An Early New Zealand Settler Talks about Birds



23



got weather-bound in a small patch of bush near our school in the

township for some days. It cleared up late in the afternoon after

school hours, and all of a sudden the mob rose out of the bush—the

noise was terrific—there must have been between five and six hundred

of them, and if anybody had asked me at that time I would have said

thousands by the noise they made with their wings. To realize what

I mean one has only to hear a single Pigeon rising out of the bush.

This mob had evidently been on its way to new feeding grounds when

overtaken by bad weather.


The Pigeon’s chief food in those days, in season, was first tawa,

then white pine, miro, and finally late in the winter hineau berries.

On the latter the Pigeons get very fat and are too lazy to fly much.

I have seen them shot and burst when they struck the ground. These

berries are also taken by the Tui and Kaka, but we all know the Tui

is a honey-eater through the spring and summer months while the

poor Pigeon has to live on leaves and loses his condition, and then is the

time to see how swift he is on the wing for so large a bird.


The Kaka can change his diet, too ; he loves to get a dead standing

pine-tree full of hu hu grubs, of which there were plenty in our forests :

trees that had lived their span, rotting away and making room for

others to follow. I have spent many pleasant hours watching Kakas

busy on a dead tree, ripping out lumps of rotten wood with their

strong beaks, looking for grubs. It was amusing to see the way, when

a large lump was dropped, they watched it hit the ground before

starting on the next piece.


One day in recent years I was going along a track in my bush and

was passing a big dead Rimu and got a hard knock on the top of my

head, and I glanced up and saw Mr. Kaka looking down at me with

a mischievous look on his face (at least I thought so) ; he seemed quite

pleased at the result of his shot.


I am sure one could not be gloomy watching a mob of these birds ;

they are so happy, mischievous, and funny, and their whistle call to

their mates is worth hearing—it is very loud and clear. I have often

wondered why the Kaka seems at his best in dull wet weather or just

before or after heavy rain (this applies to the Huia too). My theory

is that perhaps the grubs in the trees come more to the surface in dull



