NEW ZEALAND BIRDS

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 79, Issue 164, 16 July 1935, Page 8

NEW ZEALAND BIRDS

ADDRESS BY MR. T. W. DOWNES GLORIOUS GIFT OR SONG. SADNESS AT THINNER FLOCKS. “Birds in the garden all day long, Singing lo me their happy sung. . .” “I think it is terribly sad that birds, which have come down through creation for hundreds of years, should go out in your life time and mine,” said Mr. T. W. Downes, in an address to the Wanganui Rotary Club yesterday. “ .Something should be done about it. ” Mr. Downes spoke with an emotion which confirmed his own statement that, having lived his life in the bush, in close association with Nature in all her varying moods, he had made friends with the feathered tribe in such a wav as to vastly deepen the sadness at the passing away of many of New Zealand's most interesting specimens of bird life He enumerated many of the types which were now extinct and others which were so rare that, to the average person, they were unknown. The Activity of Birds. Insects, birds and tree.-, he said, were dependent one upon the other. Birds kcfri. insects down, the trees relied upon insects to mix the pollen and birds were responsible fur carrying seed ol the forest. New Zealand's mixed forests were due very largely to bird life. One uf the outstanding characteristics •about birds which appealed to the speaker was their exceptional activity. They were never still a moment and it was fascinating to watch a fantail, Hitting here and there, always on the move. He thought it was probably due to the high blood heal, which, in land birds in New Zealand, was JUD, a good deal higher than in humans. zYnother very appealing thing about birds wai their beauty and wouderiul shape. The vulture, he knew, was an fypc. but the majority of N-.-w Zealand birds were very beautiful. H was because this country had types of birds which were not known anywhere else in the world, and had its own distinct native flora and fauna, that it became su interesting to the naturalist. Fur shape it wa- hard to find a better example than the tui. He re i lised, of course, that the bird had 1o rely upon plumage fur that, as a dressed bird, without feathers, was uot of guod appearance. “ The co.ouration of birds is really marvellous,” said Mr. '.Downes, “and, no matter what those colourings are, they seem to fit in together and blend properly. ’Lake the breast of the pigeon or the neck of a tui—the wou de.ful iridescence, surpassing even the brilliance of jewels- colourings wnich seem tu have been borrowed from the rainbow itself.” “Then there is the strange power of flight,” the speaker went on. “Why it should be given lo birds, I don't know. It is wonderful in itself, but a bird is exceedingly active on its feet, and why it should have the extra power of transportation is strange when you think of it. Humans have never shown signs of having wings.” A Voice; That is to come. “We do not know whether it is a case uf evolution” Mr. Downes went un. “.Some scientists say that birds or iginated from reptiles. Some formi* of reptiles similar to bats, had wings, but the earliest forms of bird was discovered in 1861 by Hermann von Mayer in lithographic stone. The bird was known as archaeopteryx lithographicuh and there is nu doubt it had wings. They were searching for lithographic stone and came upon a feather and. later nearly a whole skeleton. It had been embedded in the sea bottom an 1 although it was millions of years old it showed that the earliest form of bird had wings.” T'he discovery, Mr. Downes pro cceded, was a direct contradiction f the theory that birds had evolved from reptiles. It was almost an exavt specimen of birds as they appear to-day. The speaker knew that remnants of teeth were found in the mandible, but that did not prove anything. The speaker exhibited a print uf the bird which showed it to be of the cormorant type, and he pointed out that even in the mandible uf ducks there was a sort of teeth. _“We certainly find that, through the process of evolution, by civilisation and cross-breeding, we have got many variations in type,” Mr. Downes added, “but a dog is a dog. a man is a man and a bird a bird. \on can’t definitely fathom the unfathom able, and there is not much use trying.” Wonderful Sense of Direction. “Flight is a wonderful thing in itself, but there is something even more wonderful in the sense of direction birds have,” the speaker went on. “We see it with some of our birds of passage, and with them it is perhaps understandable, but we will never understand huvv it is that a pigeon can be taken in a closed cage, and when it is released, it can fly arniost straight back to where it came from. Birds ol passage have the older birds to fly with them. But in some of the instincts the young do not have to have the old to help them. Take the nesting instinct, and the thoughtful care the bird shows. It selects a spot free from observation and as clear from danger from natural enemies as it ran. Then, with the material at hand, it builds a home which we, with all our brains, our needles and other tools and appliances, cannot copy. The bird gels through with nothing but its niardiGlc to help it And v. st-eius to know just when the nest is wanted, for, when the first egg is laid, the nest is always ready.” Gift of Song. “The most glorious thing about birds is the gift of song.” the speaker continued. “They all have the gilt in some form or other. At one time I thought the cormorant:-, and there are 13 typos in New Zealand, 12 of them peculiar lo our country, were silent, but 1 have hoard them chattering away at nesting time. Among the best of the New Zealand birds wheu i* cunw.'s to song are Ibe bell-bird and the tui. the New Zealand crow and the black robin I have, heard the New Zealand crow two or three, limes only, an exquisite, llute-like sound.' ’ Mr. Downes suggested that everv member uf the club should iro-lude books on New Zea and bird- in their libraries for the sake of the children He produced various publication.' which he recommended shoal,l be kept and others which, though invaluable, were now out of print. Making friends with birds was a most fascinating pas lime, and could be done by being patient and gentle. When digging he had had a thrush eating worm- out of his hand. A blackbird had kept following him, and although he could

never gel it close enough to eat out of his hand, it was very lame. The Feeding Season. 'The feeding season of the birds has come round again,” he proceeded. “Late, winter ami early spring is the worst time for food in the bush. Thu birds come down to wil ow leaves anil th© shoots of the kuwhai. Fort unalely. must of the berries in the New Zealand bush last lur a long lime, but they arc finishi.-<l at this time of the year and the bush is gelling thinner. That iwhy the bell-bird and the Inis have com? down to the cities and towns The tui has thinned out a g eat deal. In my early days they were about in I houMHid.-. The bell-uird is definitely increasing. Mauj- are Extinct. Mr. Downes slated that kaka and parakeets wer? also plentiful in those days, but were uuw very rare. Thu North Island crow had alsu thinned uut. Hu remembered seeing one al Hipango Bark in J91)5, ami live when trave.ling overland in the old bush days'belwecn the Mokau l.'iver ami the Uhura. He had seen only, twu huias in hi.- life. They were noticed between the Turakina and Rangitikei Rivers, out from 11 unter\ille. I’hat was J.> years ago. Rails had disappeared and many uf the other ground nesiiug liirds. I.ven the woodhen (weka) had disappeared from lhi< tli-triul. ami tin saddleback and New Zealand i 1:: j-b had g-'iie so far as this area was co'j Un the nml ion of Mr. 1.. Walpole, Mr. Downes was accorded a. vote ot thanks.