20 Breeding Successes in New Zealand


Next morning, however, the three youngsters were out again bright

and early.


During the next three days, they commenced to fly round the

aviary, two being particularly strong on the wing. Food given all the

time w~as the usual prepared Shama food together with mincemeat

well w etted, and the range of insects already mentioned. The young

were considerably paler than the hen on the breast, but totally different

on the head and neck, which, on a dark background, is covered with

rows of brown feathers, giving a mottled appearance. The wing feathers

also were mottled, but the rump, instead of white as in the adult, was

jet black. The legs were pale flesh colour and the eyes very big and black,

with a light brown eye streak. The young Shama is a splendid example

of nature’s protective colouring, and providing they remained still,

it was almost impossible to see the young birds in an aviary containing

growing vegetation, brilliant sunlight still further increasing the

difficulty of seeing them owing to their appearance still further blending

with alternating sunlight and shadow. I have looked for minutes at a

time in bright sunlight at a peach tree in full foliage with long grass

growing up to its low r er branches, and failed to locate the young Shamas

perched on its branches until they themselves drew attention to their

presence by their distinctive chirp and the flick of their absurd little

tails. The green and yellow leaves of the grass, combined with bright

sunlight and shadows of the peach tree leaves, provided a background

against which the broken, mottled appearance of the youngsters

made them invisible.


As the birds grew, the white side tail feathers developed rapidly

and, with tails 2 inches to 2J inches long, these white feathers were

most noticeable. The black centre tail feathers now grew rapidly and

soon almost concealed the white feathers of the tail. On 15th December,

1935, the Shama hen was sitting on three more eggs, so I concluded

that before that date the young were independent.


The sex can be distinguished with almost certain accuracy when

a few weeks old, by noticing the definite colour on the breast, the cocks

having a decidedly darker hue then the hens. It being necessary to

remove the cock bird when the hen had been sitting from ten to twelve

days and then allowing her to rear the young ones, it usually happens



