BIRDS INCREASING ON KAPITI.

Manawatu Herald, Volume XLVIII, Issue 3574, 11 December 1926, Page 2

BIRDS INCREASING ON KAPITI.

That the caretaker-on Kapiti Island is doing good work, and that the birds are increasing, was the report of Mr. A. Seed, the W ellington Acclimatisation Society’s representative on the board, to the society’s meeting recently. Since the last visit eighteen months ago, said the report, there was a noticeable increase in tiiis, bellbirds, and kalcas. Not many robins were seen, but there were a few. A number ol parakeets were seen, and many more heard. Pigeons were very numerous, but it was dilhgult to tell whether they had increased, as they frequently make, trips to the mainland. A pair was nesting almost in the backyard of the caretaker's •cottage. Sweetened water was put out to attract the birds, and while the party was there five bellbirds, some fan-tails, and pipits drank and fed right in front of them. The forest was showing decided signs of regeneration in the parts of the island where the sheep and goats had been cleared out, the growth on the forest- floor being readily perceptible. At the south end, where there were still a number of sheep, this was not so noticeable, but tbe attempt was being made to get rid of these also. Those that could not be caught would have to be shot. While the south end was still suffering from the depredations of the sheep, there was u decided improvement since the goats had been got rid of. There were now only from ten to fifteen goats on the island, and these were as wild as they would ever get, living over the edges of the cliffs.