204 Sydney Porter—Notes on New Zealand Birds


with forest as they cannot fly through the “ bush ” owing to the

great wing span. But on the islands which are not forested the

birds play havoc with the young Petrels and Gulls, and, in fact,

any young shore birds. We often used to watch four young

Red-billed Gulls on Little Barrier Island. They were delightful

creatures; they seemed lonely and rather pathetic. They were

quite tame and seemed to know us. Once after an absence of

several days we missed them and later came across their remains.

I rather think a Harrier was the perpetrator of the deed. But

he had no doubt only killed them for food, for hawks do not use

sentiment, but we humans who kill birds for the pleasure of the

thing would rather think of the Harrier killing and feeding upon

rats and the like.


The Harriers differ a great deal in plumage, some being

almost black while others are a very pale grey. This I think is

merely a question of age, the darker birds being the youngest.


In the last ten years the New Zealand Acclimatization Society

have paid a subsidy on the heads of 149,000 hawks and many

thousands of others must have been trapped and shot by farmers,

of which there is no record. No species can possibly keep up with

slaughter for any length of time. It is a strange thing in life

how people will try to discover any bad trait in the character of

any animal and at once make it an excuse for ceaseless persecution.

How few people go out with the avowed object of finding the

good characteristics or attributes in an animal’s life with the

object of saving it.


The New Zealand Falcon (Falco novaeseelandiae)


I saw very little of this beautiful little hawk in a state of

freedom for it is now exceedingly scarce and only found in the

few large forest reserves. Utterly fearless, it preys upon all

manner of birds, even ones which are twice its own bulk, especially

poultry, pigeons, etc.; hence it is the anathema of all farmers

and poultry keepers who. have killed it at every opportunity and

very greatly reduced its ranks. Owing to the smallness of the



