NATURAL HISTORY OF NEW ZEALAND.

Colonist, Volume LV, Issue 13843, 15 October 1913, Page 4 (Supplement)

NATURAL HISTORY OF NEW ZEALAND.

LECTURE BY MB HENRY TRAVERB

(From "Tli© Colonist,"' Oct. 1.) . Mr Henry Travers, ***ofl Wellington, lectured to a vory largo meeting hold en tuo Institute building last evening under tiie auspices of the scientific branch, of the Nelson Philosophical Society. Mr Travers spoke with a thorougli knowledge of his subject, accompanying his subject matter with interesting anecdotes concerning his own researches of natural history, and those of others.

Mr T. A. H. Field, president of the scientific branch, briefly introduced the speaker, saying that he was highly qualified to deal with the subject. He was no stranger to Nelson, having been here in 1850, when he was at Nelson College. (Applause.)

Mr Travers was heartily applauded on rising to speak. He said he was present at the laying of the foundation stone of the old college, of which ho was one of the first pupils. Turning to his subject, the lecturer said he would introduce his hearers to a moa hone. This piece of bone represented a portion of bone which was taken to lEugland in about 1830, and shown to the .Royal Society.. This was examined,, and the bird to which it had belonged iiad been described absolutely aecurato---ly by Professor ©won, who built up the Vnoa bird from this portion. The TakaJza ranges, and tho caves at Collingwood and Takaka had given up many skeletons of moas. it was peculiar how the bones had been got in some of the Oaves in the high hills. One cave in which remains were found, the speaker had had to crawl into on his hands and knees, and it must be remembered that the boa was a very largo bird. The first bird mentioned in Hutton and Drummond's "Birds of New Zealand" was the crow. One species was found in the North and another in the South Isfond. Tlie crow was a delighthil bird, mid was once extremely plentiful on the Takaka ranges, and throughout tho j South Island. The crow was often call- ] od the bell bird on account of its clear j note, but now thero was probably not one bird left in New Zealand. This was duo to the loss of bush, and the introduction of pests, such as the stoat. The question now came: where was there a sanctuary in New Zealand to ho found for the preservation of the ! native birds The huia, now as extinct as the moa, was a remarkable bird. The bill of tho female was much longer than the male. This was found to be due to the male bird using his strong bill to | the hard wood, and the female j then using her long one to got the -rood. This difference in bills was largely the reason for the suggestion that there wire two species of liuia. The native thrush and saddleJback were snost plentiful in IS9O, and were very tame. The thrush was a beautiful songster, but in places such as j Stephen's Island cats had boon very; active in destroying the birds. D'Urville Island was the last place on which saddle-backs were found, and since the stoat had got there they were fast disappearing. The huia was a. most graceful bird, and was exceedingly tame. Two had been kept in England, and two.by some New Zealand Maoris, but now those wore all dead. The tiwamp lark lived in the swamps, and were scon on D'Urville Island and ►Stephen's Island. A largo one was to be found in the Chatham Islands. This bird was very shy, and ono had to be very quiet to observe it. The canaries of the North Island were slightly different from those of the South. This bird used to go together with tho aaddle-back, but for what reason was not known. The tui was well known, as was also the mocker—a sort of bell bird. The latter bird was aow on the increase, he was pleased to say. The white eye was a visitor who cleared out the gooseberries and such fruit. The stitch bird was an exceedingly beautiful ono, and. had been • plentiful in the Wellington province, though now only existing on Little Bar-. k-ier Island. Ho hoped the stoat would not reacli that island. Many people thought that the stoat could not swim, but this was wrong; he could, swim just as well as any animal, in fact the man was about the only animal +who" could not swim if pushed to it. The! king-fisher was a familiar foe Jbo--fru.it-: growero, and had proved very destruc- -j iive. The speaker said "that he had ! once eonio down the Maitai track from j the Dun Mountain, and had been surprised to see a king-fisher's nest, not in a bank near a stream, but in a hole in a tree far from a stream. The shining cuckoo was not coming to the country in as great numbers as formerly. This wfts perhaps because tho grey warbler, in whose nest the cuckoo hatched its yotmg, was getting .scarcer. 'Hie long-tailed cuckoo was a shrigker. feut was not to ho compared withvTfne«hiniiig species in the consumption -of insects. The kaka was onee ■'~ -very plentiful up tho Maitai where flax was a breeding ground for the insects on which the kaka livod. This bird travelled £iv night, and v/histled then more .frequently thai i;i the day, perhaps tho objects of guiding its companions. The kaka was now being killed out -by human beings because its flosh made very good eating,'and also 4by the destruction of flax and small birch trees. This bird was a most amusing ono, be-.-au.se when in captivity it could be seen to danro at the sight of bright uniforms or men marching. This species •,-ould also talk as well as any parrot. The parraket next claimed Mr Travers attention, and he told how a Nelson resident's cherries used to be consumed by groat flights of these birds, but now very few could be heard or seen. They riiade very nice pets, and if liberated would return to their home soon afterward?. The kakapo was a large bird with a body as large as a fowl's. Its colour was green, it could not fly, and .'t made its home in holes under trees. These creatures could still be found on the West Coast, and had always been Vnore plentiful in the South Island than ■ rhe North. The mountain hawk was fierce, and would follow other birds even into houses. Mice and other Insects wore destroyed by the harrier, v.hich had a price on its head for its alleged destructiveness: -Mr- Travers thought that the little owl recently introduced to kill small birds would soon he found to destroy all the fantails and such pretty native feathered creatures. The pigeon was a fruit eater, and the -destruction of the bush vras(exterminating it, except on the West toast. It was remarkable that, some birds^ were only found on the small coastal islands, ■quite within reach: of the mainland, where 'they never flew to. The reason of this the lecturer did not^ know. ■New Zealand afforded a great held tor investigation as to why certain birds disappeared for no reason at all. 1 erhaps it was because their habits were i,ot thoroughly known. The lecturer ftaid he was prepared to give..t4lK) tor a specimen of the notornis. A specimen was recently secured-, by a puide at Lake To Anau, and the speaker had telegraphed that he would mve £250 for the bird, but the Otago Museum bought it for £300. Only a few other specimens had been iound,. one bein<* killed and skinned by\a man, at Lake Wakatipu. A visitor saw it and bought it for £1, then sold it for £300. The taxidermist at tno Otago Museum had examined the. contents of jbhe stomach, and from .■what he had found there it w.o s seen that the bird 'probably makes its ' habitation. .at the..-. -height.nf 4000 ft, between t&S I.>vsi. ; anu_. -the* line of '.perpetual snow. This was:

ono of the most rare birds of New Zealand. The bittern dwelt in the raupo swamps, and at night made a. peculiar booming sound. The "feathers;we;re used 'by.anglers to catch trout -with. A peculiarity of the wry-bilJed plover was that he had his .bill turned 'to;tho;-right for 'sbme,;-.uTdd£rioWn reason,'although it was thought by some that an early ancestor had its bill injured, and the peculiarity was perpetuated. The godwits came from Siberia to New Zealand to feed, and went back 16,000 miles to lay their eggs. Many ef thes© birds could be seen at Pakawau, or- flying across the Nelson mudflats to the-Wai-meas. They assembled in countloss numbers at the North Cape, and travelled the enormous distance back, starting at a given signal. Why the birds should go back was inexplicable^ The lecturer said he had inquired at Paka|wau'if the birds were remaining in New Zealand, and he had been informed that some were remaining there. It remained to be seen if they would breed in New Zealand, and become thoroughly acclimatised. The kiwi was one of the most remarkable 'birds in existence. I Some said it was a degenerate moa, but the speaker thought it was never anything else but a kiwi. There were five species of kiwi. The specimen at Stewart Island was the largest of all, particularly as'regards tho beak. He had sent his son to Dusky Sound to ..secure kiwis,-and he. had brought back one specimen from Secretary Island similar to the Stewart Island variety. This <w.as accounted for by the fact that the Maoris had left some ■ Stewart Island .kiwis on Secretary Island. The North Island kiwis were divided into two kinds; one being darker than the other. The little grey kiwi was very common on the Maungatapu and the Dun Mountain. He denied that that kiwi hunted by scent alone: it was aided also by sound, as he had proved by experiments. Turning to sea. birds, Mr Travers took first the albatross, which he said would follow ships for hundreds of miles. It had been said that this species built its nest near a cliff, so that the young could waddle to the edge of the cliff and thus get a start in flight. He did not think this was so, ' because he had observed in the AntiIpodes Island the albatross rising from jtho ground, provided it had a little I run. When the young were old enough to fly they ran along to get the wind under their wings, then they flew. One of tho most wonderful sights ho had seen Avas the hatching grounds of the albatross. There were a good many penguins, and the one in New Zealand ! was for some timo thought to be the ijargest in tho world, 'but tho Antarctic Emperor penguin was now found to bo much larger. The rookeries at tho Macquarie Islands contained so many birds that hundreds of thousands slaughtered each year for oil made no apparent diminution in the total. Mr Travers resumed his seat amidst applause. ' , Dr Boor handed Mr Travers a tuatara, and tho latter said that at Stephen's Island many of those were still found. A German expedition had on one occasion captured 600 of them. Mr Travers then dealt briefly with the characteristics of the reptile, dwelling on the fact of its third eye, its eggs, and its habitation in the same hole with tho petrel. ; Interesting remarks were also made by Dr Boor and Mr Travers in connection with whale killing and the flight of the albatross. A very hearty vote of thanks was passed to Mr Travers for his lecture, and the meeting terminated.