MAORI NATURE NOTE.
FOR THE “DAILY TIMES.”
(Copyright, J.H.S.)
TOREA, the oyster bird, said to be an adept at opening the oyster with its long sharp red bill. Has black head and back with square white fronted breast, crimson legs and. but three toes, lacking the usual.back spur. Many thousands were seen in harbours and near the river mouths. Approach within half a mile meant a shrill cry of warning from a leader, and a hasty flight. The day old chicks follow the mother, and are as skilful in hiding as she is in misleading. In the breeding season these birds are a mystery, and seem to succeed in complete disappearance for a few weeks, taking flight to the bush or the mountains in pairs or separately. They are said to be known throughout the world, but do not appear to migrate, though no known radical change in circumstances would warrant their almost sudden diminution.
Permanent link to this item
https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/WDT19300621.2.16
Bibliographic details
Wairarapa Daily Times, 21 June 1930, Page 4
Word Count
155MAORI NATURE NOTE. Wairarapa Daily Times, 21 June 1930, Page 4
Using This Item
National Media Ltd is the copyright owner for the Wairarapa Daily Times. You can reproduce in-copyright material from this newspaper for non-commercial use under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International licence (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0). This newspaper is not available for commercial use without the consent of National Media Ltd. For advice on reproduction of out-of-copyright material from this newspaper, please refer to the Copyright guide.