THE GUANO BIRD

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume LXIII, 13 July 1929, Page 11

THE GUANO BIRD

One nf (lie most valuable birds, in the w/wid is probably the Peruvian guano bird. Tf evisfs in co”nfTess millions in 'bo uninhabited islands on the coast of ■Ppm, pt,/i jf is stated that some hundred million pounds wqrfb of a fertilisnv fhirfv fimps as strong as harpyard manure, have been obtained from one station nloop. The denosifs there are some two fpet thick, and they exfnnrl et—r frrenf ni’PaS. Why fho birds c-honlf] ho- mo-e onmerons there than in other parts of the world is not enpv to sa Tf has been explained that a our. l-enf flows alone- the west roast of South America, keening that seef.ion .rool. and b'-ppe cnifoU a<? fhe habitat of myriads of snia’l Poll. Bv a fortunate roinei. deuce the l birds roneveeafe here, and the bare islands in the vicinity form centres where Up invaluable fertiliser is deposited in vast level tracts, from whence it mpv he easily dim ont and transported. T f the islands had been rocky stations like those that our own gannets select, the work of wholesale collection would have been impracticable.