Will Nightingales Become “Naturalised” New Zealanders?

Sun (Auckland), Volume I, Issue 212, 26 November 1927, Page 26 (Supplement)

Will Nightingales Become “Naturalised” New Zealanders?

(Written lor THE S IIN 6 y “ZOOLOGIST")

tt teas recently announced that the writer David Garnett had forwarded a pair of •nightingales r» New Zealand in the hope that they would settle here. Sir Maui romare has replied that proper authority will have to be obtained before nightingales will be released on Little Barrier Island. BHE suggestion that nightingales should be imported into New Zealand, has called forth letters, prot e s t i n g against the “ King of Songsters” being allow’ed into the country. One writer suggests that it may bring disease, and the Government states that no permits have been applied for, and therefore without permits they could not be landed. It is of interest to know that regulations were framed two years ago, requiring all birds to be examined by a stock inspector at the port of exportation, to prevent disease, ticks, etc., being carried by the birds. As the nightingale is an insectivorous bird, the question of ticks cannot enter into question, and in regard to disease, it is a particularly weak argument to use, as already there are several birds which migrate, of their own initiative into New Zealand, passing through countries and mixing with other birds entirely foreign to the native birds of New* Zealand.

Quite unlike the imported thrush, blackbird and starling, which have a varied diet, not strictly keeping to insect life for sustenence, the nightingale is purely a searcher for insects, grubs and things that crawl and fly, most of which are pests. It has also been stated that the nightingales will not stand our New Zealand climate, but these pretty birds are snared and kept in cages in England right through the winter, and it is on record that specimens have tfved for over seven years in captivity, usually dying from fatty degeneration, due to the rich diet given to them. The nightingale arrives in England from the Continent in early April, and though the Southern counties are the usual breeding place, occasional pairs have been noted as far north as Lancashire and Yorkshire. Sombrely clad in chestnut browrn, wiih dull whitish breasts slightly tinged with brown, and about six and a-half inches in length, the night-

ingale frequents the woods, dells and plantations, and immediately breaks forth into song, which is a sign that the mating season has commenced. Making a small nest of fibrous roots and bits of bark, lined with fine grasses, the female lays five olivebrown coloured eggs, and It is during the period of incubation that the male birds pours forth his full song. When the young have been hatched, the male ceases to sing, no doubt due to the necessity of searching for insect food for the young. The nightingale pours out the full volume of his song during the period when the nest is being made, and it is during this time that the countryside rings with the melodies taken up by challenging male birds in the neighbourhood, each one endeavouring to trill better than its neighbour. The song commences with a short series of notes, “Churr-churr-churr,” breaking into varied melodies, and ending with an exquisite harmonic scale. The song has already been captured by radio enthusiasts, and has been reproduced on the gramophone by means of a microphone placed in the immediate neighbourhood of the nest. By this means people in the British Isles who had never heard this beautiful songster were able to

receive his broadcast song, relayed and intensified by means of loudspeakers. In the southern parts of England it is a common sight in the spring months for motorists to travel for miles in large numbers, parking their cars and proceeding to the edge of a wood where a pair of nightingales have taken up their abode, and there quietly waiting for the evening song. By common consent, there is no smoking or striking of matches, and conversation is carried on in hushed whispers. Though of a retiring nature, the male nightingale during breeding time is bold, and the naturalist who is acquainted with the song can bring the male quite close by imitating a few of its notes.

Nightingales are captured in numbers immediately upon the arrival of the male birds, which usually precede the females by a few days. The capture is effected by means of small wire traps, covered with grass, and baited with several mealworms attached to the trigger, in such a manner that when the male steps inside he loosens the spring. Mealworms have a great attraction for them, and once the male has seen the bait nothing will prevent him from finding the way inside the trap. Large numbers of these beautiful birds are trapped but die within a week, owing to their timid nature when freshly caught. Fanciers experienced in the feeding and training of wild birds gradually tame them by a process known as "meating off,” which entails the placing of a few wriggling mealworms under a small tumbler or watch glass, upon which is smeared a mixture of food comprising finely-ground meat, biscuit and egg. In their endeavour to catch the

mealworms the captured birds taste the mixture smeared thickly on the glass, and so become acquainted with the taste of the new food. After a few days, when accustomed to the new diet, mealworms are given in addition. The fact that the nightingale can be caught and tamed, and kept for a period of seven years in captivity in England, goes to prove that if there is a sufficient quantity of food of an insect nature they would live in the open in New Zealand, provided the instinct to migrate did not cause them to leave the country in the autumn.

Australia is certainly a better country for the establishment of the nightingale, due to the vast range of country and the warmth of the northern climate, where insect feed is in abundance. One of the reasons why the previous attempts at acclimatisation in New Zealand has failed may be due to the habit of some native birds of attacking a strange bird. The butcher-bird of Australia readily attacks small birds and even kills numbers of canaries, by clinging on the outside of the cage, and pecking the excited and frightened victim. The instinct to migrate, inherited through centuries of time, and always resulting in action on a more or less fixed line of flight, may also have caused birds previously liberated in New Zealand to take their departure by instinct towards the warmer land of Australia, to perish in the ocean. Even with a knowledge of the line of flight, and flying at their usual migratory speed of 30 miles an hour, it would take the nightingale 48 hours

to reach the coast-line of New South Wales. This is an impossible task for so small a bird. In New Zealand there are numbers of clubs racing thoroughbred pigeons, which have been trained for generations in flying long distances, and observation has proved that the racing pigeon lands for water, to quench its thirst, at least once during a 500-mile journey. Occasionally a racing jngeon has been picked up at sea, but always in an exhausted condition at distances of over 300 miles. A small stretch of water similar to the English Channel presents no difficulty to the migratory birds entering England, but as land birds have a natural dislike for travelling over the sea, they avoid any wide stretch and skirt the coast-line, taking the shortest track. The few specimens of migratory birds that arrive each year in New Zealand have followed a line that their ancestors traversed for centuries past, when stopping places were available that have now disappeared below the ocean. Despite the fact that the landmarks are now not available, these migrants to New Zealand still make their way along the “well-worn” air-way, making a devious course via the various islands. If the nightingale could be introduced into New Zealand it would be welcomed by the great majority. It should be possible, as the element of risk in changing its family feeding habit, is infinitesimal. There are

I enough noxious insects in New Zea* | land to provide for every minute of I the active day of the nightingale, the j world’s most wonderful songster.