COURAGE OF TUIS

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 83, Issue 290, 8 December 1939, Page 8

COURAGE OF TUIS

| FIGHTERS FOR THEIR RICiHTS. I ; “Many New Zealanders may have | been rather .startled by the report that a tui killed a thrush in the garI den of a hotel in Auckland, but the

I news would not have surprised clo.se ; observers of the tui’s habits,” writes ; a Wellington member of the Fore.-t t and Bird Protection Society. “The tui ; is indeed a valiant New Zealander ■which fights lor its rights. Some time ago when starlings began poaching on ! a preserve <?f tuins on a Wanganui j farm—a clump of flax with a wealth of honeyed flowers—the trespassers I were fiercely attacked by tuis. and ’the intruders were soon glad to seek {safety in quick flight. , “It is well known that when a I hawk swoops into a forest tuis sound ' the alarm, and gladly join any special j force of small birds in an effort to i scare away the killer. ! “The strong fighting spirit of the tui has enabled it to survive various misfortunes such as the cutting and burning of native forests and the stupid introduction of stoats, weasels, cats and other nuisances. As com- . pensation for the loss of much of its , natural feeding places, it enjoys the nectar of many i’<roduced trees and i shrubs and also the sweetened porridge and syrup offered by friends, i especially during the winter.”