Mutton birds and other birds (1914) (14748400652)

Identifier: muttonbirdsother00guth (find matches)

Title: Mutton birds and other birds

Year: 1914 (1910s)

Authors: Guthrie-Smith, H. (Herbert), 1861-1940

Subjects: Birds -- New Zealand

Publisher: Christchurch, N.Z. : Whitcombe and Tombs

Contributing Library: American Museum of Natural History Library

Digitizing Sponsor: Biodiversity Heritage Library

Text Appearing Before Image:

nd neither saw nor heard a Dotterel inthe vicinity,—in fact I never saw or heard,morning, noon, or late evening, a second birdon the hill. This Dotterel on the sand ridge wasmoreover lame in one foot and running on littlemore than a stump. The diseased or injuredclaw was almost gone, and seemed to havebeen withered and drawn up into a knot. The New Zealand Dotterel, like the GroundLark, is liable to diseases of the foot; foranother bird on the beach was also sufferingfrom a shrivelled foot very much like that ofmy friend of the granite hill. On the seventh day, when the gale was over,and a deluge of rain had set in, from the east,I noticed, too, that she had, as if furious wuthhunger and using abnormal methods, dee)3lyprobed the wet hard-set sand within an inch ortwo of her nest. Only starvation, I believe,could have induced any bird to behave thus. Near the nest even the faintest signs thatinvite attention are eschewed, the ))ird itself asfar as possible avoiding the neighbourhood.

Text Appearing After Image:

AND OTHER BIRDS U3 Tlie loss of this sitting birds mate could, ofcouTse, only recently have occurred; but Ibelieve it had occurred, and that now she wasattempting ahaie to hatch out the doubtlessmuch-incubated eggs, and in her eifort evendenying hei-self food. Immediately upon emerging from their shellsthe young, I think, are taken down to the beach,not at hrst to feed themselves, but for theshelter and cover of the intricate dimes. On the spent waves very edge and where thebul)bles of their thin wash instantly disa))))earthe mature birds may be watched feeding onstuff exposed by the falling tide, not )nobingas the gi-anite hill bird had done, and as the billformation of the species might suggest that thebreed should always do, Imt very delicatelygathering their meals from the surface. 114 MUTTON BIRDS

mutton birds and other birds 1914 book illustrations ornithology birds zoological illustration natural history american museum of natural history medicine diseases images from internet archive

1914

American Museum of Natural History Library

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