Canberra golf clubs. ! Early in' the match a visiting player, ! who had -made a good drive from the first tec, was amazed to pee a crow swoop down and seize the ball from | the fairway. As the bird rose from : the ground a magpie left a nearby tree and gave chase, uttering a challenging shriek.\ 'The crow swerved in its •flight, and, as the magpie attacked it, dropped the ball and concentrated its I efforts on chiding its smaller pursuer. | The birds disappeared, but the ball could not be found. Boon afterwards the crow reappearI oil. but each timc\it .swooped down to- , wards a ball the nulgpie appeared and I put it to flight. The magpie apparently was standing guard in a tree commanding a clear view, of this part of the course. Several times, howover, the crow removed a ball from I the fairway. Later in the afternoon the crow transferred its attention to another part of the course, and succeeded in stealing two balls before the magpie arrived on the scene, and stopped ids depredations. Mcm'bcns of the Canberra Golf Club state that the crow and • magpie nro regular visitors to the course. The ,; crow has been dubbed “the winged hazard,” and' the magpie “the golfers’ friend.”