BIRDS OF THE FOREST

Taranaki Daily News, 18 October 1930, Page 1 (Supplement)

BIRDS OF THE FOREST

NATURE’S CREATURES

• (By

J.H.S.

—‘Copyright.)

Matuht—/

The matuhi, our. green wren, is known, ? to boys and girls the world over aS Jenny Wren 1 or bobtail wren. It has a shining, dark green body,- wing, and tail, , with white feathers under the beak and ', neck and a white line over the eye. The matuhi is the smallest and ■' liveliest .of our little twittering birds and .is in- . cessantly searching among, the moss and v dead leaves on . the ground, especially A?where other birds have disturbed the : surface. The nest, is cunningly devised to deceive’- 1 any- -.prowler , who happens? along. Its sides are interlaced like a • cane basket, with strong pliable Stems . to’ resist; the' 'ordinary bare- foot of ;:A Maoi-i hunter, and it is placed on the ground beneath the moss carpet round, the root of a tree. Its song is -sweet and tuneful, and at times loud, quite out of proportion;to its. diminutive size. The world could ,pay no greater compliment to\ one of its greatest English singers than to have named that famous songstress “Jenny Wren.” Pduwliai Tere.—

The name pouwhai terc, meaning swift pursuit, was a name conimonly , applied to all green parrots other than the kakariki. . The crimson head and bright green wing made him' a beauty beyond compare. The birds were very , numerous in-the south and much, sought by old Maoris, who made a pendant of the dried skin and hung it -through a. clumsily bored hole in the lobe of each ear. Their crooning; sounds, as if -in murmured talk with each other-at nest-,?; ing time, were always, ah indication of . their location in the bush. ; The nest • was to be found in a hole in the cliff or a hollow tree. The eggs were flattened on one side as if to prevent them from rolling. In the far south, there' were bright feathers of blue among the green on the birds’ wings. Rlro Riro.

Known to its as the grey warbler, the riro Tiro is a little fellow with a white front and a'black tail. He was likened by the busimien to- “a swell'in a swal« low tail coat.” “Industry and music, like a happy young wife,” was another pioriber’s description. The grey warbler's well-lined, pendant nest, anchored yby tiny guy ropes, was attractive to the two ’native, cuckoos, 'koekoea and pipi wharau roa. It was victimised by those strange creatures, described by the.school boy-as .“laying other birds* " . eggs in their own neste.” In the south! its name, so difficult .to, the newcomer, unless divided into five syllables,- wao “Ho-rl-re-ri-re.” The Chatham Island warbler is larger and slower in its move* merits. There is said to bo a reinari** able difference in their nest though both are like a well slung ham* mock with a canopy over the tiny erw trance. Imported flowering shrubs likd the tree lucerne are said to be preM serving the birds’ from -extinction. - ~ t ’ t , The tieke, or saddle back, is a shining black, with a saddle not unlike the coi* our of a chestnut horse. The peculiarity is still'further marked by the, redwait ties like a pair of pendant ears. Th«j tieke is about the size of a tui, but haa a rather awkward t walk and is not ai good flier. Its attitude is peculiar,and the boys said that it looked as if it waq always “on the jump when still!” . la pairs, they moved, through the bus'll; preceded by flocks of the’little mohuaj or yellow head canary, upon which they seemed to depend in their search few food. Curiously enough, it always seem* ed that the signal for advance was given to the flock of mohua which led th* hunt for food by the cry of the tieke, • Like t'he huia, they seem to have dis-i appeared from the mainland, perhaps because their • little . pilots have also gone. ’ . Ti-Wai-Waka.—

Beloved of allsbush children, the ti« wai-waka. or fantail.dias - now happily made his haunt in, our town gardens where “he feeds delusively on . flying; with a strong preference for the house fly. He flies in at the open door or window and round the pendant lamp, Where he catches his food “on the wing.” The black and white variety Is common to both islands; but the all black is almost exclusively seen in the south. Observers say there is no appar- ’ ent difference, between- -the cross arid the product of a pair of either species* Perhaps they are the most industrious and artistic home builders of all birds. The" nest, lined with down r and covered with leaves and grass' cemented with some mysterious natural product, and with a sriiall opening on the under aide of the tiny oval'ball, looks exactly like a bird .suspended by the beak- to £ . hanging vine. To see the pair at work building, this . nursery- is a picture of domestic happiness never to be forgotten. ■■ -.. Titi JPounamu.— The titi .pounamu or ‘bush wren is darker in colour than his little cousin the matuhi —a size smaller, and a shade greener, as his name implies. Green', the shade of growing .things, was not' exclusively the national colour of the Irishman’s choice. The Maori adored it, for in leaf, feather or jade axe, green typified his food, clothing, and weapon of defence.,As the bush wren was found only in the mountain slopes and dense ■ forest, very little was seen or known of his day’s doings. Unlike other members of the wren family, the titi pounamu found a nesting place in a hollow tree, where shelter from the mist and cold of the mountain range was so necessary. Another species, brown with a yellowish : 'breast, was once to be found on Stephens’ Island,-but is now extinct. \y Tara.—

‘ Known as the sea swallow hecabse of . the close resemblance of its. flight to that of the British swallow, the tara has a body arid under wing of pure white, suffused with a delicate roseate tint when flying in the sun. The birds back is light grey and the head lookf as though fitted with a jet black cap- ’ Th© birds are never seen inland. Flocks ' of several hundred fly swiftly aloft and single birds are constantly seen’ dropi imping like a stone from fifty feet to secure a fish. , They stand facing the wind on a sandspit, so closely packed that a single shot would destroy thirty or more; the rest fly in utter confusion, darting hither and thither. Fortunately our sea birds are now protected. They nest in colonies and lay on the bare A rock so close to high water that the salt spray encrusts the eggs, Woe betide the intruder, for they fliy with in* credible swiftness straight at his face and ears, with loud cries of “kee, kee, kee” from the whole ’colony.-