Nightly Roosting Place.

Wairarapa Times-Age, 24 January 1939, Page 4

Nightly Roosting Place.

Many thousands of starlings now roost each night on Lusk’s Point at Bethell’s Bay, on the West Coast. They arrive in one huge flock from over the Waitakeres each evening at dusk, coming aproximately from the direction of Wanganui, and after circling the point several times they settle for the night. They leave again at dawn. None are present on the headland during the day? Close by, many hundreds of shags live in holes in the inaccessible cliff face. This is one of the few places in the North Island where the grey seagoing shag, that is among the protected birds, may be found. In recent heavy westerly weather many young birds were blown from their shelters and perished in the rough seas.

New Zealands First Refugee. New Zealand’s first political exile came here in 1839 aboard the New Zealand Company’s advance expedition ship Tory. He was Dr Ernst Dieffenbach. The son of a Lutheran pastoi’. he had fled to England to avoid persecution for his political opinions in his native Germany. In London he got in touch with the New Zealand Com-, pany, and was engaged as naturalist on their expedition going out under Colonel William Wakefield to spy out the new land. Dieffenbach was a qualified doctor. He proved himself a geologist and explorer. He made the first ascent of Mount Egmont, visited the thermal regions, the Chatham Islands and the country north of Auckland. He compiled a workmanlike Maori grammar and vocabularies. He returned to England in 1842, and the next year published his two interesting volumes of travels. Never Too Late to Learn.

Ability to learn is more evident in adults up to the age* of 80 years than it is during normal school years, according to Mr H. C. D. Somerset, of the Feilding High School. A person’s ability to learn was maintained at practically 100 per cent between 20 years and 40 years of age, and the percentage dropped very little up to the age of 80, Mr Somerset said. In fact, during the latter period, it was better than during school age. Up to the age of 20 years a person’s growth was maintaining its maximum, and for that reason the best type of education would be that which would help a person’s growth, not lessons about 1066, but instruction in the formation of skill which wonld be valuable in life. "In the first 17 years of life,” he said, “nearly all people are being provided for in classes. That the system is wasteful is to say the least. We are spending all that money in the years of a person’s life when learning has the least effect. I do not say that the money should not be spent, but I believe a little more should be spent in the effective years.”

Farming by the State. A suggestion that the Molesworth and Tarndale runs, well-known Marlborough high-country properties, should be farmed by the Crown as cattle runs, is advanced by Mr E. P. Meachen. M.P.. who recently, at the request of the Minister of Lands (Mr F. Langstonc) made close investigations into the general question of high-country farming in the district. Mr Meachen will place the information gathered before the Minister when he visits Marlborough this month. Mr Meachen said the properties were first worked as cattle runs, and sheep were first introduced to Tarndale in 1868 an dto Molesworth in 1871 or 1872. “Cattle farming, however, appears to carry many advantages as against sheen farmin” for ho-u | country like this,” he added, “and it would not affect the very necessary J rehabilitation of the pastures. Cattle ; do not graze as close to the ground as sheep, and close grazing of sheep has been largely responsible for the erosion ; that has taken place. Another advan- ■ tage is that cattle are much more mo-| bile, and with the approach of snow-j storms could be transferred considerable distances.” I