THE LAND BIRDS OF WESTLAND

Hokitika Guardian, 2 November 1921, Page 4

THE LAND BIRDS OF WESTLAND

(Written by the bite Mr Charles Dougins, tbe well-known explorer of the mountains of Westland.)

(Continued.) TIIK BOA

There is little to be said about ibis bin! that does not apply to the kiwi. Tbeir habits are identical, the only di;ie;o”ce bring that unlike I lie kiwi, which is to l»<* found all over the Const, 11 o roa is to be found only in certain localities, tiainel;, lie;ween the Okarilo river and tin* Waiho. and between the Waitoto and the Arawata. These aie tlie on I v two places they are to he found till the Holyford is crossed. 1 believe a few have been caught near Nelson, ami no doubt like the kiwi they were at one time to be found all over the country. The puzzle U how did they disappear from every place but the--- 1 mentioned above. They must have disappeaied .fioin other pans long bcl’oic the advent oj the digger. Jhe Maoris have m. e.\pian:i 1 ion lu give. Sometimes 1 tliink they bad vanished ages ago, and were only to be got in Hie St :lids, and Cm; eitber tbe old lime Maoris or the whalers hi ought a

• v up hv sea and turne 1 them out in the two places mentioned. Still this is only an idea of my own. Birds only being found in certain local it if- where altbotigli the* iced and ,>imoimdings are the same, yet ten miles away there are none of that v.n »*ics, is no moie singular than a j .t: v • 1 1 say. of Mack birch growing close together, and not a relation within a hundred miles, or a tree forming the main forest- on one side ol a river, am! no: a trace of it to la* seen on the other. Birds certainly have a power uf locomotion that a tree lias hot. Although a rea or a kiwi can't swim, as i.i| | urn aware, yet- accidents nt floods could not help taking some over :iiiv lives i si the ( oast. Many no doubt won!.l get drowned, still some must have got across ami populated the other

>ide. hut in ::11 my wanderings I never got a trace of a roa except in the two places mentioned. Although to mortal eyes Cm s >ii. li e vegetation, and feed appear alike, there must be some subtle dilfo.omv in soil that wo don't understand. This is the only way 1 can account for the localising of eciinin species whether animal or vegetable. Kven some birds with their power to shift readily and safely from one part of i Ik* country to 'another still < online Hr niselves to certain districts. TIIK MOUNTAIN KIWI.

I lav* very little to say legerding this bird as 1 have only soon two oj t bcin. and being pushed with hunger, i,j I e tie j;.ii <.f iinui. Undo? the *ir ■■III .> line, i von Id have eaten the last of tin* Dodos. It is all very well for sciioec lilting up its bands in horror at \* I!:• l j oim c bvfiirl • ailed gluttony, but li ; seinne iramp ihrbn:.*.b t !"* Wed ia mi 111 -!; oi swamps fn| (V.o oj lluec days v itiautt food, and find out wbat bunget is, besides at tin* time which was many years ago. 1 was not aware that it was an almost extinct bird. I tad 1 . s, | would at least, have skinned i; am! kept tin* head and feet. The laid was a third larger than the biggest I * had <!.-• -gey leathers of tin* ki.n, but imii’li coarser, more approaching tho-v of the ion. Its beak bad lucre of a curve, and Its spur was very long. oiliciwist it iesciabli'd a run mote than a kiwi.

On uskiii*' tin* sl.mris about this bird I }!»*v t'tiiil l l oivo it mo ii;iiiii\ l»ut ssiid it wjis an inhabitant of tin* mountains and licit its >i >lll could kill ji doo. Tbo two I cJiiiLihl woro camped under a I ill iit*l i of ferns in the centre of a Imge swjdiiji bol w eon tin* K:ira niraroa Mini Cooks river. Another bird oi tin* sumo -jKM'ios wjis ojnuilit >oim* tinn* alter by ;i <!» ■ •'■' iti* Cooks iiwr. 1 didn't it, end don't know uh.it became of it. 'i ii. so jno siII I b:\vo ln jijd of :«>, having boon < :iiiolit in West hind, ;md although 1 have hunted ibo phuv siinv witli :\ good doo 1 never ay;ain ;t trace oi tbo bird. Ono 1 h how wjis ooi nont! y on Mow nil's Ishnid. Whethoi it wjis tie s;mio bird I don’t know. Tho moilni:ii>i n;i:iNi kiwi miisi bo either very in re oi perhaps ii is now oxtiiiol. Maybe soino still exist down in tbo Sounds. Unit handy plnoo l«>r locatin'' anything you oiin’t find. Tin.* Sounds cortiiinly an* unexplored, imd it is impossible to say what rnro birds ii , yet : *o found I boro, ;i 11 I don't boliovo ;i now bird will bo found oithoi tboro oi jniy other part of X, w /.o;i hi lid.

the wt:ka or Maori hen. in a new country that has Imprs ol -nme day becoming a nation, people should lie careful lmw they select a national bird or least. The lien ami the eagle have already heen annexed by old countries although theii courage and usefulness is rattier apocryphal. Canada takes the beaver which is good. It is a fine emblem ol Industry and its hide suggests hclltoppcr hats. Australia has adopted the kangaroo, which Is also good. It is an animal chaiaclyiistie of of tin' country. Its tail makes good soup. Its hams are passaide .|iid its skill makes shoe lent her so '.lie shoemakers say - so it is of sonic use. The heaver anil the karangaroo will pass, but the Kiwi which New Zealand has adopt'-d is neither ol use nor in iinmcnl, and has not a single good or had quality to loenmmoinl it. Why did New Zealand not select the wcka I lere is a bird full of good qualities, and whose rices lean to virtue’s side and personal valour ol ;i high older. An unliving ( hit st for knowledge unthinking people give il another name which causes it to annex everything poMahle about a hut and eairy II into the liiisli to study at leisure. An affection for its'■young ilia! would lace the Prince ol Darkness in iheir defence. and above all all intelligence apart from what we call instim-t Inr Id: her than I ever saw in a bird. It has one fault which II shares with some oilici New Zealand birds. It is a ranii iha I sparing not even its immediate i elat ions.

At one time the wcka must have been the main fond ol the Maori, and they had the sense to protect it which is more than the whiles ever did. When the .Maoris made a raid on a

river they always left sufficient birds to restock it again, and they left that river alone for three years. However, seeing the way whites slaughter tin* birds with dogs and guns, they are now not so particular, with the result that the Mids are not plentiful as once was the ease. Their general breeding grounds being on the open river beds between the* mountains and the sea where they were easily got at, the bird bad little chance to keep up its nuni- ! tiers with men and dogs after them, in season and out. If tin* society that looks after the game would make a close season for four or five years, the weka would be as plentiful as ever. They can hold their own against cats and ferrets, in fact I believe they actually keep those animals down and may possibly exterminate them. It is unite a common occurrence for the hens to walk oil* with young pups and kittens when the owner is away. I have lost a good few pups that way, and there is no doubt it was the weka that exterminated the wild eats and dogs that once flourished south of Jackson's Bay. It was not want of food but the impossibility of rearing a family that finished them. I‘Vom tit is it can he seen that the weka’s pilfering abilities for which he is so much abused, has its uses and that it is really a public benefactor in his own particular way. Here is an idea ol mine, that is that the wcko could bo made of tar more use to ibe world than at present. Away in the Antarctic and South Indian ocean :\ro numbers of inhabited islands on which shipwrecked marines often die of starvation or at least live miserably. Why not put Maori hens on those islands. They would have no enemies in such places. They are easy to catch, healthy food, and will live and thrive anywhere, eating and digesting anything from a jam tart to a pea title

east ridge. Some of the birds were introduced into the Auckland- 1 believe, but H ere are other islands south of New Zealand. Then there is St Paul's Herculean land, the Clovcts and numbers of others on whi h i believe tbi- bird would thrive. Wbetbei they

would live in the tropics is doubtful, but such places don’t want them. They have fruit ami fish as a rule. A roast weka would he a godsend to a shipwrecked sailor a Her living for v.cek< « n seal or penguin.

I 11 to roughly understand the weka, its virtues and its vices, its wonderful strength and still more wonderful intelligence. Tin* laid lias to be studied i*> its native wilds. If not shot at or chased by dogs i hey <eou get tame and take possession ol lon or t«*ut as it they W i*i ** pllt Up CXpleS.dv fO! 1 hcM hl'UClt. It is seldom cm* is alone, generally having his wife with him. and all tie bet t e j if they have a young family to provide lot. or iai!i< r they make \on do that. At I'-st r'*i -• 1 tainlv air a hoi her walking oil' with evet\ thing they can cah v and inspeming w ith their beaks all mi tides they can’t lift, but ,1 1 * i a. v* loii* ben thr \ at*. ihiii nUghly

-;.i. died thvv |e;e. .* things alone. The weka generally lays life eggs, although I have seen seven. Bur that is larc, and they seldom rear moie than two or ibict* young ones. W hen sitting oi looking sifter tin* chicks they will Imi* anything. I have seen them by sheer cheek and audacity mute an experienced bush dog, ami when grass happens to be set mi lire where they arc sitting thc\ will die rather than leave. When hatching the two birds take turn about sitting, and have very' tegular watches. i Vs at died a pair lot days and found their time was almost exactly four hours. Once I kept thee vk hiid over his time by a judicious expenditure of hits of butter. She commenced yelling out for him and as In* din't mine, she did. and chased him to his duties. That cock bird was liierallv hen pecked. When the young (mm* mu the old ones .starve themselves or whatever it is in their beak, which tin* miii or daughter deftly removes and swallows. It is interesting to watch them, and it is a beautiful family picture to see the jwu old ones and two or three young ones standing in fmnt of tin* lire with their wings spread out enjoying the bla-ze. This standing before tin* tii<* is not uncommon, and wild hitds will often do the same. Robins, thrushes and wrens all can appreciate a tire even if tliev saw it for tin* hist

As wekas are very fond of bullet ami jam they soon liiid out the tills these aitieles are kept in. and make desperate eHot is at burglary. They hang at it with their beaks and will get in-ide il possible. A vciy good amu.seinenl is to leave an unopened jam tin on the ground. They tut it i! over and over, hang 111 il end ways, round ways and ever: wat and the inanuei in which that tin is kicked about is a caution. The only lost i| will have is in a water hole. What a lien wants stealing a billhook for is a mystery, lint this they often do. They w ill even at tempi the axe. but that is too much for them. Their strength combined with some knowledge of mechanics can hardly lx* believed unless seen. In one instance two wekas actually wheeled nr handspiked a. piece ol bacon weighing eight pounds, thirty feet into the hush, ami uphill at tlinl. I low they did it is still a mvstcry to me, hut next morning alter a long .search t here I found it. There was nothing else hut my two liens that roll hi have done it.

Wo have been accustomed I'm ages to have dinned into mu cais as a lad that man alone has reasoning powcis, and that what a hinl or animal does is entirely instinct. This is all noiisi use. Everything that lias a luain lias something above instim-t that imne ot le-s guides its actions. This we must call reason. The reasoning of man and that' of animals is a mere matter ol degree. It roll Id ii ’ I lie instinct that stalled the hens mi the jam put. ' line I laid ;i pan of boiling fat down on Iho g*olll id nevei thinking the ben v. mild touch il, tint he did. Down came his beak into the pan. lie jumped with a squeal of agony, then rushed outside and buried his beak up to the eyes ill ihe cool wet mud. If tliai was instinct w lull ancestor did lie get il. I 111111*1 have lx't'll the first man he had ever semi and (lull pan and lire Jin .iiuld have had tin acquaintance villi.

1 mire henid a story illilstraiive of * okas’ intelligence, although I can’t exactly votirh for the truth ol it. Ilowi yrr here it is. All emigrant- runic out to ('anterhurv with a lit t It* money, lie purchased a block of land and started to make his fortune farming. All wen' well till lie commenced polato planting. Then tumble loomed ahead. Almost as far as he planted them the wekas dug

them up and replanted them in their own peculiar way. The farmer was desperate. He made a scare crow, one of -those stuffed effigies that farmers at *homc still pin their faith to, although it is an object of derision to any bird of experience. Next morning tin* figure was on the ground and a number of wekas were engaged finding out wbat was inside. Then that farmer l tried one of those windmill racket affairs, worse and worse. The noise brought all the hens round to see what the row was about, bui next day brought the last straw. (let Mug up earlier than usual, the farmer saw wbat dumfounded him. A lien was ns usual digging up the seed and banding them to bis family for future use. Just as lie arrived Maori bad finished a row, and could it he believed that bird cocked his eye along the line he had just skinned, took a left hall turn n’i*j deliberately paced the distance to find where the next row commenced. That farmer bundled up and sold everything at a sacrifice. He said farming might be a noble occupation, a healthy occupation, hut when a man had to contend against such intelligence* it, would he far belter to * () n town and turn burglar or politician. With this tale I will close the account of the weka. A volume could be written about them and their tunny ways ami long may they flourish in the laud. (To be continued).