NATURE NOTES.

Waikato Times, Volume 118, Issue 19663, 24 August 1935, Page 16 (Supplement)

NATURE NOTES.

Nature Notes may be copied, bu sent in. THE PEACH. This fruit, first grown in England In the sixteenth century, Is generally considered to be the most delicious of British fruits. Foreign peaches aro inferior to British but nii st be imported because home-grown supplies arc scarce. The peach is covered with a sort clown, and will, in favourable THE LITTLE RIFLEMAN. The rill cm an likes to make his home lit the dense and darkest parts or the forest, not bothering, like many birds, to ilnd a warm sunny spot. Having chosen a wellhitlren crack or hole in a tree-stump or hank he builds his nest, which is a large lo so small a bird.—(Copied.) onc 1 Lewis McMillan' (13). A GAY GARDEN. Our garden Is beginning to look very pretty now. The Iceland poppies wave llielr heads gaily In the breeze and the shy utile primroses peep from beneath their protecting leaves. .The freezias make a pretty picture 100, and waft their glorious scent about the garden. Kathleen Johnston (11). AN ECHO LOVER. One or .New Zealand’s most beautirul songsters is the till, who with his black feathers and tnrt of while at the throat is often called the parson-bird. He delights In awakening the echoes from a perch on a forest tree, then, soaring high into the air lie suddenly dives into Hie depths of the’ cool, damp forest. The female tui : lays four pinkish white eggs in a very ■ rough and untidy nest or twigs and moss. I The tui can produce the most beautiful ' hell-liko notes ever heard, but in between these, harsh cldcs are. uttered. This bird i Is very fond of sipping nectar from ko- i whal (lowers, besides many others, while tin' diet also consists of berries and insects. Kaby Earl (14). .

t must be marked “ copied " when THE PLOVER. Tho plover is seen on lowlands where his nest Is built among heather. In winter his breast Is pure white, but in spring changes to black. He has a clear, wilt? cry. The plovers use cunning strategy lo divert strangers .from the nests or their young.— (Copied.) Gladys Clarke (12). A DISAGREEMENT. One day I heard such a chattering com* motion in a paddock behind the pine trees. Wondering what it was, I peeped through and saw a pair or cock pheasants fighting. They were Jumping at each other and making such indignant noises! They soon flew away, one chasing the other. The same day my sister and I observed one wandering majestically over our lawns, looking like a beautiful bird of paradise shining in the sun'. Joan Plummer (15). VISITING FREDDY. For three years every September our pond lias been inhabited by a tame frog named Freddy. 11l a hollow punga post nearby and tn a bole In the pond's concrete edge he spends his days. Freddy’3 croak distinguishes him from utry other frog, and at night when we hear “Croa-oa-oak, croak, croak,” we seize a torch and go to the pond. Strangely enough, Freddy does not mind being rondled in our hands. Barbara Graham (11). THE HOLLY TREE. The holly is usually seen as a small tree Tor hedgerows and 'forest glades, though under favourable conditions it sometimes attains no to TO root hr height. The spiny, glossy evergreen leaves and brilliant scarlet berries tire well known. Birdlime is prepared from the smooth, pale-grey bark. The hard, fine-grained wood is valued for Inlaid work, turnery, musical Instruments, teapot handles, etc. It takes stain well, and when dyed I:jjck forms a useful substitute for ebony. Alice Harris (13).