OUR STORY

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 1, Issue 45, 4 August 1939, Page 6

OUR STORY

PETER THE PETREL Where the Atlantic rollers washed the gray rocks,, and tufts of heather reflected their purple glory in the water a pair of Stormy Pet-.-rels had their nest. It was tucked away between the two ledges, and protected from wind and rain. I had watched with much interest the activities of the birds ever since the day they arrived and began to build, and now 'there was one whit? egg in the nest. Father and Mother Petrel took it in turns to sit on the egg, and for forty days it was most carefully tended. Then, quite suddenly, the shell broke and there ap_ peared a gray-downed youngster, who immediately clamoured for food. He was not at all handsome, but his proud parents settled down at. once to the task of feeding their son, which meant a great deal of com ing and going. It seemed that hewas alwaA r s hungry and as he increas. Ed in size and strength his demands grew apacc. At the end of two months. Father and Mother Petrel, as is their cus_ ' tom, flew away and left Peter to'Jook after himself. A't first the young bird could not believe that he had been so harshly treated and sat in the shelter of the ledge gazing intently seaward. Surely his parents would come back and bring him some food? So far he had not tried his wings, and he was so fat that they would not have carried him far even if he had. The First Flight. A week passed and still Peter remained in the nest, a 'thinner Peter now. He was coming to the conclusion that if he wanted food lie must go in search of it, and so, very cautiously, he made his way on to the rocks and surveyed the scene bofore him, the slowly heaving waters, the gray skies, the seagulls fishing in the trough of the waves. And then, quite naturally, and without waiting Ao 'think about it,, he spread fj'A Avings and sa,iled out to sea. There was something wonderful about this new movement! As he realised his strength he grew bolder, and Avas soon eating the first meal he had had for a AA-eek. When night began to' fall he turned homcAvard and rested until morning. Soon he made the discoA'ery that the best place to fish Avas among the flotsam and jetsam cast up by storms Very skillfully he paddled between the waAcs gliding along the troughsand rising triumphantly aboA'e thecrests. As he rose and fell a gleam of Avhite Avas visible beneath h/"* black AA'ings. Pe'fcer AA T as now quite o handsome little bird. Soon he lost all sense of loneli. ness, and the surge of the sea, the boom of the breakers, the cry of the Avind and the falling of Avere as music in his ears. He reveled in his new-found freedom, and spent his days ftying and fishing, and his nights in the shelter of a little bay.

So summer passed into autumn and autumn into winter with its rain and fog. Peter did not like the fog but hunger made him face it. One Avintry afternoon he set out to beneath a sunny sky but had not flown far before a dense fog closed in upon him. Cottage on the Cliff. On and on he flew, his wings groAA ring AA'eary and his feathers heavy Avith the damp. And then, out of the gloom, someAvhere ahead a tiny light shone, Peter battled desperately to reach it, but it Avas further than hcj thought, and although he flew rn,<l flew it didn't seem to get any nearer. It was the hardest struggle he had yet known, but at last he reached tho porch of a cdttage on the cliff side and dragged himself wearily into a corner. There it AA'as I found him a little forlorn bundle of sopping feathers, and gentlj' picked him up. He made no protest as I carried him indoors,, but snuggled into a warm box I had filled with dried seaAveed. In the morning he went out to sea again, for the fog of the night had giA'en place to a calm and sunny day. I thought that was the last T should see of him, but as the short after noon Avas slipping into the mists fjf eA*ening, he came flying towards the porch again. I opened the cottage door and he flew straight in landing in his box and gazing at me speculatively as if wondering if he Avould be AAdcome. He AA*as no't left in any doubt. When T lifted him up and gently stroked his neck he levered himself out of my hand and huddling into my lap closed his eyes and slept ti'l suppertime Avhon I put him back in his box again. All through the winter Peter stay, ed Avith me. On fine days he would be away for hours, but he always returned at nightfall, and on stormy clnvs he was quite content 'to stay indoors and share such food as I eonW giv e h'm. •With the coming of spring the partnership ended for Peter and a little la'dv petrel decided to build a nest be'tween the ledges of the cliff. When last I saAA' him he AA r ns guarding a very precious AAiiitc egg of his OAvn.