WONDERS OF THE WILD

Dominion, Volume 4, Issue 1012, 30 December 1910, Page 2

WONDERS OF THE WILD

A HUNTER THAT CANNOT SEE. BROWN KIWI, THE LISTENER.

(Btc Will Lawson.)

The sound made by ?. boy whistling with too many fingers in his mouth would bo a good imitation of the.cry of Brown Kiwi as he stalked gravely through the forest, where the gloom of night lay' heavy. His heavy feet trod softly on tho leaf-strewn earth; from time to time his head was held a little on one side to listen for a sound that came through the sonud like the ticking of a wntch, but louder. With long, swift strides, Brown f Kiwi reached the place where the sound came from. His long, thin, slightly-curved bill plunged into the earth and brought .up a large eartli- , < swiitly swallowed, then the bird's whistling cry rang again through the forest. A response came from the shadows, and Brown Kiwi's mate .paced slowly and softly towards him. Together they moved off, two black lormjsin a world of blackness, yet like' a ll they moved with groat confidence, and always they listened for the moving of the worms beneath the surface of the soil. In their hunting they wero guided by scent as well as sound, for these strange birds have their nostrils at tho extremities of their beaks, and they smell -the wbrms-as well as .hear them.

. Out of the shelter of the trees the night was stormy. High up in the leaves tho Wl °d soughed and •: thrashed. But / 0 S n aU( I mate took no heed of. the weather. . In-the forest it was quiet and dry enough, aiid the worms were moving freely and giving audible notice of their, moving. Never before had Brown Kiwi known • the worms to make such a noise. From all sides he heard it, Slow-witted, Brown .Kiwi was, though keen of scent and hearing) and moreover all unprepared .for enemies," since none had • ever attacked him until the Maori came. So the sound growing louder gftve him 110 alarm, and he still went • .hunting worms .until a dog, a;< terrier,- broke through the undergrowth With uproar, followed . by. other dogs and men with torches. Then Btowe Kiwi-.and his mats just stood side* by side, peering in the. glare, with their small weak-sighted eyes, at the attackers. A queer, pathetic picture they made. Their bodies, bright brown in colour, streaked lengthwise with black, were very broad and heavy, tapering liko a wedge up to , the neck, winch was like a continuation of the narrowing trunk. The head was small, and whero the bills, that were five inched long, began, there -were long, hairy feathers, like ' a cat's' whiskers, and all their plumage was harsh, the^.feather-shafts projecting beyond the bnrbs ; The men carrying the torches were Maoris. When they saw, the birds stand-, ing at bay. thoy beat'their pack of curs to heel. With clubs'in hands, two. of tho 1 came, bearing their torches high, I to kul Brown mate, for they knew [ that Brown Kiwi would never leave tho place -if she .wore' taken first. But with sbme blind instinct. both birds turned suddenly and rushed clumsily, away, among the trees. The dogs immediately dashed after them and bailed them up again, despite Brown.' Kiwi's aimless, savago pecks. > This time the hunters ! wasted no,time. A blow of a club dispatched Brown Kiwi's mate; another club was: raised to kill him, when a strange

sound iriftho forest,;made the superstitious Maori-pause and listen—a rending, roaring noise that gathered .to a thunder of eound., Shouts of warning-rang out, the hunters ramthis'way;and'that, and they' were just -in- tiino to escape death-.from . the'limbs, of; a'forest)giant, : old and decayed, whose; top> branches had'-met /the •full'.force: of ..tile, gale. To tho accom-. paui.ment of.n, perfrxt cataclysm of .noiia' • - the "huge tree" t'o.' earth, and \the echoes of its fall Went throngh the. forest like the .voices of countless mourners for the ;,'d«ad.^ytto '-"by-'the Jiithing thafiw-Hslo them-rah omen, wliistle.d their ; . dogs; aiid took. from ■ their neclcs cords on which 'tfcro'small pieces of wood. These, rattling together,; sounded- 1 at .ri distance 'like the' moving of worms be-neatly-the soil. While he listened to this ; familiar- sound, Brown Kiwi had failed to hear tbo dogs-and men approach. .-Hunt-. ers>and dogs went swiftly'and silently home, leaving Brown SKiwi' unharmed. For :a long''time he haunted the place where his mate was taken', , and'sent his < mournful call, pitiful and .questioning, ■ through/all-the forest glades'around. But none of the answering calls; were hers. So. a very lonely bird,-he paced the forest night after night, in search of her. By' degrees:he came to understand that she would never come back.; He altered his cry to that .of a . bird who seeks a mate, and for a time he got no answer, at all. Then one-night, v,'hen the worms were silent and hunting banl, a new mate, yflnng and unattached,' answered his call, and they mated and went hunting together. , ' They made a nest, just a' hollow in the dry earth, beneath the shelter of lowfrowing scrub and fern. Here Brown Kiwi's mate laid one reg—an ehormrnis one for so small a bird; it was nearly five iiches long, and was white in colour. Havincr accomplished this herculean task, she left the .whole matter to, her mate, and Brown Kiwi spread his queer-shaped Mv over the nest, And tnk his responsibilities" very seriousTy. His mate roam- • eel the -bush near by- ill search nf food for herself and for him, her loirr bill probing down to fern-roots-and such-like -places. When the prey was cantured, she frequently brought it to Brown Kiwi, who never moved froni the. nest, for more than a few minutes, when, of conrse. lie could, not possibly have caught enough food to keip his strength up. As it wa=. he was quite worn-out, when at , length a m-eat ungainly chick: emerged. . Here Brown Kiwi's responsibility ended; he turned the chick over to his mate's care, and thoueh they often pll went foraging together it was Brown Kiwi's mate that, always had the care of the ehirlc. Night after nieht for many a night the family party sallied through the gloomy forest ' glades. Quite unprepared for any attack, clumsy, ungainly, and Scarcely able to pee, Brown Iviwi and his familv were representalivo of .n tytifi that dwelt hero at a time when there no fear from attack by man or beast, Vcaus'e p »err? ' were no men' or beasts ill New Zealand, and so his ancestors had never developed fighting qualities. ■*. It, happened that a Maori hunter, keen and ciiuninsr, saw Erown Kiwi and bis '; family,, in the dusk, moving out of their, shelter where Hiey had .lain all day. He followed stealthily, and when quite close. he rushed, and with a club knocked over -Brown Kiwi's mate and chi"k. And B""wn Y''wi. faithful to tln> last, stood quite still beside their" bodies till tho club despatched him too. ; . Tho hunter' gave the skins to his wabinc'to make mats of. together with the : skins of many other Brown Kiwi's. That ; is why the ruieer whistlinir crv of Brown ■ Kiwi is seldom heard in the forests now. Yet sometimes .they may be'seen, birds 1 in naradox.avith lesrs and fot of an n>- i trich and cat's whiskers, listening for 1 tho sound of the insects beneath the 1 earth, and scarcely using' their small, 1 weak eyes. i