ZOO NOTES.

Dominion, Volume 7, Issue 1934, 17 December 1913, Page 8

ZOO NOTES.

#A;CHAKACTERISTIC BIRD THE HONEY-EATER. ;' / _ ' (By John Crowes, President of tire Wei- < ;: . v lington Zoological Society.) J ; } Frank Tats; M.A., 1.5.0., Director , ;of .Education, Victoria, tells us that ] Nature study in the Australian schools j is fast producing a. generation of Atis- ' -'kalians trained to look upon the char- j acteristic beauties of Australian skies,/ 5 ' trees,'(towers, and birds with a pas- j donate appreciation almost unknown tc j the mothers and fathers of the iortun- A ! ate hoys and girls. That is gratifying . and l.want to see Nature study in Now j Zealand producing a generation of New f Zcalanders, Maori and pakeha, trained ( to passionately admire, love, protect, j and extol many of the distinctive lilor- j ics of New Zealand, The young Maoris 1 should he taught to appreciate the-tua-tara, and all our yoimir peoplo should he taught to appreciate the several wonderful animals that the ages have passed ou as a precious heritage to us. Hut while we see and feel the -wisdom of patriotieall,v : concentrating our atton- . tion and protection upon objects that ] have been committed-to us as a sacred j trust, we must ho careful not to allow our patriotism to contract our view and ] narrow our minds. As a corrective to , the natural. tendency of patriotism to | insulariso the studies and sympathies-of . a people, especially of a young- com- < munity numerically small, confined with- { in the limits of a narrow area, a Zoo . is. of first-rate importance. For when , we see the.fauna of-other countries, and j hear the voices of the- representative j animals of many nations, wc pardonably j swell with prido at the recognition of the fact that while we arc partiotic j lovers anil defenders of a small j Dominion, wo aro citizens and stewards of a world of Wonders. I. -therefore gladly direct attention to attempts that are made to acclimatise and exhibit in Newtown Park animals that aro representative of the world. Lately honey-eaters have been introduced there-. The. honey-eater. . family, Jlr. Leach tells us, is the most i characteristic family of. birds of the i Australian region. The honey-caters < may then be regarded aj> reprcsenta- < tivos of the most characteristic family : of birds of tho region in which "tho whole bird world seems to reach its ' culminating point." In Australia the family of honey-eaters may be divided into- at least 88 sections. In our Zoo ' there aro representatives of two or three. They are iirthe northern division of the small 'birds'.aviary. Although called honey-eaters, and furnished with a long, slender, curved bill, suitable for exploring flowers, and provided with a brush tongue suitable for brushing honey from the (lowers, the honey-eaters oagerly catch, keenly relish, and naturally digest inserts. The Muoh-abusatf'opGssunt. Tho ■■ Australian opossums or phalangers have recently attracted much at-. < tout-ion'til Now Zealand: Fruit-growers, sportsmen, politicians, and commercial men have discussed tho question whether these interesting marsupials should ho ruthlessly destroyed to please sportsmen, save fruit, and yield a mm- . sure of commercial profit, or whether they should be regarded as an impor- , taut national asset, and be. protected ; by legislation regulating th* slaughter of them. I must not raise political discussion, but I submit that some of our farmers and so>E-o:o('.;Our poli : . ■ ticians that have not scon and studied opossums, should study the Tasmaniaii i species, representatives of .which have , rccehtiy for the first time been 1 placed in our Zoo. Of course, flip girls and boys that read my notes must rememlj?r that tho Australian phalangers' are not proper opossums. The opossums proper aro carnivorous animals, that in- ; habit the forests of the New World; the ' Tasmanian opossums are sombre, or sooty phalangers, which feed on vegetables. When I saw these clothed in their superb furry coats, and eating dock-leaves, I could uot help thinking that surely there must be in sonw parts ; of New Zealand lands on which such weavers of wealth from valueless things could be used to great advantage. (