BIRDS IN ANTARCTICA

Sun (Auckland), Volume IV, Issue 988, 3 June 1930, Page 8

BIRDS IN ANTARCTICA

SIDELIGHTS ON VOYAGE rTHE DISCOVERY * LECTURE BY ZOOLOGIST The methods of living of birdAntaretic seas, with particular m * ence to the petrels and the was the subject of a lecture Mr. R. A. Falla, M.A, i n St. pj" Presbyterian Hall, Dovonport, evening. Mr. Falla, who U. ' under the auspices of the church**!? ary and debating society, has returned to New Zealand aft«r panying Sir Douglas Mawson's arctic expedition on the Discovery the post of an assistant specialising in pelagic bird Remarking that the Southern were teeming with life in many cotT plex forms, the lecturer dealt xrithtfc petrel family, which ranged, he said an ounce to the wandering with a wing spread of from 10ft 12ft. Mr. Falla traced the origin * the name “petrel” applied to this specie of bird. The birds, when taking into the air after swimming on tb surface, paddled along in such a traas to give the impression of on the water. The Spaniards, first saw the birds, called thtin fa this reason “petrello,” or “Little Peter - from the story of Peter’s attempts n walk on the water. Albatrosses able to adjust their wings to suit tfc air currents, and in this way were aU to fly long distances at great without beating the air at all. Albi. trusses had been known to fly asmui as 6,000 miles. SAVED BY ALBATROSS In proof of tills Mr. Falla spoke g the crew of a French vessel wrecki on an island far distant from tb trade routes. The sailors had ca*. tured an albatross and tied a to its neck. Three months later bird was picked up on the coast t Australia, 3,000 miles away from it place of liberation. The message «. tached to its neck was the first not!, fication the world had of the wrees and a relief ship sent at once wu able to rescue the sailors. Mr. Falla did not think that ina.. vidual petrels followed the one shiy for long periods as was commwdr held. There were three reasons fa the birds’ habit of following ships fa a considerable distance. The firstaac most obvious was the picking up * scraps thrown overboard, the second was the fact that the churning of pi*, pellers and the passage of the shi* killed or brought to the surface ix,*quantities of the small marine orgijj. isms on which the birds lived, whiit „ third was that the passage of the ship created air currents which enabled ih. birds to fly without effort.

l-'or nine months of the year the albatrosses were either in the air or sleeping on the surface of the water. For the remainder of the year, fat breeding season, they chose a bare, desolate island or rock, and thert reared their young, away from natural enemies. Penguins. Mr. Falla continued, wrre definitely birds, although they fad perfected the art oi swimming as the albatrosses had tile power of flight Penguins were most amusing birds. They had no fear at all of human beings, and would come close enoughu lilt with their flappers at a mar.* boots. The young, particularly, indulged in games that could almost fe classed as organised. Mr. Falla’s lecture was illustrated with lantern slides.