IN TOUCH WITH NATURE.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 11282, 9 January 1915, Page 6

IN TOUCH WITH NATURE.

jtfQTES ON NATURAL HISTORY IN . * NEW ZEALAND.

' (By JvDRUMMOND, F.L.S., F.Z.S.) A very satisiaotory report has been received of the state of bird life in the wild country at the head of tho Waingaro and Takaka Rivers, which run into Groldenßßaty t Nelson. The most interesting item in this report is a record of the presence of the saddleback. The report is from Mr F. G. Sparrow, of Uru . Whemia, who has had many ;' years',, experience of New Zealand birds,,and who could hardly be mistaken. addition, the bird was aeen by a friend who was with him at the time. ',, Mr Sparrow also heard the shrill "jntnistle of another saddleback. Both birds were well up in the rough close to the head of the right branolvof the Waingaro. Although Mr Sparry spends a great deal of time in the forests, these are the first saddlebacks,he has met for forty years. In t tho same district he saw robins, parra- , keets, -white-heads, tuis, wrens, kalias, ' pigeons; bell-birds and native ducks. At one'time the banks of those two rivers ; were alive with busy miners, who did not spare the birds, but for ■ many-years men and dogs have ceased to trouble forest dwellers, who have re- ] turned' to their old haunts. This is specially noticeable in regard to grey ■■ thicks.-When miners, worked the rivers, grey ducks were seldom seen there, but now they frequent all the branch creeks..,where there is water, and, in . the proper season, rear large broods. ! The blue mountain duck, perhaps the tamest: of all. members of the great ■ duck family, close to the camps . when the tent • was pitched on the . river's bank. In very secluded places, I' the blue duck is so tame that it can [■ oe caught with the hand. When the I' friendly Maoris, commanded by Captain 3'lair, marclied through the Urowera'Country in pursuit of To Kooti some forty-five years ago, they found ■ blue ducks in all the mountain streams. They sometimes caught fifty in one " day, some by hand and some by being struck' '.with stones and sticks. Mr j Sparrow saw several broods fully - grown and several a few days old. 5 show jug'that the blue duck sometimes \ brings up two broods in the year. Most of the 1 [native birds seen were near the creeks''or the main rivers. In the high, open country there were some larks and many redpolls. A Question in regard to the habits of the native pigeon is raised by Mr Sparrow;. Ho states that in Septem- ' ber and October of this year the forests on the sides of the valley were alive .with pigeons, all very young and very poor m condition. They disappeared suddenly- They are usually rare at that time of the year, and he ■ wishes, to know if native pigeons have put in aft appearance unexpectedly in other .districts. The pigeon's migrations, p'rpbably may be explained by variations in its food supplies. In capitiyity, the pigeon feeds on potatoes, rice, wheat, berries and almost any kind of vegetable food given to it. In 'natural conditions, it lives to some extent on .leaves, but mainly on the berries of native plants. Its movements therefore, are regulated by the seasons? In the spring and early it eats large quantities of the ■Reaves of Ihe yellow kowhai and other is bitter and unpalatable, and alIHpijst- uneatable. That season usually fflpks-ts from the beginning of October to ■wine cad of December. As the autumn K*apprqachcs, berries ripen, and the lip pigeon becomes fat and tender, and its j§ flesh is delicate. In January about six W specie's of berries are available. In f§ February, ?»larch and April these are E replaced' by ' others. .In May and I June, when the miro and the I pate are ' ripe, the pigeon comes " into better • flavour, _ and in l July and August, when it feeds on ! the purply damson-like hinau berries, F it is a dish fit to set before a king. Mr ; : Sparrow, writing generally of the large $ native birds, states that in the district I where he lives, their principal food in I the early summer seems to be first the ! nuts of the "red birch." then the herI ries of the na+ive fuchsia, called konini, I then the mi' and the hinau, the lastnamed being the stand-by for the winI ter months.

A -note on the long-tailed cuckoo, the koekoea, or kohoperoa, has been sent.;by'Miss A. Watkin, of Onebunga. She states that some years ago she noted'-the appearance of this bird intho garden regularly, but when dwellings began... to increase in the neighbourhood" it stopped its visits. On November 29,' however, she heard a thud or; the roof of the verandah. She though! that it was ranged by a falling branch, but, on making investigations, was surprised to discover a splendid specimen of the migrant lying exhausted on the roof. It was breathing heavily and looked angry," and, apparently, had been chased by a pair of blackbirds, ■which were heard' scolding harshly a few minutes previously. It was exceptionally- well nourished, and its plumage, unlike that of cuckoos observed jn previous years, was in good condition. Miss "Watkin's brother climbed on to- the roof to try to capture the visitor, which, in spite of its exhaustion, had sufficient energy to fly away. The following morning its resounding note.was heard from the trees of a neighbour's garden. "While I .was ' writing this,■ on. December 7," Miss Watkins says, "I heard the cry of the shining cuckoo—the pipiwharauroawhich also has appeared in our garden again this year. Yesterday I saw it in the gum tree in our yard. We have a beautiful old puriri tree and other native trees, and 1 T think tha.t these birds are attracted by the flowers or berries."

A few weeks ago, Mr A. Bauckham reported that lie had seen a .shining cuckow heading its young, and Mrs R. Rutcfiinsort, of Wairiki Road, Mount Eden, .now records a scene in which a shining cuckoo followed the parasitical Jwactice that has made the cuculid* amily infamous. The scene took plac e in Taranaki in February last year. A party, picnicking in a piece of native forest, heard a squeaking sound in bite trees above. Investigations showed that It came-from a youngouekoo, which was Uttering its perpetual cry for food. A tiny grey warbler, about a quarter of the size of the noisy cuckoo, wa« diving here, there and .everywhere m order to satisfy the awful hunger of the young lurd left to its care. "Some of us aro mothers," Mrs Hutchinson, said, " and we had quite a, murderous feeling towards the cuckoo, who followed jfche patient warbler from tree to tree,"

For some reason that does not seem to be clear, the kiwi has never favoured the Poverty Bay district as a place of abode. It'has there all the conditions that make life from a kiwi's point of view worth living, but it is seldom found in the district. Mr Wntere Ruha, however, writing from the Wairere Station. Whatatutu, states that a party of bushfellers found a specimen about three months ago in the forest behind' Mr H. I). Buchanan's property, on the range known as Maungahaumia, the southern terminus of the Raukumara Range. Unfortunately, a dog bit a piece out of the side of the bird, which seems to have been ail adult. A kiwi's footmarks were seen in the snow, and also marks of scratchings.

Mr R. E. Clonston. of Rockville, Collingwood. reports that several very good shoals of greyling. or upokororo, have been seen going- up the Aorero River this season. It is years since this beautiful fish was seen in the river previouslv, and residents thought that it had completely disappeared. The greyling has been reported from the Arnold River. Lake Bruhner, and Mr R. E. Clouston saw a large shoal at Motueka last season.