A New Zealand Ornithological Romance

Radio Record, Volume III, Issue 22, 13 December 1929, Page 3

A New Zealand Ornithological

Romance

Interesting Story from 3Y A i . ONE of the most interesting stories given from 3YA for a long time was that by Mr. A. F. O’Donoghue, N.Z. Inst. R.A.0.0., upon — the rare Takahe, or Notornis Hochstetteri.

= F' all the quaint and wonder4\ful birds inhabiting the highji land forests and marshy low- | lands ‘of this unique country, geithe takahe stands out as one a | of the most mysterious and roimantic. Needless to say it is = one of the rarest of New ZeaJand’s rare birds; and .apparently it has always been a rare bird with a limited habitat. The takahe, scientifically known as Notornis Hochstetteri, is about the size of: a turkey; it has very strong legs, heavy wide-spreading toes, a hegmy wedge- "shaped bill and’ a thick powerful neck. It is decked in a wondérful plumage of indigo blue shaded here and there with darker blue to black and dark-greenish tinges, and the legs and bill are eoloured dark vermillion. The wings. are from nine to twelve inches in length, but the bird is flightless; as a compensation for the loss of its flying powers, however, it has developed a. wonderful speed on foot, this fact being only once demonstrated, and that was when the first bird. captured was observed with a dog in hot pursuit. The colour of the plumage, the shape of the bill, the white under-tail coverts

as well as other characteristics of the takahe’ immediately suggest, even to the most casual observer, that there is an alliance between this bird and the pukeko, and further that the bird belongs’ to that great family of rails which has a world-wide distribution. The first indication that such a bird existed in New Zealand was brought to light in thé unearthing of a few fossil -bones in the North Island away back hy the 1840’s. These were sent home to Sik Richard Owen, a world-famed biologist, who, after a prolonged and careful examination, and comparison with the skeletons of many species, drew a description of. the original so true to life, as was evidenced when the first live bird was taken two years later,

that his great reputation as an ornithological biologist was further. enhanced; and that piece of work ranks among the greatest biological research feats even to the present day. Sir Richard completed his task with only

one or two bones on which to work, chief among these being the = skull. With the yery, very scanty material at his disposal he succeeded in placing the bird in its order, located its family, established the genus and created the species, naming if, Notoruis Man-

telli. And notwithstanding the fact that every muscle, every sinew, and every bone of the takahe’s. body . has, since been subjected to the closest..examination in the biologists’ laboratory the work accomplished by Sir Richard.

Owen, with a fossil skull as his foundation, stands unshaken. It has been discovered, however, that the -South Island bird is:a different species from that which obtained in the North Island, and while the North Island species was named WNbotornis

Mantelli by Sir Richard’ Owen, after Mantell, the discoverer. of the fossil bones, the South Island species has since been named Notornis Hochstetteri, No living specimen of Notornis Mantelli, the North Island species,. has ever been recorded. Two years after the discovery of the fossil remains. in the North Island by Mr. Mantell a party of foreign sealers who were operating in the West Coast Sounds, located and secured the first living specimen of the takahe. This was -in the year 1849, The first indication ‘to; this foreign sealing party that a large bird was présent in their vicinity, -was.the discovery of its great foot‘prints in the recently fallen snow. . Anxious to obtain a glimpse of the’ stranger a stalking party with dogs set off on the trail. After a short trek they sighted. the great bird out on. the open snow. Immediately the dogs ‘broke and gave chase, the bird set them a task, but after a long chase the dogs closed with it and the precious takahe was their prisoner. It was taken alive and kept on the sealing schooner for some days. Eventually the cook decided on the blending of a delicacy with the rather rough fare. of the ship, and the takahe was ac-

cordingly slaughtered. The skin of the ‘bird ‘was preserved, but those priceless bones that were worth their weight in radium to the ornithological world were cast overboard as though they were nothing more than the bones of a domestic fowl. Mr. Mantell, the discoverer of the fossil bones, secured this skin and forwarded it to the British Museum. -This is the only instance on record of ‘the takahe having been seen out in ‘the open, and the only record to the present day of the swiftness of the bird on foot when pursued by an enemy. We next hear of this rare and lonely bird a few years later when a single specimen. was eaptured by a Maori

_ * =™ ne _ party on Secretary Island; again the skin was secured by Mr. Mantell and forwarded to the British Museum. Long years of silence now intervened, thirty years had passed, and in the midst of the regrets of the scientifie world that this extraordinary and interesting bird should have hecome extinct without a fuller investigation having been made of its life history, reports broke into circulation that another specimen had been takeu, this time on the upper reaches of the Mararoa River, in the Lake Te Anau district. This was in the year 1879. The capture was made by a rabbiter’s dog. The bones and skin were preserved, sent abroad, and purchased by the Dresden Museum authorities for the sum of £110. This specimen created the widest interest in Europe. Ornitho-

logists from all parts of the Continent paid hurried visits to the museum to inspect and examine this rare species. Many papers were written and read by eminent ornithologists and . biologists before the most important. scientific organisations of the Old World, and not the least among these was the paper read by Sir Richard Owen, who, thirty-five years previously, wrote up the accurate history of this lonely bird from fragments of fossil bones. It was Dr. Meyer, a famous Hungarjan biologist who, after a close examination of the specimen in the Dresden Museum, declared it to be a distinct species from the extinct North Island bird, and renamed it Notornis Hochstetteri. A further long silence and no tidings of the takahe. were reported. Teens +e tte

Twenty years passed, and it was now thought. that the mysterious takahe had vanished for ever. Then suddenly much excitement was caused by the report of a capture, again in the Lake Te Anau district. This was in the year 1898. A dog owned by Ross Bros., who were at the lake, ran the bird. to earth one evening .at dusk. Immediatély realising the value of their prize the lads hurried off with it to Dunedin. Press cablegrams were ' flashed over the world benring the tidings of the capture of another Specimen of the rarest of rare birds. Bidding for the specimen from overseas museums and collectors commenced the following morning, but New Zealand ornithologists were determined that this specimen would not leave the country. Foreign bidding, how-.-ever, was so persistent and so high that it cost £300 to retain the specimen in New Zealand; this amount was eventually paid by the Government and the bird was’ placed in the Dunedin Museum, where it may -be seen at the present time, This bird, however, is not a particularly fine specimen. It is a young, undersized female with an immuture plumage. This specimen was immediately handed over to Dr. Benham, at that time Professor of Biology at Otago University, and this is the only instance of a scientific examination of the bird having been made. Professor Benham made drawings of every seetion of the bird’s anatomy and forwarded them with his detailed report of: his examinations and findings to the Zoological Society, and these are embodied in the society’s proceedings. He also read a paper before the Otago Institute, and this paper is embodied in the "Transactions of The New Zealand Institute." Since the capture of this specimen, away back in 1898, nothing further has been reported, now thirty-one years ;of silence. Yet we hope and be-. lieve the takahe still lives away back in the dense secluded valleys of that vast rugged expanse of practically unknown country in the south-west of New Zealand. The four specimens that I have re ferred to provide the only official records that such a bird lived in New Zealand during the past century. There is still, however, yet another recori, though without, official confirmation, as the specimen was merely used for what it was worth to the soup-pot, no examination of any part of it having been made. Some four years ago when writing on this subject my reference came under the notice of the late Mr. T. Murphy, of South Westland, who was at that time in his eightyfourth year. Mr. Murphy, who was a keen observer, was so impressed with the description of the bird that he wrote to say that an identical bird came into his possession’ many years ago. Away back in the 1870’s he was employed with a survey party in the Okarito district, South Westland. The party were camped on the borders of the great Okarito lagoon. One evening at dusk the camp dog arrived home dragging a huge bird, which they named a swamp turkey. The members of the party were deeply interested in this rare inhabitant of the swamp, but no attempt was made to preserve the skin or bones and a complete record was lost, but I have no doubt that this "swamp turkey," captured on the Okarito swamp, was another lonely snecimen of this scattered species.

So far as we are concerned to-day little is known of the domestic life of the takahe; we know nothing of its mating or nesting habits; no eggs have been found to help us over certain difficulties; and the few isolated, widely scattered specimens that have been taken have aided us but little in unravelling the mysteries surrounding its lonely existence. .We do. know, however, as @ result of the examination made by the Hon. G. M. Thomson, of the contents of the gizzard of the specimen reported on by Professor Benham, that its food consisted of vegetation, principally swamp grasses. It wouid be quite safe to assume, too, that Ansects would furnish a large portion of its diet, as would seeds and berries in season. Such foods are all eagerly sought after by members of the rail Yamily. a