KOWHAI HIGHWAY

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 1, Issue 69, 2 October 1939, Page 3

KOWHAI HIGHWAY

PROVISION FOR TUIS WELLINGTON'S REWARD Recently a resident of Kelburi Parade (within ten minutes' walk from the centre of Wellington City) had the delightful spectacle of a pair of tuis in his garden. They had come for a feast of nectar offered by the golden chalices of Ivowhai. The observer's impression was that the bir's had probably flown by stuges from the Botanica] Gardens. The; slopes of this public reserve have many Kowhai trees. A tui following the trail of nectar would be led into Kclburn where many residents have kowhai trees. Another reward for the planting of trees and shrubs in Kclburn is in the presence ri fantails a>ld grey warblers which now have suitable uhiees for nesting and foraging. Many pairs of! white-eyej also raise their families there instead of further afield as they used to do before the trees and shrubs grew lip. The files of the Forest and Bird Protection Society show that many towns now have visits from tuis because the people have planted many trees and shrubs which yield nectar or berries.. There is plenty of cheerful evidence of tuis and bell-birds — especially tuis—having adapted them selves to the new scheme of things, especially in places where stands of native bush give them bases for flights to gardens and plantations which supply food. Even the common pinus 'insignia has been honoured by a pair of tuis as a nesting place.