364 ANIMAL LIFE IN NEW ZEALAND 



duced sky-lark and the blackbird (alas ! poor colonists) 

 are not the joys of New Zealanders the farmers hate 

 them. The European settlers had the audacity to intro- 

 duce also the most beautiful and beloved of all birds, our 

 own perfect " Robin Redbreast," and they add want of 

 manners to their violent and uncalled-for hospitality by 

 speaking ill of this sweetest and brightest of living things. 

 After this, I am rather glad to report that the esteemed 

 table-delicacies, pheasants and partridges, don't get on 

 'well in New Zealand ; nor do turtle-doves. The thrush 

 is spreading and meets with the approval of the hyper- 

 critical New Zealander. The hedge-sparrow, the chaffinch 

 and the goldfinch have flourished abundantly, but the 

 linnet has failed. A very interesting and important pro- 

 blem for New Zealand naturalists to solve is that as to 

 why one bird succeeds in their remote land and another 

 does not. The British trout have grown to an enormous 

 size and are destroying all other fresh-water life. Im- 

 ported red-deer flourish, and are shot with great satisfac- 

 tion by the colonists. The American elk has been intro- 

 duced in the South Island, and the mountain goats the 

 ibex and the thar are to be acclimatised in the moun- 

 tains, so that unnatural " sport" may flourish in this ancient 

 land of quiet and of wondrous birds, turned topsy-turvy by 

 enlightened man. 



