NOTORNIS QUARTERLY JOURNAL of the Ornithological Society of New Zealand [Incorporated) Volume Fifteen, Number Two, June, 1968 A BIOLOGY OF BIRDS Many members have still to purchase a copy of this O.S.N.Z.publication. It seems that some have been put off by the title. While parts of the text may not interest all members, most of it covers material not easily availcrble and of close interest to anyone interested in N.Z. birds and: in their conservation. This book, a valuable companion to the Field Guide, was reviewed in Notornis, June '1967, page 85. It is availqbIe at onIy $1.33 (including postage) from P.O.Box 40-272, Upper Hutt. NOTORNIS In continuation of New Zealand Bird Notes Volume XV, No. 2 JUNE, 1968 JOURNAL OF THE ORNITHOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF NEW ZEALAND (Incorporated) Registered with the G.P.O., Wellington, as a Magazine Edited by R. B. SIBSON, 26 Entrican Avenue, Remuera, S.E. 2 Annual Subscription: Ordinary Member, $2; Endowment Member, $3 Life Membership, $40 (for members over thirty years of age) Subscriptions are a minimum of $2 a year, payable at the time of application and the first of each year thereafter. OFFICERS 1968 - 69 President - Dr. G. R. WILLIAMS. Wildlife Branch, Dept. of Internal Affairs, Private Bag, Wellington Vice-president - Mr. F. C. KINSKY, Dominion Museum, Wellington Editor - Mr. R. B. SIBSON, 26 Entrican Avenue, Auckland, 5 Assistant Editor - Mr. A. BLACKBURN, 10 Score Road, Gisborne Treasurer - Mr. J. P. C. WATT, P.O. Box 1168, Dunedin Secretary - Mr. B. A. ELLIS, 36 Hartley Avenue, Christchurch, 5 Members of Council: Mr. B. D. BELL, Wildlife Branch, Dept. of Internal Affoirs, Wellington Mr. A. BLACKBURN, 10 Score Road, Gisborne Dr. P. C. BULL, 131 Waterloo Road, Lower Hutt Dr. R. A. FALLA, 41 Kotari Road, Days Bay, Wellington Mrs. J. B. HAMEL, 42 Ann Street, Roslyn, Dunedin Mr. B. D. HEATHER, 10 Jocelyn Crescent, Pinehaven, Silverstream Mr. N. B. MACKENZIE, Pakowai, Napier R.D. 3 Convenors and Organisers: Nest Records: Mr. D. E. CROCKETT, 90 Jellicoe Street, Wanganui Beach Patrol: Mr. M. J. IMBER, Wildlife Branch, Dept. of Internal Affairs, Wellington Recording: Mr. A. T. EDGAR, Inlet Road, Kerikeri Librarian: Mrs. H. M. McKENZIE, P.O. Box 45, Clevedon Despatch of ' Notornis ' and enquiries for back numbers - Mrs. H. M. McKENZIE, P.O. Box 45, Clevedon Card Committee: Mr. B. D. BELL, Wildlife Branch, Dept. of Internal Affairs, .Wellington ' Contents of Vol. 15. No. 2: june. 1968 The Birdlife of Codfish Island (A. Blackburn) ...... ...... ...... Plate IX -- North-eastern Aspect of Summit Rock ...... ...... Plate X .A mixed phase pair of Stewart Island Shags at nest Plate XI .Punui (Stilbocarpa lyalli) on islet near Sealers' Bay Short Note -- Black Shags Flying with Bills Agape ...... ...... The Cape Barren Goose (Cereopsis novaehollandiae ath ham), in New Zealand (G. R . Williams) ...... ...... ...... ...... Observations on the Breeding . Habits of Pycroft's Petrel (J . A . Bartle) ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... Plate XI1 -- Pycroft's Petrel climbing a Pohutukawa ...... ...... Plate XI11 -- Typical Vegetation on Aorangi. Poor Knights ...... Plate XIV -- Burrow A. Aorangi. 1964 ...... ...... ...... ...... Plate XV - Burrow F, Aorangi, 1964 ...... ...... ...... ...... Notes on the Birds of Coppermine Island. Hen and Chickens Group (D. V . Merton and I . A . E . Atkinson) ...... ...... Plate XVI - The Hen and Chicken Islands viewed from the south Plate XVII -- Western end of Coppermine Island ...... ...... Plate XVIII .Burrows of Flesh-footed Shearwater on Copper- mine Island ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... Annual General Meeting ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... Short Note -- Black-faced Cuckoo-shrike in South Westland ...... Birds of the Tokelau Islands (Max C . Thompson and C . Douglas Hackman) ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... Biological Observations from the Rennick Glacier Region. Antarctica (A. S . Dow and V . E . Neall) ...... ...... ...... Plate XIX - White-chinned Petrel (P. aeguinoctialis) found at Oamaru. 1967 ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... Plate XX .Sooty Shearwater (P. griseus). Cape Wanbrow. 1967 Short Notes .Banded Fairy Prion .First Overseas Recovery; Sanderlings in the Bay of Plenty; Red-necked Avocet in Westland; A Good Summer for Terek Sandpipers; Sighting of South Island Bush Wren ...... ...... ...... ...... Report of the Banding Advisory Committee ...... ...... ...... Letter ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ..... Notices ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... Blackburn BIRDLIFE OF CODFISH ISLAND THE BIRDLIFE OF CODFISH ISLAND By A. BLACKBURN SUMMARY The birdlife in December, 1966, is recorded in detail. Predation by the Weka, particularly on nesting sea-birds, is noted and discussed; and the mammalian life, both native and introduced, is described. A brief outline of the early history of the island, and a general description of the topography and vegetation are included. A possible reason for the total absence of some species of birds is suggested. The value of the island as a future sanctuary for rare species is discussed. INTRODUCTION Codfish is a large island separated by about two miles from the north-west coast of Stewart Island, adjacent to where the towering Ruggedy Range falls sheer into the sea. Visits by naturalists have been few and far between, and much work remains to be done. The present survey is far from complete, but at least it reveals some of the wide gaps in our knowledge of the island's fauna. The expedition was organised by Wildlife Service, the party being led by B. D. Bell, and comprising E. Sharpe and M. Crombie, both of Wildlife Service, A. H. Whitaker of Animal Ecology Division, D.S.I.R., J. I. Townsend of Entomology Division, D.S.I.R., I. M. Ritchie of Botany Dept., Lincoln College, and the writer. We departed from Bluff at 8 a.m. on 6/12/66 on board the " Buccaneer," a 60ft. crayfish boat owned by Mr. 1. Waitiri, after having been held up for five days by a continuous gale and rain storms, and arrived off Codfish Island at 3 p.m. Despite the disturbed state of the sea, few birds had been observed en route, other than large numbers of Sooty Shearwaters. An Arctic Skua (Stercorarius parasiticus), 7 White-faced Storm Petrels (Pelagodroma marina maoriana), 2 Prion sp. (Pachyptila) and 6 Diving Petrels (Pelecanoides urinatrix) completed the tally. Later one or two White-capoed Mollymawks (Diomedia c. cauta) were seen off the coast of Codfish. We remained on the island until 17/12/66, and throughout our stay were much frustrated by recurring gales from the south-west and north-west. We had taken ashore a dinghy and outboard motor, but attempts to round the headlands at the N.W. and S.E. corners of the island were i~nsuccessful, so that the western and southern coasts were untouched. Journeys overland to these parts would have been arduous in the extreme, so we were obliged to confine our observations to the northern and eastern coastlines, to the summit area. where a night was spent in a gale of unusual severity, and generally to the bush and scrub within a radius of about a mile from our camp at Sealer's Bay. TOPOGRAPHY AND VEGETATION Codfish Island covers 3660 acres, and rises to a height of 1140 feet, the summit consisting of a large knoll of bare rock, surrounded by thick vegetation. It will be seen from the map that much of the coastline consists of precipitous rocky cliffs, and elsewhere 5 2 NOTORNIS it consists either of a sloping rock shelf 20 to 30 feet high, or of boulder beaches. Sealers' Bay provides a fine sweep of sandy beach, and-at low tide only there are small stretches of sand at Roderique's Anchorage and in North-West Bay. Well-defined ridges are shown by the map contours, which also indicate the big valley with its considerable stream of peat-stained water which flows down to Sealers' Bay. Streams exist in many of the smaller valleys. Most of the island is covered with forest or scrub, the forest varying in height from 20 to 60 feet, and the scrub from a low Dracophyllum heathland type to a mixed community up to 20 feet high. Considerable areas of vegetation have been modified by burning at some stage, for a search in several areas revealed traces of charcoal. This would have been done either during the settlement of Codfish by sealers between 1825 and 1850, in an attempt to provide grazing for live stock, or during the years from 1892 to 1913, when the island was taken up as a pastoral run. There are thus sudden changes in the vegetation, but generally it consists of (a) the sand dune community behind Sealers' Bay; (b) the Olearia-Senecio scrub on exposed -headlands and western slopes; (c) the manuka-kamahi belt, mainly on the western end of Sealers' Bay; (d) the podocarp forest; and (e) the Dracophyllum heathland on the upper ridges. Rata is prominent throughout. 5 4 NOTORNIS Vol. XV HISTORICAL Early maps, according to Howard 1940 (1) showed various qames for Codfish: Whenuahou, Fenouacho, Pukehou, Pegasus I., and Passage I. This author believes that from 1818 on, sealing gangs were in occupation for long periods. Certainly in 1823 sealers' huts occupied the site of the settlement believed to have been founded in 182516, when sealers, probably from the ship Glory, took Maori wives and settled there. Bishop Selwyn visited Codfish in February, 1844, and found a total population of 33, including 5 whites, although the Bishop considered that a few years earlier there must have been over 60. By 1850 Codfish was completely deserted. Probably only very few cattle were grazed from 1892 to 1913, when the project was abandoned, and the grazing lease was surrendered in 1915. Poppelwell 1912 (2) recorded " a few cattle " present in 19 11. Visits by naturalists have been few and far between. In April, 1911, D. L. Poppelwell spent two days collecting botanical specimens; in December, 1934, and January, 1935, E. F. Stead, R. A.