NATURE NOTES

Evening Post, Volume CX, Issue 71, 20 September 1930, Page 17

NATURE NOTES

VISITORS FROM OTHER

LANDS

ARCTIC TO ANTARCTIC

(By K. H. D. Stidolph, R.A.O.TJ.)

la addition to the regular migratory) birds which visit New Zealand' annual* ly, the Dominion-is occasionally reached by species which have departed from their usual course and appear in thia country as stragglers, lv December of last year, for instance, Mr. A. C. O'Connor, of Wellington, shot an.Arctic tern at the mouth of the Waikauae River. This was the 'first occasion on which this bird has been recordd from New Zealand, although in the winter months it reaches as far south as Chile, Argentina, South Africt and even Antarctica. This tern, according to Mr. "VV. B. Alexander, who publishes an excellent little volume on the birds of the ocean, performs the most extensive migration of any bird, as it breeds to within 8 degrees of the North Pole, and in the northern winter is found on the coasts of the Antarctic Continent. Known breeding places of this tern are the Arctic coasts of Alaska, Canada, Greenland, Europe, anil Siberia, south to British Columbia, Massachusetts, the British Isles, Holland, the Commander Island, and the Aleutian Islands. The Arctic torn, like many other species of its family, forms colonies in the breeding seasin, the nest being merely, a depression in the shingle or moss, with a little dead grass for a lining iv the latter situation. The eggs are very similar to those of the so-called common tern of the Northern Hemisphere, varying from stone-eoluor to oehreous-buff or rufous brown, with black cpots and markings. In habits the Arctic tern closely resembles the common species, from which it 'differs in appearance mainly by its longer outer tail-feathers and entirely red bill. It has the characteristic black cap oi many species of the tern family, but this is only assumed during the summer.

Another wanderer which has • i'eaehed New Zealand recently is the northern phalarope. Mr. E. F. Stead, of Christehureh, shot a specimen at.Lake Ellesmere last year. Likewise, this is the first recorded occurrence of this species in the Dominion, although, as far back as 1883 another 'species, known as the red phalarope, was obtained at Waimate, Canterbury. The phalarope is a small, long-necked.bird, sometimes known as sea-snipe or swimming plovers, and, according to Mr. Alexander, is the only wading bird which habitually settles on the water. As a matter.of fact, except during the breeding season, the. phalaropo spends most of its time at sea. It is mostlyseen in flocks, but sometimes an individual bird is observed. It flies over the waves with a rapid flight that suggests that of snipe or sandpipers. The phalarope is remarkable for its lobed toes and compressed legs, in which respects it resembles the grebe. One naturalist describes it as "a. bird of varied accomplishments, flying rapidly like a snipe, running after Jhe fashion, of the sandpiper and swimming with the faciltiy of the duck." The most marked habit appears to tie that of alighting at sea on beds of floating seaweed. The northern phalarope breeds in the Arctic regions, in..much the same regions as the Arctic tern, j and on migration occurs on both coasts of the United States, the western and southern coasts of Europe and of Japan, China, and the Philippine Islands. It is the smallest of the three species of phalaropes recognised by science, with a clim neck, long slender bill, and a conspicuous white bar on ,the wing. The rest is merely a slight hollow in the ground, lined with a little grass or moss. The-eggs are pearshaped, pale olive-grey or creamy buff in colour, and heavily blotched with deep chocolate or lighter brown.

The number of species which have been recorded as visiting New Zealand as stragglers is about fifty-three. The list includes for species of penguins, a storm-petrel, four petrels, two or three albatrosses, two frigate birds, a. darter, a pelican, a gannet, a tropic bird, four species of terns, a skua, a snipe, twelve species of wading birds such as dotterels, etc., three rails, one duck, five herons, a hawk, a cuckoo, a roller, two swifts, and three species of perching birds (a true martin, a cuckoo-shrike, and a honey-eater). In the ease of the penguins, tho birds are wanderers to New Zealand from the Sub-Antarctic Islands, where they breed ia immense numbers. The only other species which have visited the Dominion from the south are a skua and two Antarctic species of petrels. A great number of the stragglers to New Zealand are inhabitants of Australia, about twenty-two species of the total being faund in that country as resident or bietding birds. Another batch of stragglers arives from the..Northern Hemisphere, moving southward after the breeding season to escape the northern winter. In some cases, sueli as that of the Arctic tern, mentioned above, the somewhat remarkabl journey is made from the Arctic to Antarttie regions. The balance of tho stragglers is made uj- of visitors ,£rom. the tropics or ocean-wanderers. Some of the birds visiting the mainland of New Zealand breed on outlying islands included in the jurisdiction of the Dominion, such as the Campbell and Auckland Islands in. the South- and the Ker, madee Islands to the north. In addition, several species of birds have occurred as stragglers at these and other islands included in the New Zealand area.

New Zealand is also visited annually, by. a number of regular migrants, the most notable of which are the shining and the long-tailed cuckoo and tho godwit. Other regular visitors include the parasitic skuce from the Arctic and a number of small waders breeding in Siberia and other northern latitudes —tho knot, curlew-sandpiper, sharptailed sandpiper, tumstone, and lesser golden plover. According to Mr. E. IT. Stead, of Christchurch, tho whitewinged marsh tern of the Northern Hemisphere is an almosa . regular' summer visitor to Canterbury, and has actually nested in that district. Admitting this species as a regular visitor, the total number of species coming^to New Zealand annually in that category is ten. In a few cases it is somewhat difficult on present information to determine the exact status of some of •ur bird visitors. Further investigation will probably increase the numI ber of visitors to Now Zealand.