SHARK OF THE AIR

Shannon News, 4 June 1926, Page 4

SHARK OF THE AIR

In the Indian Ocean, south-east, of the Cape of oGo.d Hope, quarter-way between South Africa and Australia, and not far north of the ice fringe, is the Crozet group of islands —gloomy precipious remote. They are of volcanic origin, and some of theme ris steeply to a height of 3000 or 4000 feet above the sea. They are known to sailors the world over as the breeding place of the kingbird, that shark of the air and them ost voracious of winged creatures. He is no larger than the common sparrow, yet he is a match for his most powerful foes, owing to his needle-like beak, lig-htning-like rapidity, pugnacious nature and absolute fearlessness.

Occasionally a tramp ship approaches the kingbird's desolute islands. Whalers us r ed to visit them for sea elephants, which abound on Possession Island, the largest of the group. A sea elephant is a species of walrus, frequently measuring 25ft m length and 2Sft in circumference, but the bones of oi\e of these leviathans of the Southern Ocean are picked bare by the voracious kingbirds in a few hours.

A party of shipwrecked men cast ashore on Apostle Island at the extreme north-west of the group, 50 or 60 miles from the main islands, constructed a rude tent of freshly killed walrus hides. Within half an after it was erected it was covered with kingbirds, pulling, tugging and tearing at the skins. It was useless to fight them with clubs or stones, because for every one killed a hundred others appeared to take its place. It was not possible to frighten them off. At nightfall -they retired to hteir holes in th e rocks but in the early morning returned to the attack with thousands of reinforcements from the neighbouring islands. In a few hours nothing but the bare poles of the tent were left standing on thes now-covered rocks. Every particle of hide and hair had been devoured.