Sydney Porter—Notes on Neiv Zealand Birds



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That a bird with such a marked individuality as this one would

make a delightful pet goes without saying, but few are the people

within recent years who have kept one. Many years ago it was

occasionally imported into England but no one seemed to be able to

keep them long ; that was in the days before the feeding of honey¬

eating birds was understood. But now we have the food, the birds

have gone and never again shall we see them in our aviaries, for so

strict are the laws relating to the bird life in New Zealand that it is

an offence even to possess one of these birds, let alone export one.


Within recent years, I will not say how long ago, I possessed a single

example of one of these charming birds. It came to us a poor dejected

creature, there being no indication of the beauty that was later to

develop. It was a very young one and looked much like a very

bedraggled Blackbird, but with careful nursing he came round and

developed into one of the most charming pets I have ever possessed.

He lived upon the ordinary sunbird food, that is, Mellin’s, Nestles’,

and honey. We also hung a tiny meat safe, made out of wire netting

in his aviary which contained rather over-ripe meat and was a great

attraction to the flies which he loved ; once a winged insect found its

way into his aviary it never got out again. In spite of his size he was

the most agile bird I have ever possessed. He moulted into the most

perfect adult plumage complete with “ pois ”. He did not sing so

much his own song as imitate the calls and notes of other birds. His

special delight was in imitating the call of a Lesser Bird of Paradise.

This was not at all pleasing, for the loud ear-splitting “ wak, wak,

wak ” of Paradisea minor is anything but musical.


One day I was watching him and admiring his lovely plumage

when suddenly he fell dead. I could hardly realize what had happened ;

one minute he was full of life and vigour and the next a lifeless corpse.

A post-mortem showed that he was in perfect condition, no vestige of

disease. This was during a very hot summer and I think it must have

been sunstroke, for I did not realize then that the Tui was an inhabitant

of the deep leafy forests and shunned the bright sunlight. Had I

known that, he might still have been gracing my aviaries. So ended

the short life of one of the most interesting birds I have ever owned

and perhaps the last that will ever be seen in this country.



