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19 



which he liberated on the island of Kawau, very few survived the ravages of this little Owl, and 

 that some other importations suffered in like manner. The Hon. Mr. Stafford, who has for many 

 years interested himself in the introduction and acclimatization of useful birds, has also given 



Morep 



W ellin 



of Owls sought harbour there, and preyed on the little immigrants till scarcely a single one remained. 

 For a considerable time, however, it was doubted whether the Morepork was destructive to 

 acclimatized birds ; and a lengthy controversy on the subject appeared in the Auckland newspapers. 

 The careful observations of Mr. Brighton, the Curator of the local Acclimatization Society, at 

 length placed the matter beyond all discussion. Frequently he had to forego his night's rest in 

 order to watch the aviaries, and during a period of only a few months he shot no less than four- 

 teen of these birds. Some of these were surprised in the act of attacking the aviaries, and all of 

 them in the immediate vicinity. He repeatedly found the dead and lacerated bodies of Sky-Larks 

 and Chaffinches lying on the wooden ledge just inside the eave of the wire roofing ; and the 

 abundance of Morepork-feathers found entangled in the netting afforded a clue to the perpetrator 

 of these murderous attacks. From the appearance of the feathers, and the mutilated condition 

 of the dead birds, it was evident that the Morepork had tried hard, but unsuccessfully, to pull 



The following account, by the Curator, renders this 



them through the wire netting in the roof 



perfectly intelligible : 



a 



The aviary is constructed in the usual manner, on the model of a bird-cage, of wire netting, 

 over a wooden framework, with a sloping roof, also of wire netting. Attached to the framework, 

 comprising the wall-plates, on either side, there are wooden ledges, resembling shelves, on 

 which the Larks rest at night, while the Chaffinches roost upon twigs planted within the aviary, 

 and reaching within a few inches of the wire netting of which the roof is composed. During 

 moonlight nights the Moreporks have been seen to fly upon the^ roof of the aviary, and after 

 making, as it were, a reconnaissance of the defences, to pounce repeatedly against the wire, 

 causing a loud vibration, and startling the feathery inmates. These, in their fright, fly towards 

 the light, dashing themselves against the wire netting, until the Morepork, by hopping about on 

 the roof, succeeds in fastening upon one of them, and, of course, making short work of him." 



There has, in consequence, been a crusade against the Morepork in many parts of the 

 country. But whether this wholesale destruction of ah indigenous species, on account of these 

 predatory habits, is wise, or even prudent, may be seriously questioned. The Morepork, as we 

 have already shown, not only preys on rats and mice, but is also a good insectivorous bird, with 

 a voracious appetite. Its habit of feeding largely on the nocturnal Lepidoptera is of itself an 

 inestimable benefit to the agriculturist, as it tends to check the spread of the caterpillar, whose 

 ravages are becoming more severely felt every year, 

 balance of nature by violent means ; and, in a new country especially, we must be careful that in 

 removing one evil we are not opening the door to an immeasurably greater one. For my own 

 part, I consider the killing of a single Owl a positive injury to the farming industries of the 

 country, and scarcely compensated for by the introduction of a score of soft-billed insectivores in 



its place. 



I have sometimes found this species, at night, among the rocks along the sea-margin, from 



d2 



It is a dangerous thing to disturb the 



