. Birds of the water, wood & waste . uliarly theirown: the rushing shadowed creeks halfblind with fern and koromiko. Dipping insmnmers heat from the fern clad downsand terraces of pumice grit, often have Ienjoyed the cool damp of his fern-hunggorge, and have paused long to w^atch himin his solitudes. The little waterfalls dashinto diamonds on his slate blue is thoroughly at home on the bubblingchampagne pools. Where the swift streamshows each polished pebble clear he canpaddle and steer with ease. When notthus occupied in getting his daily bread heand his mate will climb on to some r
. Birds of the water, wood & waste . uliarly theirown: the rushing shadowed creeks halfblind with fern and koromiko. Dipping insmnmers heat from the fern clad downsand terraces of pumice grit, often have Ienjoyed the cool damp of his fern-hunggorge, and have paused long to w^atch himin his solitudes. The little waterfalls dashinto diamonds on his slate blue is thoroughly at home on the bubblingchampagne pools. Where the swift streamshows each polished pebble clear he canpaddle and steer with ease. When notthus occupied in getting his daily bread heand his mate will climb on to some rockislet, feet above the water, and there standfor hours on alternate legs, preening theirfeathers, stretching out their necks, andgenerally enjoying their otium cum digni-fate. The Blue Ducks startled, sibilantwhistle belongs to our New Zealand wildsas peculiarly as the Curlews call to themoor and wasteland of the Old lands like Tutira, cut up into innumer-able inaccessible gorges, the Mountain Duckis certain to The Grey Duck iONSIDERING the compara-tively large area of wateron Tutira, the run breeds avery small number of GreyDuck. Even in winter onlysmall parties stop for any length of mobs resting on the lake, when shoot-ing is going on elsewhere, invariably leaveafter a few days. No doubt the food supplyof this breed is scanty, owing to the absenceof shallows in the lake. During the breeding season, perhaps 15or 20 couples haunt its edges, though theirnests may be often at great distances fromwater. Besides these, a few clutches arehatched each season in the open , how^ever, the whole number breed-ing on the place are counted, the resultworks out to a duck to each five hundredacres. As, moreover, a quarter of the run is K-- ^ h -3 SI \i
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1900, bookdecade1910, booksubjectbirds, bookyear1910
