^°'g,;^'J M'l.FAy, Hush-Birds of New Zealand. g 



(liat oiK^ j^Miii could easily I)ag 30 or 40 birds in tlic day : but it 

 was }K)()r sport shooting the resting birds, and, as mentioned 

 above, they were then hardly fit for the table. 



There was hardly any white pine in the Maunga-Hauniia bush, 

 but in 1908 there was one of the heaviest crops of that fruit ever 

 known upon the trees of the Te Karaka, Hungaroa, and Munga- 

 poiki districts, where this tree is more })lentiful. Pigeons are said 

 to have never been so plentiful in these places for years, and, 

 being an open season, large numbers were killed. In Mr. James 

 Drummond's weekly notes, " In Touch with Nature," it was 

 mentioned how general the fruiting of the })ines was in that year, 

 and many observers reported how plentiful Pigeons were in many 

 l)arts of this island (see Lyttelton Times, 25th July, 1908). Hence 

 it will be noticed how much the Pigeon moves from place to place, 

 following, as it were, its food supply. Still, although the bird 

 of the main busli has no fixed place of abode, odd pairs reside 

 in some of the very small patches of bush which have escaped 

 destruction in the open country. Here they remain all the year 

 round, and, if they have the good fortune to escape molestation, 

 nest and rear their young. 



It is a pity our Pigeon has not the same degree of wariness 

 associated with its English namesake. It makes no attempt to 

 conceal itself when feeding, and usually ])resents a conspicuous 

 mark to the man with a gun. 



The year 1907 was a close season for the Pigeon ; but in the 

 bush the game laws of New Zealand — at least, so far as they refer 

 to birds — are merely a farce, and are but little observed by the 

 Maoris. Still, the latter are not the only law-breakers, for in the 

 liush the Pigeon is shot in and out of season * — close year or not — 

 by many of the residents, and especially by the casual worker 

 in those districts. In fact, to my own knowledge the Pigeon 

 has no peace there, and is shot in every month of the year. 

 In November of 1906 I met a party of scrub-cutters emerging from 

 a bush some way up the coast, in which the birds were nesting, 

 and they were carrying Pigeons home with them to camp ! 

 Certainly, some of tliis illegal shooting is done through ignorance. 

 I can point to an advertisement which appeared in a local paper 

 of May, 1907 (a close season), wanting to " purchase Pheasants, 

 Ducks, and Pigeons in any quantity!" Such an advertisement 

 could only lead to the supposition that the Pigeon was game in 

 that year, and result in the birds being shot by those who knew 

 no better. The Animals Protection Act is practically unknown to 

 many, and few have the slightest idea that any New Zealand 

 bird is absolutely protected. I am informed by one of its members 

 that a leading local firm sold about the same number of .22 rifle 

 cartridges in 1907 (the close year) as they dispose of in any other 

 season, and the pea-rifle is the weapon of the bush. This speaks 



♦The season for shooting is from ist May to ,^ist July, but each third 

 season is closed for Pigeons. 



