Black-backed gulls’ habit of breaking pipi-shells by carrying them into the air and dropping them on to a shingly beach has attracted the attention of Mr S.A.A. Fry, of Brunnerton, a keen and enthusiastic observer of birds. He saw gulls doing this when he was sketching on the beach at the mouth of the Mokihinui River, West Coast.
A gull, with a shell, rose 50 feet or more. It suddenly dropped the pipi. Swiftly following, it had no difficulty in extracting the pipi’s flesh from the broken shell. The end of the operation, however, was not always so quiet.
Sometimes, as a pipi was falling, another gull, much lower down than the one that took the pipi up, darted in, seized the pipi when it struck the stones, and, in rapid flight, flew off with it. The owner of the pipi, as soon as it saw the other gull rush in, set up a loud clatter and went after the pirate, but it always seemed to be left behind. The pirate, in every case, as far as Mr Fry saw, got away with its booty. Mr Fry saw the incident scores of times, but saw only one end to it.
Moa wingless, bones show
As we are accumulating a large number of moa bones in the Museum, it may be of interest to relate what is known up to the present time about these giant birds. That they are now extinct must be admitted by everyone who has paid attention to the subject. At what approximate date they ceased to exist is still a matter for conjecture. One point which is clearly established is that these birds were entirely wingless, — with perhaps the exception of one genus. Every known bird with the exception of the moa has had wings of some kind, although many have been and are of the most rudimentary kind, such as the notornis, kiwi, kakapo, weka and penguins. It is known that moas were wingless, partly from the fact that no wing bones have been found, and also from the positive evidence that the skeleton shows no place for them to fit into. — by J. Crosby Smith
Road improvements outstanding
Crawford street is probably the finest stretch of road, in Dunedin, and another outstanding improvement is Bridgman street, where the Drill Hall stands. At one time little more than a series of potholes, it is now as good as the best. It has received a 2-inch coating of Trinidad asphalting concrete on a cement concreting foundation, with concrete stripes for vehicles to stand on each side of the street. This work, which has just been completed, is a continuation of the work in Anderson’s Bay road from the bridge. — ODT, 22.6.1922
