Sydney Porter—Notes on New Zealand Birds 131


had no need of self-protection for it had no enemies. Dogs, human

beings, and forest fires were, after the first settlement of New

Zealand, the worst foes of the Kiwi. On the edge of the forest,

reserves the farmers allow their cattle, in the winter time, to

penetrate far into the forest so that they may feed on the under¬

growth, and dogs are frequently used to round them up. The

Kiwis having a strong scent are soon found out by the dogs, who

in 99 cases out of a 100 kill the birds before they can be stopped.


The burning of the bush is again fatal to these birds, for when

asleep in hollow logs or in holes under the roots of the forest

trees, they stand no earthly chance when the fire sweeps along. In

the early days countless thousands must have been sacrificed in

this way, a fitting offering to the god Mammon! And in the

remote parts where the destruction of the forest goes on many

still perish.


In the Government reserves a new and very formidable enemy

is the opossum trapper, who penetrates to the farthest recesses of

the virgin forest in his quest. These marsupials, I might mention,

were introduced many years ago from Australia, in the mad days

when every pest under the sun was introduced into New' Zealand,

and have since increased and spread themselves all over the

country w'ith great rapidity. Though these animals in themselves

are quite harmless to the native flora and fauna, their pursuers

are not. A fev r years ago the skins of these mammals became

fashionable in Europe and so great w r as the demand that £1 or

more was paid for good skins. A skilful trapper could get 400 in a

season, so no wonder the forests were overrun by men, for the

main part unemployed, or others desirous of adding to a meagre

income.


The usual method employed in catching these inoffensive

animals is to find a track, usually at the bottom of a tree, and there

set a large steel-toothed trap. In a great many cases the tracks

are not those of the opossums but of the Kiwis, v'ho are very

local and never wander a great distance from their hiding places,

and who make well-worn pathways from their holes to the hunting

grounds. The Kiv'i sauntering along, probing the ground with



