A NATURALIST’S NOTEBOOK

Hokitika Guardian, 24 September 1930, Page 2

A NATURALIST’S NOTEBOOK

THE PARADISE DUCK. (By A. T. Pycroft in the Auckland Star.) A friend wishes to know the hab.its of the handsome native duck Putongitangi, known to the early colonists as the Paradise duck, by which name it is still known. This duck was first discovered at Dusky Sound in 1773 during Cook’s second voyage. It is referred to by Cook as the Painted Duck. It has also been refei re<l to as the variegated goose, possibly because the male of the Paradise duck hisses when provoked after the manner of the domestic gander. It* is, however, a true duck, belonging to the geiius Casarca. Members of this genu-s tire c?;«tinguishtj by their large size, short bill, long tarsi, and different plumage in male and female, that of the females being strikingly in contrast, the head a-nrl upper part of the nec-k being white, chestnut predominating the rest of the plumage, whereas the male’s head and tippet* part of its' neck are black with bluish gfeeri reflections, dafk brdwri arid black predominating the rest Of tile plumage. At- tine time tlicue hatidsohie birds were fouild aii Over the South Island, being extremely n-bundant in some localities, They are now not nearly so plentiful as .formerly. In the ,North Island its range is very restricted, being confined from Lake /Rotomahana and Hawke’s Bay south- • Wards, Hat only in certain localities. Bir Walter Bullet* gave several pairs to Sir ■ Geo. Grey, who liberated them at Kawau Island. There is no record , that this, species iw now found at Kawau. "At certain seasons of the vpar it associaties in large flocks, which migrate from one part of the country to another, resorting at one time to the river mouths and salt marshes near the sea coast, and at another retiring, to the grassy plnii-’h and lagoons of the interior. In winter a partial separation of the

sexes appears to take place, it being, Bulier states, a common thing to sec a flock of ten or more drakes to one

duck, and vice versa. At other times they wander about in pairs, and whether reposing on the water or feeding on the shore their strongly contrasted colours cannot fail to arrest and please.the eye. In districts where it has been molested it becomes exceedingly shy. ITS HABITS. Oliver states various sites are selected by the Paradise duck t for its .nest, Usually it is placed on the ground well hidden beneath a tutsock Or in il liOki irl a rddk, arid near water; iSdmetiirise, however, it is built

in a thecJj fifteeii to twenty feet from •the ground, aiid it has been found on mountain faces far from , water. The nost is built of grass and lined with down which the female plucks from her own body, Two broods are often reared, Both .'birds share the work of incubation and when the ducklings are hatched they are led almost immediately to the water. The young) are at first fed by the parents on insects or. crustacea, but they Boon . learn to eat. herbage themselves. The adults Rubsist to a great extent on tender grasses and other suoculent herbage During the moulting season it is unable to fly and advantage was then.taken, by the Maoris to kill large numbers for food. It is easily domesticated, even when taken as an adult. They require, however, constant access to a stream or pond of water, foi if denied this privilege they become subject to attacks of cramp, which, in the end. prove fatal.

The old birds show great ingenuity in decoying intruders away from the nest or young, the favourite ruses 'being pretended lameness and inability to rise from the ground. It is, says Travers, exceedingly amusing to see an old duck waddling away as if with the greatest, difficulty, her wings drooping, and flapped occasionally to assist her apparently struggling efforts to escape, while all the time she manages to keep in advance of even a fleet dog, until at last, having drawn him to what she considers a safe distance from her nest, she at once rises from the ground, screaming out her harsh .danger signal, to the complete discomfiture of the panting dog. Upon the danger-signal being uttered, by the parent birds, the young ones usually make at once fo.” the nearest running water, down which they float close to the bank, seeking cover, and availing themselves, with great sagacity, of every opportunity of shelter or concealment, in which they are assisted by the similarity in general colour to the soil and vegetation. An eye witness of another incident states that he has seen a drake of this species gallantly beat off a large hawk fiom a wounded duck and when he reached the scene of combat the cunning’ drake feigned to be wounded and limped away l>eyond gunshot,

while the duck escaped fcv concealing herself in a large marsh close by. HOMING INSTINCT. It has been leeorded by Buller that a domesticated Paradise duck, at a sheep station 21 miles from Timaru, was taken by its owner 120 miles, its wings being previously clipped. By-and-by the duck disappeared from its new home and was looked upon as lost. Later its mistress returned to her previous domicile, and to her surprise found . that the duck had revisited its old haunts and was settled on a pond as before. It could not fly. so that it must have walked over 120 miles, threading its way by many cross roads, over bridge# and across streams, through country which presents great variety of contour in hill, valley and river.

A Mr Shalders, writing to the North Gtago “Times,” states that while travelling with another man up country, with a wagon and team, he saw on a Stream* two parent Paradise ducks and eight or nine young ones. On his essaying to capture some of these the parent birds endeavoured by feigning lameness to decoy him from their young, but he captured three of them and placed them in a small box on the wagon. They proceeded a distance of six miles and camped for the night. The next morning he saw' not far from the wagon a Paradise duck and drake, and remarked to his mate that he believed the birds had followed them. To ascertain if this were so he took the little ducklings out and placed them on the ground some short distance from the wagon. The w r ere almost immediately taken charge of Iby the drake, who made off with them in the direction of the river, rising every few yards to order, apparently, to let his companion see the course he w r as taking. The informant says he had not the heart to recapture his prize, and let them go as a tribute to the faithful care of the parent birds.