IN TOUCH WITH NATURE

Otago Witness, Issue 2896, 15 September 1909, Page 13

IN TOUCH WITH NATURE

NOTES ON NATURAL HISTORY IN , ._ . ITEVC ZEALAND.. (Bt James DatramoND, F.L.S., F.Z.S.) Mr A. H»n«en, keeper of the Tiritiri blood lighthouse, at the month of the Hfturaki Gulf, states that pied fantails «re jrametous on the island just now, and 4>Q dull, calm nights they gather in great jimnberß about the lighthouse to feast on taa tooths, which on those nights axe «itway« plentiful throughout the year. •*-' I!hey never come on clear' nights, even II the weather is quite calm," he sar3. 4'Tbfs seems curious, as, although the inotbs are not represented as well on clear fcights as on dull ones, there are always •erne. l"he birds seem to be continuously fciitne wing for hours. I have never seen «' ie?a resting anywhere. Sometimes they ntter against the lantern panes to pick ftheinoths resting there, bat always remain on the wing. They never dash against the ianiern like other birds; probably they kavie learnt by experience to avoid doing so. -- The nearest bush is fully Jialf a-mile away, and as they are seldom about before ttark they mast traverse that distance in tlie'dusk, although probably they rise up ia the air till they, are in the focus of ib*' : light, and are guided in that way. They do not return to the bush until after dayr&ht. Sometimes as .many as 40 to 50 catt. be seen at the one time. The bell%ird« also come about the houses, sucking the nectar out of the flowers in the garden. They are especially fond of the honey in the canna, or ' indian-shot flowers. These bird*, however, are never eeen "at night." - Mr C. L. M'Call, of Amodeo Bay, Coromandel, Auckland, has sent a note on monster earth worms which have come under his notice. .Some -exceptionally large worms have been produced in this Dominion, and these giants do not seem_to be uncommon in some parts, as Mr M'Coll says that they are plentiful at Amodeo Bay. " Many times, he says, " I have been startled, when going through the bush, at hearing a strange sucking sort of sound, as if someone was pulling a stick out of swampy ground. I have looked down to see if I had trodden on a root or a stick in a wet place. Finding that I was on firm ground I was at a loss to account for the sound, until someone told me that it was made by a large worm, j 1 have since proved the statement to be f correct hundreds of times. In some places i there are numbers of these worms 2ft long and over, and 'as thicjc as a man's finger. The, longest one I have seen measured was a little over 3ft." An earth-worm found by Mr R. Shakespear on the Little Barrier Island measured 4ft 6in when alive. It was sent to Dr Benham, »f Dnnedin, who named it Diporochseta gigantea. There is an ' Australian earth- worm' which has -at- 1 tamed the length of 6ft, and one from' Brazil has measured 4ft when preserved; when alive it would probably be sft at least. Mr E. T. Frost states that the magpie ha« become thoroughly acclimatised in the ■ district between Auckland and Helensville, ' a distance of about ' 30 miles. Magpies were taken to the district over 20 years ' aigo' by Mr Slatter, who Iterated them in his farm near the Woodhill Railway' Station, and from that centre they have spread far and wide. Mr Frost describes the magpie as one of the most useful birds ! a farmer can encourage on his estate. "It j will follow close behind the plough and j eat everytbittg in the shape of grubs and insects that the implement turns over. I This , summer . there has been quite a I plague of crickets at Waimauku, and I j have watched the magpies eating them by hundreds. With their strong bills they tear off pieces of rotten trees and logs and get the grubs inside. They usually settle in pairs on the edge of the bush, and for a certain distance on each side of them no other members of their kindred are allowed to settle without a fierce battle. When the young become big enough and . strong enough to look after themselves the old ones drive them off." Mr- Frost knows of a place where a pair j of magpies has lived for years. Some ; days ago they drove their last young one ,away. The three had been living together, apparently in perfect harmony, until the parents concluded that it was time for the youngster to go; "and go he did,' and in a hurry, with the old ones screaming after him until he disappeared over the range." Mr Frost says that a bout between magpies and a hawk is one of the great sights of bird-life. The magpies seem ; to thoroughly enjoy the lust of battle. | As soon as a hawk appears in sight of i the domain possessed by a pair of magpies j they come forth to meet the invader, j They dart out with fisree screams, one above the hawk and the other below it. J The one on top flashes down, while the one below- watches for an opportunity to t get in a thrust. The hawk often turns j partly over in order to avoid the onset J of the topmost magpie. It is then that ' the lower assailant gets its chance. Up and down they go, with the hawk in full retreat all the time. When the mag- [ pies feel that they have driven the enemy , far enough they relinquish the fisrht as , suddenly as they began it. Flying back to their haunt they chatter to each other, as if they were proud of their victory. Fights of this description occur almost , daily in Mir Frost's district, but the mag- ! pies seem to get along admirably with the pigeon, the tui, and other native birds. I Tn . the winter, when food is somewhat scare, magpies go close to the house and \ eat any food that is thrown to them. If | they are" unmolested they become very tamie, and allow human beings- to approach within a few yards of them. " I see that so far you decline to take j sides on the question whether the black i fantail and the pied fantail are one species J or two," writes Mr A. N. Harrop. from i V^L-U.'lr* '« Tf fli.o\7 orn T am «nrp that I

sometimes they male logethA^ I have seen and carefully watched two fantails — one black and one pied — building their nest together. This was. on the Kawhaka Creek, near HokitUsa. Judging from her strict attention to the nest-building business, I assumed that &c black was the hen-bird, The pied, although carrying steadily enough at times, 'appeared to take this serious matter rather frivolously, and apparently rather enjoyed trying to divert i his mate's diligence. Unfortunately I moved further afield before the young were hatched. Mr J. F. Martin, one of my party, has informed me of the fact tKat on another . occasion, on Tucker's Flat, near Kanieri, he carefully watched a black and a pied fantail building one nest together. Owing to the fact that they are not molested, these pretty little twrttewra have become very tame. At Mr Arthur Morse's hotel at Kororo, near Qreymouth, and at Mrs Paulson's, at Tetemakau, a short time ago you could have seen a pied fantail "flying in and out of the rooms at will, catching nouseflies." It is probable that, if a vote was taken in New Zealand to decide the prettiest, most engaging, most charming and most fascinating bird in the land the award would be given by a greet majority to the fantail. Amongst the correspondents who sing the praises of this little bird is Mr- BeroM Blow, of Brookby, Auckland, who' very tfappily describes the fantail as " an ideal example of guileless innocence. It seems to have . absolutely no comprehension of danger, or any instinctive dread of man. When passing through the bush , I have had one perched on my extended hand, or rest on the barrel of a gun. During the last few days I have been much interested in several fantails which hare made regular visits into the house, evidently in search of food. After catching a number of fliee they quietly ta*Ke their departure through the door in the most unconcerned manner imaginable. You seem to think that the fantail has no song, but I have on several occasions heard specimens pouring forth a delightful little tune of a dozen or more notes. It is certainly ! not the regular thing for the fantail to sing, but there is no doubt that it ' tunes up ' sometimes. While on the subject of singing," Mv Blow adds, " I might men- i tion another bird whose name I have not seen in the list of our songsters. ""This is the white-eye or blight bird. It is sel3om that I have heard the singing, but to me its notes are sweeter than those of any other bird. The last occasion on which I heard a white-eye singing was at the end >f January, and it Kept' on repeating its sweet little song over and over for 20 , minutes or more." j Further evidence in support of the opinion expressed in this cohiinn, that statements in regard to the extinction of i native birds* are exaggerated, is supplied by Mr A. B. Morton, of Taneatua, ! Whakatane, in the Bay of Plenty district. He says that if the Government realised the wiedom of reserving fairly large areas of bush in the Urewera Coun- : i try, many native birds would remain as long as the trees are allowed to stand. Mr Morton has noted that birds which are rare in one district are often plentiful in another district. It is this fact that misled Sir Walter Buller and other naturalists in the early days. They sometimes travelled through the country for days and weeks without seeing a native bird, and then, very naturally in the circumstances, concluded that the whole avifauna was being dismissed from the universe. Mr Morton states that the bell-bird is still very plentiful in the Whakatane County, and amongst other birds seen there are the kiwi — one was shown at- the Whakatane agricultural show some time ago, — the kaka, and the green parrakeet, although all of these seem to be getting rather rare. The pukeko, the paradise duck, and the grebe are suffering from the draining of swamps, and the native pigeon from the clearing of the bush. A pigeon has lived in a hawthorn hedge in Mr Morton's back yard for six weeks, and, when he wrote on June 15, showed no signs of an I intention to leave. Long-tailed cuckoos { are fairly plentiful at the New Year, | and bush-hawks are seen in the autumn. Mr Morton has not seen the blue moun- ! ta-in duck, which was once plentiful in the forest creeks, for many years.