NATURE—AND MAN

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 79, Issue 122, 25 May 1936, Page 6

NATURE—AND MAN

A COMEDY OF SHAGDOM PENALTY OF PRIVILEGE (Edited by Leo Fanning) On a rocky islet off tae coast of Stewart Island, there is a shaggery which has been in use by countless generations of birds. “It is wholly criven over to thieving and riots, where might is right and only present possession is respected,’’ remarks H. GuthrieSmith in ‘'Mutton Birds and Other Birds. ’’ He mentions that the nests are equidistant and tend to form rows, just as in planting trees at regular distances, stra'ght lines develop themselves. Automatically therefore lanes have been formed —alleys along which the ccntremost birds have_ to venture when about to leave their breeding quarters. These paths radiate from the middle o-f the nesting grounds; and, as no shag can fly upwards, along them the departing birds have to waddle with the most arkward gait imaginable, stepping high with legs widely spread apart, and showing at every movement the huge unwieldy webbed feet. The ventral positions msv be rather safer from the seas (continues the author); they may be rather mere sheltered from the gales; and it may i»e that jo shag, owning a near. >o situated, would care to forego its advantage-, just as no man would care to change his lot in every way with that of any other man. Amongst shags, however, as amongst men, no benefit can be enjujed without is accompanying disabil--Iy. and here the more safe and central the position of the nest, the greater the odium attached to i*s owner, and the more fierce the hatred expressed. By its look when about to journey forth a shag from one nf these central-most nests betrays hs krowledge of the greeting in store. I-i h’s aspect there is something c-f trepidation and nervousness, and younger b'rds. I suppose sometimes for a moment hesitate, with the vacillating air of a timid country woman at a yells of execration, almost to lose th 2 r wits. There is no escape, however. Each b id, vacating its nest, must p.us dnvn the lines, and has to run tnc gauntlet, with lowered head and fea r h irs lightly compressed, sfre«.;ncd at by eveiy lilting lird, and br. <ly out of rttJunp and picking di- tme. The conduct of the nestling shaglets, half grown fellows still m th? vtoi l, added another touch of humour to the picnic. Whenever the ssrcirnng iieialucu the appr ach of a pa serb;-, ca n nestful on the track s-.arte 1 at once t, life. H.-ad? were ever,v.herereared aloft, and the route thronged to enjoy the spectacle. These nestlings were as fierce in their screams and as eager a-s the mature birds rug and * J, 7 at feathers happily within reach, and it was truly ludicrour to waten their juvenile participation in the cruel fun. This pleasure is deiel.only to the ecntrla quartet of nesting birds —those, that is, in the possession of the very best and centralmost building sites, and by whose homes consequently no shag passes on foot. It is enjoyed to the uttermost and without fear of retaliation only by the outermost birds — those, that is, with wind blown ana spray-beaten nests— and is delightfully prolonged by a tardiness of progression that not even shame fe, n: jia accelerate.

Ihe shag, when on foot, must raise high his feet; he must carefully plant them down, and with what joy must he not fall over the cliff’s edge and feel the air beneath his wings. , In its conjunction of trepidation and shame, the mien of a cowed shag, thus passing down one of these terrible lanes, can be compared only io that of a nervous person threading the ailse of a great church alone, with creaking boots, the parson stopping nks discourse the better to emphasise his displeasure, and every member of the congregation rising to yell opprobrious remarks, whilst those at the pew doo r s hurl their hymn books, kick, and attempt to trip him; or, to that of a man in a nightmare, conscious more of ignominy than of fear, condemned to pass, -.'ompanion!ess in his shame through a ballroom without his trousers, and with the further consciousness of thick ankles, negro heels, mis-shapen calves, and that he has not washed his legs for a fornight and two days. Such are the agonies the shags can inflict on their fellow shags; and It must not be thought that those comparasons are merely fanciful. Expressions of the emotions in birds is as distinct and interpretable, to those who have watched, as is the expression of his emotions in man’s friend, his dog. Man. dog, or bird, each has been digged from the same pit, moulded from the same day. Although developed on divergent lines, each has beeen modellc 1 on a common plan, and there still exists, diluted to tenuity and strained through time incalculable, an e-ssential sympathy. The pain and pleasure of the beasts of the field and the fowls of the air, can never appeal in foreign tongue to man. His frame is their’s, and it is by the corporal kinship that he can read expression as well as comprehend emotion. Trees—Living Memorials At? important feature of Arbor Dav this year in all districts should be the planting of trees in memory of worthy men and women, dead oc living. In this respect admirable progress has been made in some localities, but plenty of scope remains for similar enterprise. I>ast year 50 trees and shrubs were planted in the grounds of the Christchurch Boys’ High School Three of those trees were the beginning of the Bevan-Brown Grove, in Honour of a former headmaster and his family. Why should not all schools—with space to spare—have similar groves? Libels on Eaglet Every now and then Stories appear in the newspapers graphically describing how an eagle has flown off with a baby (states and editorial article- in Nature Magazine). The inevitable effect, and, now and then, the object of such tales is to place this splendid bird in bad odour and lend further support to the persecution to which it is now subjected. The most recent of these fake “eagle •carries away child” yarn; was reported in the Pre*s with a Hugo, Minnessota, date-line. A golden eagle was said to have gone off with a nine-months-old baby. The National Association of Audubon Societies investigated. From their representative, J. P. Jensen, they got the truth. Mr. Jensen reported: “A golden eagle, with a wing spread of 86 inches, was apparent y pursuing a hawk, and in its flight it was caugnt between two automobiles on the pavement of a city street. It flew upwards and was electrocuted by a high tension wire, just above. The eag’e was only slightly burned and is being mounted