Chirps and 
Chatter. 
( 58 ) 
THE BIRD WORLD. 
it perched on the bough of a tree, you 
are not at first easily convinced that it 
and the Swift are members of the same 
family, and very near relatives. It is 
far easier to confound the Swift with 
the Swallows, whereas it really belongs 
to the Woodpecker order. Both the 
Swift and the Nightjar hawk the air for 
flying insects, and put off their arrival 
to a date when the food supplies they 
depend on are plentiful. But whereas 
the Swift, owing to its altogether inade¬ 
quate legs and feet, rarely touches the 
ground except by accident, and is never 
seen to perch, the Nightjar commonly 
rests on the ground, runs about freely, 
and frequently perches on trees, sitting, 
however, along, instead of across, the 
bough. 
Their Flight and Nests. 
Both birds are strong and grace¬ 
ful on the wing, though while the 
Swift screamingly pursues its flying prey 
all day long at great heights in the air, 
the Nightjar glides and wheels noise¬ 
lessly about the boughs of trees at 
twilight. The Nightjar builds no nest, 
but lays its two eggs on the ground; 
the Swift’s two eggs, however, are laid 
in some sort of a nest, generally on little 
heaps of rubbish the bird finds in the 
holes in old towers, thatches, and quarry 
sides where it makes its home, this 
material being augmented with floating 
feathers and straws it snaps up on the 
wing, the whole being stuck together 
with a glutinous excretion from the bird’s 
mouth. 
The Bustards at the Zoo. 
In one of the paddocks on the north 
bank of the canal at the Zoo, a couple 
of Bustards may now be seen strutting 
about in a most dignified manner. This 
fine bird has not been much in evidence 
in the menagerie lately. It was only 
the other day, so to speak, that the 
Bustard was to be seen in considerable 
flocks in many parts of the country. 
Now it is probably to the majority of 
people less familiar than the ostrich. 
It is the largest land bird found in 
Europe, and it was undoubtedly to its 
habits of frequenting the open plains 
that it owed its long immunity here. For 
the Bustard is a wary bird, and most 
difficult of approach. On the ground 
it can move with great rapidity, and, 
once on the wing, it is a bird of power¬ 
ful and prolonged flight. 
Strange Birds of New Zealand. 
Some bird lovers once caught and 
kept alive some strange birds when cruis¬ 
ing about the sound of New Zealand. 
Perhaps the most curious was a Keewee, 
about the size of a cock Pheasant, of a 
greyish-brown colour, with flesh-coloured 
beak and claws. It has no wings, and 
it uses its long beak to dig into the earth 
for worms, its favourite food. To make 
the Keewee happy, they had to cover 
the floor of its cage with earth, and then 
to put pieces of meat in the earth so 
that it might burrow for them, as they 
could not supply worms. Besides the 
Keewee, my friends kept on board a 
“ Parson ” bird, so called because it 
has two little white feathers on either 
side of its neck like a clergyman’s 
bands, some black Swans, a Paradise 
Duck, a Kakapu or wingless Parrot, 
and a King Penguin. 
Noisy Birds. 
In New Zealand the “ Bell ” bird may 
be heard at night, which makes a noise 
like the tinkling of a bell; and also the 
Ruru, called the “ More Pork ” by the 
English, because it makes a noise as if 
calling for more pork to satisfy its 
hunger. 
Feathered Architecture. 
It is curious to notice how vastly nests 
differ in construction. Some are mere 
platforms of twigs and straws, while 
others are beautiful pieces of workman¬ 
ship, little cups of basketwork, some¬ 
times lined with masonry, or domed 
edifices with some pretensions to archi¬ 
tecture. Though divided into these 
various classes, the erections differ con¬ 
siderably in merit. There is yet another 
section which finds some hole in rock or 
tree, lines it with leaves, moss, or 
feathers, and in it rears the brood. The 
