TALES OF THE WILD= ERNESS.

Dominion, Volume 5, Issue 1330, 6 January 1912, Page 6

TALES OF THE WILD= ERNESS.

KAHU THE HARRIER.

(By Will Lawson.)

(All Sights Reserved.) The summer breeze stirred and rustled tho tall leaves of the raupo; the sunlight shining through (ho broad lattice, which they formed, fell in patches on tho nest where Kahu tlio Harrier and his two nest-mates were wrangling and quarrelling. At first there had been fine nestlings'. But one was a weakling, and ono day, when some sense of danger had kept the parent birds away from the nest beyond the usual feeding time, the four hearty youngsters tore the fifth to pieces and-devoured her. A similar catastropho had later on reduced tho number of the occupants of tho nest to three.

Every now. and again, a shadow in the sky, ono" of the parents swept over the nest and glanced down through intervening space to see that no peril had assailed it. The three wrangling hawklets wore still intent upon the business in hand, which was, in brief, tho question of the survival cf the fittest. Kahu was undoubtedly the smallest of the three, and. also . tho fiercest. But the two. bigger birds • had evidently concluded that together they could settle Kahu. There was nothing whatever in tho nature of these birds that could even be called decent. A low, sneakiug selfishness is the characteristic of the harrier.' But in isolated instances a fierce courage is found, coupled with the cruelty of tho bird's nature. Kahu the nestling.harrier had this courage.When. evening fell, and the time for tho'parent birds' roturn drew near, it chanced that a horseman, skirting the raupo swamp,. passed near tho hidden nest. The keen eyesight of the swooping, soaring harriers did not . miss this fact, and,' cowards to the core, they did not return to tho nest' that night. In the first glimmer of dawnlight, a dreadful hunger spurring them on> the nest-mates of Kahu the Harrier attacked him fiercely with cannibalistic intent. It was- a furious, dreadful fight. For a few moments it seemed that they would eat him piecemeal 'without bothering to kill him; But by a lucky thrust he slew one of his brothers, the weaker of- the two. At this turn in tho tide of war, tho other would have left Kahu alone and devoted his efforts to eating as much of the fallen one as Kahu could not eat. This idea was, however, quickly dispelled by Kahu,' arid for' a quarter of an hour a battle royal raged, a hideous, bloody battle, between downy nestling, over the body of the fallen brother. In the end ICahu slew tho other of his would-be murderers, and at once began to cat him.

If his parents, swinging on poised pinions in the upper air, saw any decrease in the number of their family, they doubtless put it down to tho man they saw past. At any rate they desorted their nest for nearly a week. At the end of that time, Kahu was desperately hungry again, and his shrill cries for food were 1 pitiful. Of the others, scarcely a talon remained. Without any further interruptions, he was fed regularly on a diet of lizards, grasshoppers, and other insects, and such portions of rabbits, rats, and mice that his parents did not require.

Being only ono bird where there had lately been throe and originally five, Kahu throve on his generous food air lowance until tho day. came when he was able to leave that blood-stained nest among the. raupo arid forage for himself. Kahu. was strong.' ' For a harrier, he was. brave, and, like his kind, his instincts, wero utterly'cruel. On an autumn morning he swooped silently down to a place near a brushwood fence, whero. a weak, old ewo had lain down for the last time to gasp her life out. Kahu alighted on tho head of tho sheep, driving his sharp talons into the wool and skin. Even tho sheep knew that he had como to peck out her eyes, and mado desperate efforts to rise. At that instant Kahu got tho greatest shook he had ever received—in fact, it scared him so that he never really ■ was quite'so bravo again, bravo, that is, for a harrier.

• Out of the middle distance flashed a swift, black nrojectile in feather which uttered the harsh jarring scream of Karewa, the quail hawk, tho- falcon of Now Zealand. The attacker literally knocked Kahu orer, and when he collected himself and spread'his wide pinions to soar away, Karewa attacked nim ilith fierceness, forcing him to turn again and again with talon and beak to boat the little falcon off. Presently, another catapult from tho clouds joined in the attack. This was the mate of Karewa. Their nesting place was not far "distant, and Kahu's offence lay in daring to approach the vicinity of that nest. . It took Kahu a long time to beat his dishonourable retreat. . Once clear he vented his eviL temper in robbing and wrecking a duck's nost. The eggs lie ate, and tho mother, badly scared, escaped by diviDg into the river.

As the months went by, Kalm the Harrier grew in strength of wing and in depth of villainy. All base things that offered, lie did, all selfish cruelties ho accomplished. Even his courtship of the inate he selected, or who selected him,' for she was fiercer and crueller than he, was a harsh, unlonely thing. And when the new nest had been made ill ■ the raupo swamp and the eggs were laid, ho was as wary and as ready as any other harrier to forsake' it if danger threatened. The eggs were hatched, and tho feeding of the four young hungry ones kept Kami very busy. Ho and his mate.devoted _all their energies l to tho task. . Yet ono (lay they utterly deserted their nest and young, because of a fancied T lie young ones'' cries ascended to lvahus ears. 'His keen, extraordinary eyesight saw them below—mouths gaping, eyes staring—starving, helpless things. -Hut Kaliu never' returned to them, nor did his mate, aud while they died a lingering death their parents were sulkily making a new nest, as ill-tempered a pair ot birds as it were possible to find. The next nesting was more successful. All- the young throve till by process of absorption the family was concentrated in two husky, young hawks, whose stomachs demanded immense, lpod ; supplies. So it camc that Kahu did a terrible thing in the eves of man. He had often been down to" the sheep yards .to feed on the o(fal of .the slaughter-pens, and to carry it away to his brood. Sometimes ho managed to secure a chicken, sometimes a voting duck, and when he did these things chanticler of the farm yard. sounded a waTilin" which brought the children running, and sometimes tho farmer also with his gun. In a misguided raid, lvahu seized chanticler. the boss rooster of the farm yard. As lie soared with the dead patriarch in his talons, he heaTd and saw wild excitement' at the farm. A strange insect whistled past him, and there followed tho crack of a rifle. In another minute'Kahu was out of range, But he was not to-escape easily. At the farm it'was decided that there was a great difference between picking ofl a chicken now and then and taking bodily the lordly cock'of tho yard. A few days later Kahu again headed towards the farm. A farm hand saw the harrier, and driving some practice, lie got his rille and cartridges-ready. In a wide sweep, the bird of prey snicd out the land, but missed tho rifle barrel, which projected above the hedge. At that moment the rifle was fired, tho leaden aeronaut, sped straight in a line to meet Kahu iu his slow, sweeping flight. With wonderfully mathematical accuracy the marksman's calculations were realised. Kahu and the bullet met with a shock which sent all the harrier's world reeling and crumbling and crashing. He fell a limp.muddlo of wings and talons, and hanging spineless, neck and head. Robljed of all his terrors, down into tho nuiot fowl yard, fell tho remains of Kahu, Kahu, tho murderer, ICahu the coward.