Sydney Porter—Notes on New Zealand Birds



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and unique birds except for the birds on Kapiti Island, which by the

way are not pure bred, being hybrids between the North and the

South Island species. Wild cats and weasels no doubt play havoc

with the young birds, though I dare say either of these pests would

hesitate to attack an adult bird.


The Paradise Sheldrake ( Casarca variegata)


It was an unexpected joy to find these beautiful ducks

comparatively common in the alpine regions around Mount Cook.

They were to be seen by the ice-cold rivers which flowed over the

glacial moraines often just below the terminus of the glaciers them¬

selves. What the birds fed on was a bit of a mystery, for there

would be no aquatic life and very little vegetation. They were

nearly always in pairs, the male and female conversing with

each other all the while, each bird having an entirely different note.

Where there is a small flock the sexes are always even. These birds,

as if knowing what very conspicuous objects they are, are very

wary and difficult to approach.


Seen in flight in these inhospitable regions with the sun shining

on the lovely plumage, this bird well deserves -its name, for it is

then that the very striking colours which are hidden when the bird

is at rest are displayed. It is an exceedingly strong flyer and seems

as much at home in the air as on the water, in fact in captivity

this bird is not nearly as aquatic as most of the true ducks and in

" its habits of grazing and nocturnal rambling it shows itself to be

more nearly allied to the geese than the ducks. To my way of

thinking it resembles a goose far more than a duck, being very

similar in habits, form, and colouring to the well-known Egyptian

Goose.


On the first night of my arrival on Kapiti Island I noticed some

small white, ghostly objects moving about on the flats below the

house. I was at a loss to know what they could be until I asked the

caretaker, who told me that they were the ducks of this particular

species whose white heads stood out so conspicuously against the

dark vegetation. It seems as though some birds, especially New

Zealand ones, can do without sleep : such birds as Wekas, Keas,



