Residents and Stragslers

New Zealand Listener, Volume 15, Issue 383, 25 October 1946, Page 13

Residents and Stragslers

(Written for

"The Listener" by

J. H.

SORENSEN

HE plant formations of the Aucklands and the Campbells differ greatly.. The climate is much the same, but the larger size of the Aucklands group permits the rata or ironwood to grow abundantly. Some other woody shrubs common to southern New Zealand are found there too, and it is the southern limit of the treeferns. The Campbells support no trees and only three woody shrubs. of any size. One of these is not found élsewhere.

In consequence, the Auckland Islands have a much richer forest-inhabiting bird fauna. Tuis, bellbirds, parakeets, tomtits and bush-hawks live there, none of them being found farther to the south, although a parakeet used to be found ‘on the Macquaries. Farther north, the Snares have a small number of land-birds but the small size of the group does not allow of its being forestclad; only low shrubs exist there. One land-bird which used to be common on both the Auckland and CampBell Islands is the ground-lark or pipit. To-day it is rarely seen on the Campbells and, if breeding at all, must do so on outlying islands. Just what caused its destruction is not, quite. certain. There are afew wild cats but they, too, are not common. Brown rats, descendants of escapees from visiting ships of the past, however, are only too plentiful, and a ground-nesting bird like the pipit would have little chance of rearing a clutch with these active marauders about. The pipits are plentiful on the Auckland Islands and so tame that they can almost be caught by hand. Another fairly common bird on the Aucklands is the so-called "flightless duck." Actually this small brown duck can fly a little but is so rarely seen to do so and has such short, stubby wings that.it is almost flightless. It frequents the kelp beds about islands and sheltered coasts. A flightless duck was reported from Campbell Island and many years ago a specimen was secured. Subsequent Observers failed to find the duck on the island and the original record was doubted, It was considered that the record must be based on a wrongly-labelled bird from the Aucklands. The party on Campbell Island in 1944 re-discovered the flightless duck but it is not common. Grey ducks are found on both islands and, as there are few freshwater

ponds on either, are to be found mostly around the harbour sides where they feed on marine crustaceans. Their numbers are not great and skua gulls attack and catch many of the ducklings when they take to the water. Shags and Gulls Common to both islands are the shags. They are different specifically, but not greatly different in appearance or habits. The plumage of the underside is satiny-white and of their back a lovely dark shade of greenish-blue. On the facial area there is much dark red, and orange-to-yellow colouring. There is a crest on the head, and in the breeding season long white filoplumes are developed on the neck and thighs. Shags’ nests are constructed on eroded ledges on steep cliffs, and are usually very hard to get near. On the Aucklands some of the colonies can be reached with ease, but on the Campbells all are quite inaccessible by any ordinary means. A peculiar sight about the islands are the "rafts" of shags-up to 50 or more birds in one place on the water so that, at a distance, they appear like a small island. As if at a pre-arranged signal, the birds will dive and when they reappear may be widely scattered. Nevertheless they once again form up into their "raft." Sea-leopards prey on the shags during the time they are about the subantarctic islands and are often seen skin‘ning their catches in the waters of the harbours, with a gathering of gulls overhead on the look out for fragments from the meal. The sea-leopard skins the shag, or indeed, penguins or other sea-birds they catch, by shaking the bird vigorously until the skin ‘tears apart. Even before one can see that it is a sea-leopard coming along with a meal one can be sure that such is the (continued on next page)

[Wild Life in the Sub-antarcetic

(continued from previous page) case by the presence of the attendant gulls hovering hopefully overhead. Two of the common New Zealand gulls are found on the southern islands; the large black-backed gull, and the smaller red-billed gull, Both are more or less harassed by the skua-gulls or sea-hawks, but they retaliate by attacking the skua during their nesting season, Another delightful bird of the gull family is the sub-antarctic tern, It is smaller than the white-fronted tern so common about ther New Zealand mainland and has a dark red beak and legs, The plumage is a soft shade of light grey. This little tern is bold and fearless and attacks any other bird which comes near its nesting-place. Nor do human beings escape its attention should they venture too near a nesting site, although the attack is merely a warning, and one is not actually struck. The sight of a large skua gull being pursued by a tiny tern is rather ludicrous; but the tern is in earnest, and well the skua knows this, for it will twist and turn in endeavours to evade the small attacker. But the terns are wonderfully agile, and often a loud squawk from the skua announces the fact that it has received a peck from the tern’s sharp beak, usually on the wing. Our Pet Penguin A certain number of birds stray from other islands to the Campbells. One such straggler was a king penguin which came ashore for its annual moult near the camp. Taken to the camp for study purposes, and later released when his moult was completed, "Kingy" became very tame and even seemed to enjoy human company. Penguins, like the majority of seabirds, are incapable of recognising food on land and, in order to keep him any

length of time, it was necessary to feed "Kingy" forcibly. Standing astride the penguin, with the powerful flippers tucked behind one’s legs, raw meat, or even bully beef saturated in salt water, was thrust down the bird’s gullet, Once the food was in his throat, "Kingy" did the rest and after a meal was usually given a dousing with water, to his evident enjoyment. . His loud bray when spoken to, and quick waddling gait towards the oncomer, showed that he had become well used to human company. Nor was he ever vicious or bad-tempered; always he was the "perfect gentleman." When taken to the harbour to be released, "Kingy" showed a decided disinclination to enter the water, preferring to waddle back to his human friends who were watching to see him depart. Perhaps he had discovered that a supply of food brought to him, even it was pushed down his neck, was a simpler way of obtaining a living than having to wrest it from an ocean wherein lurked so many competitors and dangers. Finally "Kingy" had to be taken out in the boat and rather unceremoniously dropped overboard. Then, when he really felt the water about him and really tasted it, he made out for the open sea. A close watch was kept in the next season because we all expected to see the penguin turn up again. But there was no re-appearance, and we trust that "Kingy" is now happily mated somewhere on Macquarie Island, and that he lives to a ripe old age. _ And so with these brief sketches of wild life not treated in my former articles, I make my farewell to Listener readers. If I have aroused in readers a little of the interest and pleasure I myself obtained from the study of wild life in the sub-antarctic, then I am satisfied.