NATURE—AND MAN

Rotorua Morning Post, Volume 2, Issue 393, 30 November 1932, Page 3

NATURE—AND MAN

Leo

Fanning.)

KINDNESS TO BIRDS YALUE OP OUR FORESTS IN PROVIDING S AN CTUARIES.

(Edited by

The thing I'd like hest in the whole of the land Is to have a wild sparrow come sit on my hand — • A little wild sparrow, or rohin, or linnet, Come sit on my hand and eat crumhs that are in it; And if, when It's done, it would rather not stay, I'd just love to watch it fly freely away! JOYCE. L. BRISLEY Anybody striving patiently in the way of kindness can win th6 confidence of birds until they will feed fearlessly from the hand. This friendly touch of man or woman with birds may be seen frequently during lunch- . time in Wellington, where the "public pigeons" perch on certain f olk ini the sure hope for something good. Even ■ some of th'e common sparrows have similar faith in humanity. Not long ago I was sitting oii a hench in. the Wellington Botanical Gardens gazing at daffodils as they nodded their golden heads to the caress of a gentle spring breeze. A cock-sparrow hopped up to me, and paused expectantly at. my feet. Evidently he was used. to feasts of crumbs from friends at that spot, and although I was a stranger he had similar trust in me. It is well known, of course, that many of th'e native-birds quiekly get on a friendly basis with follc who are kind to them. "There is no such thing as a wild bird," says Captain Sanderson, honorary secretary of the Native Bird Protection Society. By that remark he means that the so-called "wildness" of a bird is not inherent in the bird, but is caused by enemies (including mankind, alas!). Cail of the Forest. The Th'ermal Wonderland of Rotorua, Waitomo Caves, the Wanganui River, Mt. Egmont, Mt. Cook, Franz Josef Glacier, the Southern Lakes and Fiords and other well-known features of New Zealand have their recognised. tourist value, but probably the worth of the native forest from that viewpoint is not yet properly appreciated. Yet to the eyes of many Americans and Australians, the evregreen ferny forest, with its freshness and peace, ranks very high in scenic charm. When a former Consul of the United Stattes was leaving the Dominion he requested the Government Publicity Office to permit him to make a seleetion of scenic photographs. He duly made this choice— and about threefourths of the pictures wero views of forest interiors and exteriors. Apart from the tourist matter, New Zealand is vitally concerned with the preservation of forests, which are also a very important scenic asset. The Brave Kingfisher. New Zealand's kingfisher is not a big bird, but it is very brave. The Austf&lian magpie is a fierce defender of its nesting-place, but it has no greater courage than the smaller kingfisher.

"They will tolerate no intrusion into their home, and resent trespassers even in the vicinity," remark the authors of "Animals of New Zealand." 'The female has often been seen to rneet a person two or three hundred yards from her young, dash at the intruder, return to the place where the young were perohed and repeat the attack several times. A kingfisher has been known to attack and drive back a dog, and, on some oeeasions, it will make one of its famous lightning darts into a group of pigeons or other birds, merely, apparently, for the salce of standing by and enjoying their terror. While sheep and cattle have been allowed to graze close to a nest, a cat, a dog, or a hunian being has been determinedly attacked." Tuis Are Not Timid. A preceding article has mentioned that tuis quiekly chased away some starlings which were poaching on their preserves of flowering flax. Another chronicle of the tuis' valour mentions their onsets against long-tailed cuckoos. The tuis evidently know that the cuckoos look for opportunities to sneak their eggs into other birds' nests, and therefore war is declared against the impudent rascals. Mr. W. W. Smith says that he has seen tuis utter a wild-alarm call, boldly assail a cuckoo, and pursue it through the bush. As the cuckoo is. able to offer only a feeble resistance to a number of angry tuis, it seeks safety in flight, .and its superiority in this respect soon takes it out of danger. The cuckoo is evidently too cunning to try to slip _an egg into' th'e nest of the hostile tui. It prefers to impose on the gentle little warbler. Bird Intelligence. Many folk who are not close students of birds may have an impression that all members of the same species are much alike, and act wholly in, accordance with inherited instinct. Observation shows variations of intelli- | gence among birds of the same kind. For example, the common black-back-ed gull is not a diver, but one day, near the Petone end of Wellington Harbour, I saw one of those gulls dive several times. Th'e plunges were foom only a few feet above the water, but they were complete dips for two or three seconds. Many other gulls were near that spot, but only one 'had developed diving sense and skill. At the other end of the intelligence scale was another black-baeked gull which I watched in Evans Bay, Wellington. Flying low near the shore it noticed a -dense shoal of sprats, swimming slowly near th'e surface. Did that gull make an easy dive It did not. Did it show any, intelligence ? It did not. It alighted on the water, and tried to stalk those fish. It crouched on the water, and paddled along very quietly, and always the fish i^ook flight ihefore tlie hunijar worked within a yard or two of the'm. If the gull had remained perfectly still the fish would probably have come within easy range of that butchering beak, ever ready for a lunge. That thick-witted gull's diving brother of Petone would have had a great feast that day. Taiue Red-Billed Gulls. The dove-like red-billed gulls, numerous in some harhours, seem to have more sense th'an their larger black-hacked relatives. Both are protected; hread is east upon the waters for them and also upon th'© wharves. The red-billed birds seem to-work on this line of reasoning: "We are not *

worried by those big wingless creatures. Indeed, they tbrow us whole sprats or pieces. Therefore we'll go close to them, and. try to coax more food from them." They will walk softly up to th'e back of an unsuspecting fisherman, and steal bait that is within reaeh of his hand. Blackhacked gulls ara never iso daring. They will loiter near by, but usually they will not go within four or five yards of a fisherman. Their lack of confidenee denies them many tit-bits which the red-bills enjoy. The only comfort that the big fellows can find is when one of the little chaps seizes a piece which is too large for one gulp. He flutters away with it a f ew yards — and immediately he is chased by the blaek-backs, one of which soon has the booty.