RARE NATIVE BIRDS

Hokitika Guardian, 16 March 1926, Page 1

RARE NATIVE BIRDS

THE FRANCE EXPEDITION S WARRANT. (Air J. Drummond. F.L.S.. in the ’’ Lyttelton Times.”) Several species of native birds on the list in the wairani lo kill, given by the Minister of Internal Affairs to At. Beck, of the Whitnev Collecting Expedition on tlie yacht France, are ill-

icit ting a.s well as rare. The Southern .Merganser i.s New Zealand’s only sca-diiek, to use a popular name for the group to which it- belongs. Its habitat is restricted to the Auckland Islands. It is a handsome bird, .somewhat like a large, long-neek-ej thick superficially, but its bill is equipped with a. series of distinct and conspicuous tooili-liko serrations. Its head is ornamented with a crest, and its head and neck are brown. It does not frequent the coast and open waters of the Auclkam! Islands, staying in sheltered harbours. Although it lias short wings, it (lies well. It is a good diver, and feeds on the lisli it- catches diving. It is so tame and tearless that it is easily caught. When Lord Banfurlv was at the Auckland Islands some eighteen years ago. an old male merganser tlew close to the steamer, settled on the water a few yards away and swam elanily about, quacking like a duck.

A New Zealand scientific expedition to the Auckland Islands, in 1907. kept a. look-out along the shores for the merganser, but failed to see it. A strict rule of that expedition, by the way, was that no birds were to be killed and no eggs taken. The southern merganser’s closest relative is in I’raxil. These are the only species of mergansers in the Southern Hemisphere. Mergansers are mainly northern birds, migrating in the winter from the United Kingdom and Northern Europe to the TSl.ock Sea and to China. Students of the geographical distribution of birds are pivsyled to account for the southern merganser’s presence in the New Zealand area, so far a way from the group’s centre. The Auckland Islands duck may not be rare, but it also has no home except the Auckland Islands, and its

restricted habitat gives it ample claim to protection. Although it i.s known to scientists as tlie flightless duck, it is not flightless, hut it is a poor flier, as its wings are short and weak. When pursued, it does not attempt to fly. It does not dive, but it scurries over rocks near the shore in order to hide. Its strong, sharp claws help it to climb over the slippery rocks. These ducks have been seen to rise at the foot of a cliff, and, with the use of their wings, climb up to their nests in the holes. ATen were unable to reach the nests, even with a ladder. The New Zealand scientific expedition took several Auckland Island ducks from their home, and placed them on the Kapiti Island sanctuary. near Wellington.

The sand-plover, ten of which tho expedition was allowed to take is a pretty little frequenter of the shores of the Chatham Islands and of the mainland of the Dominion. Once plentiful in sandy bays. from, the Great Barrier Island .southward to Otago, it now is very rare on the mainland at least. One of its nesting-places i.s the Sisters, a group of islets nortk-by-west-of the main island of the Chatham group.

Little is known of the habits of the Chatham Islands snipe, which probably is very rare.

'Pile Chatham Islands pigeon, related to the wood pigeon of the mainland, ranks as ono of the largest pigeons in the world and one of the handsomest: its plumage lias eopperv-purplc and coppery-green lines.

The Chatham Islands fern-bird is a solitary little creature, with a rufouslnowii plumage and a long tail. This, probably, is the rarest bird on the list. It is found only on Afangare, a very tiny member of the Chatham group. Even before New Zealand birds were protected, the Chatham Islands fern bird was in demand by collectors. Comparatively high prices have been paid for skins of the species. Tt lives in low scrub on the stony surface of its island home. The Chatham Islands bell bird resembles the bellbird of the mainland, but i.s larger and its notes are much richer and fuller than the notes of the Now Zealand bellbird, which are peculiarly like the sounds of exquisitelv-tuned silver bolls.