10 HOW TO IDENTIFY NEW ZEALAND BIRDS 
Kakas bore for and destroy grubs. Huias (alas! 
now very scarce) kept under the Huhu grub. Blue- 
wattled crows search the floor of the forest for 
beetles and grubs, whilst the fantail, in addition to 
killing insects of all kinds, is the deadly enemy of 
the codlin moth. Bushwrens are inveterate insect- 
hunters, working over every inch of the boles of 
big trees, and searching cracks and crannies in the 
bark. Moreporks destroy wetas—i.e., green timber 
borers. True, they occasionally make a meal of other 
birds, but more often than not it is sparrow-pie that 
they indulge in. 
Pigeons, Tuis, Bellbirds and other honey-eaters 
all assist in pollination work. 
Truly these facts in themselves are sufficient to 
make us wish to protect our feathered friends, which 
in addition to their usefulness, gladden us with 
their playful ways, glorious song, and marvellous 
plumage. 
The total number of New Zealand birds (indige- 
nous and imported) is 234. Many people do not 
realise that of the indigenous birds 209 in all 
(including 386 stragglers), 76 species or 86 per cent. 
are peculiar to New Zealand. Nowhere else in the 
world are they to be found. Even Great Britain 
with all her wealth of bird-life cannot boast of 
anything like that number. 
Moreover in addition to their uniqueness, some 
of these New Zealand birds are extraordinarily 
interesting. Take for instance the many flightless 
birds of which New Zealand, not a large country, 
has more than any other place, and which by reason 
of their helplessness are specially open to destruc- 
tion. In prehistoric days there existed a large 
flightless goose in addition to the now extinct Moas. 
The latter are said to have been much reduced in 
numbers by the hardships of a glacial period, which 
they merely survived to be exterminated by the 
Moa-hunters. 
