IN TOUCH WITH NATURE.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 11686, 1 May 1916, Page 3

IN TOUCH WITH NATURE.

NOTES ON NATURAL HISTORY IN NEW ZEALAND.

(By J. DRCMMOND, F.L.S., F.Z.S.) Mr ;R. E. Cloustoivs children at Silverstroam, Bainham, Nelson, collected several, specimens of, perhaps, one of the strangest weevils in the world. Its body is an inch and three-quarters long,. ridged with rows of tiny punctures, and' it bears on its bade three obscure light brown marks. It would be an insignificant insect it it was not for its tieak. This is so prolonged that it is the same length as the body, ft is bent slightly downward, and looks iike a great trunk. On this account the weevil has received the name of "elephant insect." Crawling along with the beak thrust out in front, _ and its two onteunaa waving slowly, it is a sight that immediately attracts attention. It is a native of this country, and entomologists, with a proper appreciation of the fitness of things, have given it a scientific name as long as its wonderful beak: Lasiorhynchus (hairy-beak) barbicorois (bearded horn). Nothing is known of its habits, but « specimen gent by Mr P. H. Sinclair, of Raetihi, in the Auckland province, has on irs body, close to the first pair of leg.?, a cluster of reddish eggs, deposited apparently by a parasitic insect. Mr Sinclair states that the weevil is plentiful in his district. Like other weevils, it is a vegetarian, and probably is not destructive. It belongs to a group of beetles colled the Ithynoophora—tho nose-carriers—and to the family Curculianidc, a word derived from the Latin name of a weevil.

j When Mr A. A. Armitage, of Kawa- ; kawa, north of Auckland, arrived in j New Zealand about twenty years ago, j and first visited Auckland city, he -was interested in a colony of rooks which had made their homes in trees in the grounds of Government House. Tho rookery had been just established, and as the formation of rookeries appealed to him in England as an interesting | study, ho was pleased at the birds' presence in Auckland. Ho revisited England a short-time ago and found that rookeries still are one of the attractions of old country ■ planes there, sometimes adding to tho value of properties that possess them. On arriving in Auckland again, after his return ~to New Zealand, bo looked for tho rooks, but found that they had disappeared, and he asks where they went to and why they left. Probably they went to tall trees in some suburban or rural district close to the city. "Whv they dirl so who can oxplaui? Rooks are strange birds ; their motives sometimes are quite beyond human ken. They often select a site- for a rookery close to human habitations, using the topmost branches of the tallest trees, where they make nests, about two feet in with sticks and with dry grass for lining; but it" is not unusual to find that, after using the sit© for years, they suddenly make up their minds that it is no longer suitable, and with infinite clamour and cawing they leave to seek a fresh, site.

Rooks in England desert their old homes in the same way. They' often desert rookeries when the trees nave begun, to decay, although tho trees, to human eyes, aro quite, sound. Mr "N". H. Hudson, a delightful writer on English bird life, has explained this fact by the theory that pliancj in the | branches is necessary for "the safety |of the large, heavy nest. If. tho "branches do not yield and sway U the | force of the wind, the nest is in danger j of being blown bodily out of its place. ! Tn a. decaying tree the upper branches | become too stiff, from the insufficient I supply of sop. and the place-is uo long- ; er suitable, and a fresh sito must bo used. . 'ITio rook, with its cousins, tho crow, the raven and the jackdaw, is at the top of the avian tree constructed by ornithologists. These are the most highly specialised birds in the world. Th'e rook, especially, is credited with a high standard of mtclligence. It lives together in communities" and there, is no doubt that the- members of these communities act in accord with the combined opinions, although these may conflict with the views of some individuals. Its social disposition is proof against dissension except- at times when afresh rookery is being established or wnen an old one is being repaired- end then the birds' lives seom.to be "tilled with fierce, quarrels. Most'of the memtars of a rookery have been seen to cease their labour and combine in persecuting one pair, whose nest is repeatedly destroyed. It is presumed that the persecuted pair failed to observe other birds rights and plundered material for the nest, in this wav offending against the communnVs rules

It is about forty-six years since the j rook was introduced into New Zealand ( -the hr.st v,-ere liberated in 7870and theiv has been hardly sufficient time for _ legends to spring up around the species here, but in England r.o bird, except perhap; robin redbreast is more emsely associated with stories Many of these are intended to demonstrate (he. rooks attachment to the iortunes of human families. In 0 ,.0' cftso it is stated that a rookerv was established nt Swinst.v Hal J., in the vallcv £{ 1!, j? "asljburn, m anv vears -e-o the. family had occupied ' the Tall for many generations, and when ■a new nome was built on the opposite side of the Vallev. about a mile away. the. rooks also' removed their (hvelhng-place and settled within a hundred yards of the gates. Although, rooks often are treated dospit •- fully, nothing, apparently, will dr'stroy their preference for the "neighbourhood of houses a.s a place for a rookew. Rooks' nests still nro found within the four-mile radius in London, and there were large rookeries in Edinburtrb, Manchester and Neweastie-on-Tyne. un-" til recently. Rooks, indeed, may still roakrv their nest? in these cities. About eight year? ago a colony came from the neighbourhood of Lincoln, and for several days made a commotion in tall bluegum trees that grew in Oxford Terrace, near tho Hereford Street bridge. Finally they decided that the sito was not suitable, and departed. Later o>i they inspected the trees on Colonel R. 11. Rhodes's property. .Elmwood, Papa- j mii Road ; but that, also, failed to meet, i with their approval, and they then i went, further afield. Residents of I'endalton remember the largo eolon.ie* that lived in bluegum trees in their district, .years ago. The Canterbury rooks originated from a pair brought from England in 1872. The the vesael received £8 for the pair.

The killer whale ; Ore a gladiator. which is fouid in New Zealand waters occasionally, has been described as the wolf of the nconn. hut an e::tract from Mr NordensJciold's '•' Vovage of the Vega," sent by Mr H. Jl. Travers. of Kil'iwrni'?, Wellington, shows thai this nionster, which attack? larger with extraordinary activity and ferocity, may meet its doom in n very simple way. A killer caught in the harbour of Tromsoe, on the coast of Sweden, was dving of suffocation. Thiwas found to be caused by an attempt to swallow" an eider duck, which entered t-he g>j'.let tail first instead of the proper ws.y. h.ead first. Instead of going down smoothly, the feathers caused the bird to sticTi in the wkale's throat. The whale made terrific struggles, but get no release, end the mhaofrants pnt. it out of its agony by harpooning it.