NATURE NOTES

Taupo Times, Volume II, Issue 70, 20 May 1953, Page 3

NATURE NOTES

HBDGE SPARROW'S SONG During the past week or two, in Taupo gardens and along the roadbides, there have been heard short snatches of a bright bird-song. C.onsisting of a rapidly uttered series of s'v-.eet rounded notet, sung in from five to seven or eight seconds, hovering about one doniiraV;t rcte, it is the song of the Ergiish hedge-spar-row. Though introduced in Auckland in iS08, it was practically unkoown in the northem half of the lsiand until recent years. The late Mr H, Guthrie Smith, the well known raiundist, reeorded that he first heard of its presence in Hawkes Bay in 1922. It was first seen in Taupo at Easter 1929, by Dr J. S. Armstrong, It was observed in Rotorua and Tauranga in 1930. Its rapid spread northward from Wellington about the years . mentioned has made it one of the common birds throughout the Taupo country. it is uno,bstrusive, and has ihe distinction of being the only introduced bird in New Zealand against which no compiaint has ever been made.

Ways of the Shuffle-wing. About twice the size of the riroriro or grey warbler, the hedge-spar-row's upper surface is reddish brown, with darker length-wise streaks, and under surface of smoky grey. At first glance something ] ike the housesparrow, it is soon seen to be different in shape, and its beak is straight and slender, not thick and conical like the sparrow's. It is, in fact, related to the thrush and blackbird. W ith the approaeh of winter it will be seen, usually in pairs, about Taupo gardens, moving with quick starts and stops in seareh of small insects. It may often be seen hopping quickiy along a fence top, facing a difterent way with each hop, and opening and closing its wings quickiy each time it moves, a habit which has earned it in Engiand the name of "shuffle-wing." It is also known as the dunnock. Toward spring the bright warbling sorig, often uttered from the topmost twig of a shrub, becomes much longer than the short sweet snatches of winter. If food is put out during winter for birds, the hedge-sparrow will often appear and peck diffidently at the scraps among other more aggressive visitors. Its call-note is a loud, often repeated, penet rating "teet, teet," soon distinguished from other bird notes. It is easy to watch, and its habits suggest not so much any fear cf man as an inclination to apologise for its presence. The Wanderer Butterfly. Our recent note (Times April 22) on the Monarch butterfly in Taupo has hrought a letter from ,a readerf who says that the chrysalis stage into which the caterpillar passes lasts for about eighteen days, but that this depends on weather conditions and time of year. Some he has kept have been six weeks and more before the butterfly has emerged from the chrysalis. In addition to the "Swan-plant" the caterpillars will feed on the Milk-week shrub (Asclepias) and the codlin-rnoth piant. The caterpillars which recent! y apeared in a Taupo garden

have now gone into the chrysalis stage, and have hung themselves under leaves, and some taken indoors have hung from ceiling mouldings, and under stools. The pale jade coloured chrysalis has a circle of goldlike specks near the top. Frail though it may appear, the Monarch butterfly, with a wing span from three to four inches, is a strong flyer and has Deen obseived on the wing over four hundred miles from land. On rar'e oecasions in the past it has been an nnassistod migrant to New Zealand, though its present spread in the Auckland province is due to the enthusiastic work of the late Mr T. Skeates of Auckland, who induced peopie to grow suitable food plants ior it. For some reason this North , mencan butterfly has in the past hundred years spread over a *>reat parfc of tne Pacific. Its scientific IS^ ?anaida PJexlPPus, while its -^ahit of long distaqee f lying has earned it the name of the Wanderer

butterfly. Two New Native Birds. A party led by Mr Thane Riney, American biologist attached to the Wild Life Division, Internal Affairs Department, have discovered in Fiordland two native birds, belonging to the wfen family. One of these was the Rock Wren, a bird slightly bigger than the rifleman, which is known as the smallest native bii'd of New Zealand. The Rock Wren was last identified at Ihe beginning of the century, and it had been though t that it might be extinct. The second bird discovered is believed to be a hitherto unknown species of wren, appafently closely allied to Ihe bush wren and the rock wren. It may turn out to be, however, the same as a species of wren observed in 1947 by Mr Newton McConckie, of Nelson, when stalking in the ... Lugar Burn area. This bird was described in the Fishing and Shooting Gazette in January 1950.