NATURE—AND MAN

Hawke's Bay Herald-Tribune, Issue 209, 20 September 1937, Page 7

NATURE—AND MAN

Leo

Fanning.)

... Calling the Birds ANYBODY CAN DO IT

(Edite.d, by

Probably many thousands of New Zealanders have made the squeaking noiee (a sharp intake of breath thrOugh closed lips) which attracts fantails. Many ■ a tiine I have brought them fluttoring around me so that I could see the gleara of curiosity.in thbir • bright beads of eyes. Thef efore, I found much interest in an article, "Bird Ctllling as a Hobby," by XJncas McGuire^ in ' '.Nature Magazine. " " Much • bird knowledge," he writes/ " can. be ghined and much fun experienced by one 'vVho will take the time to learn a few simple bird calls. One who can entice birds to come within a few f eet of him Will flnd his bird world much enriched and will discover in his new accomplishment a mastery over birds that will yield hira much increased pleasure in his hours spent afield." . ThQ writer mentions ' ' one general "distress call known as a kissing soUnd, ' ' •which many friends. of -birds have. successfully practised, and then goes on to describe another call which gave him the charming eompany of many kinds of birds. In case any reader would like to gain similar ekill, here is the description of the sound: — "This particular call is a whistle, but whereas most imitation whistles rely on the contour of tlie lips, this 'sUmmons call' depends upon the teeth for its rendition. The sound is not an exact imitation of any bird call but it does resemble the continuous ecolding or the hissing of discovery one hears from a wren. A friend of mine who learned to produce the call aptly describel its rendition as 'a fine, thin see, see, bcc, whistled through the teeth.' For some, to whom the porformance will seem casy, this description will eufiice, but for those who desiro a inOre dotailed -account of the teclinique tho following instructiona are given: Close mouth4 open lips (any position) and hiss through teeth, Now open tho mouth so the teeth will be slightly apart. Be sure to keep the tongue away from the teeth. A continuous hissing or whistling sound can be gotten that resembles the wind blowing through a keyhole. When you can reproduce this, you have tho right mouth and proper set of the teeth for making the call. (Even people with false teeth can do it.) "Now break up this continuous keyhole sound into a series of syllables, jerks or units delivered in one breath. The first few 'syllables' should be rendered in a fast, enthusiastic manner, the cadence being allowed to fall oS and the syllables to lengthen progressively toward the end of the series. The scheme may be represonted thus: . — . The longest syllabie expressed should be given only a fraction-second duration, while the first ones are jerked out as rapidly as possible. They should be pitched in a high key and delivered in as excited and animated a tone as possiblo. The call does not necd much voluinc. The distance at which birds will pick up tho sound is surprising." Liana Marvels of New Zealand Forests. Recently I read a passage of Kerner's boolc, " Liana-Land, " in which ho vividly pictures the luxurianfc festoons of lianas (perennial woody-stemmod climbing-plants) in tropical forests. His words gave a remindcr of similar growth in the evergreen forests of New Zealand, the marvellous legacy froia long-gone agcs when this country had a sub-tropical climate as far down as 8outhland. One of the best tributos to the beautiful woodlands was paid by the late William Pember Reeves. "Why, asks a naturalist, do so many of us wax enthusiastic over parasites and sentimental over lianas J" he wrote, "becausea I suppose, these are amoag the most strikiug signs of the astouishing vitality and profusion which clothe almost every yard of ground and foot of bark, and, gaining foothold on tho trees, invade the air itself. , Nature there is not trimmed and supervised, weeded out, swept and garnished, as in European woods. She lets herself go, oxpelling nothing that can manage to find standing-room 01* breathing-space, Every rule of human forestry and gardening appears to be broken, and the rosult is an easy triumph for what seems waste and rank carelessness. Trees tottering with age still dispute the soil with superabundant saplings, or, failing, lean upon and are held by undecaying neighbours. Dead trunks cumber the ground, while mosses, ferns, and bu'shes half conceal them. Creepers cover matted thickets, veiling, their flanks and netting them into masses, upon which a man may eit and ;a boy be irresistibly temp'ted to walk. Aloft, one tree may grow upon another, and itself bear the burden of a third. Para? sites twine rouncL parasites, dangle in purposeless ropes, or form loops anil swings in mid-air. " Aaventuroua vines ramble through the interspa-ces, linking trunk to trunk, and complica'ting the fine confusion. All around is a multitudinous, incessaut struggle for life;' but it goes on in silence, and the impression left is nbt regrefc, but a memory of beautyr The cuiumuar dignity of tho .great trees contrasts 'with the presa and struggle of the undergrowth, with tho airy lacework of fern-fronds, and the ahafted graco of tho stiifer palm-trees. -From the moss- and wanderlng lycopodium uuderfoot to the victorious cliinber flowering eighty feet overhead, all is life, varied endlessly and put forth without stint. "When the sky is overcast the evergreen realm aarkens. In one rnood you think it invitingly still and mysterious; in another, its tints fade to a conimon dullnoss, and gloom fills its reeessos. Pattering raind rops chill enthusiasm. Tho mazy paradise" is fillcd with 'thc terror of unending trees.' The silence grows unnatural, tlie rustle of a chance bird startled. Anything, from a pythou to a jaguar, might be hidden in labyrinths that look so tropical. In truth, there is nothing there larger than a wingless and timid bird; nothing more dangerous than a rat poaching among the branches in quest of eggs; nothing more annoying than a few sandflies. ' ' Well, New Zealanders, think of that 1 fernjr,. mossy, under®rowth# and' their ■

think of the deer and goats that ravage the forest floor. If that wealth of beauty — which is also a soil-savor for i'armers on lower levels — is to be kept the war against destructive browsing, trampling animals mnst be carried on witk the utmosfc yigour«