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C A P E BIRD C L U B

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No., l4~il .·.r . ~. · :' SHEET

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Editor.: : I{~ ~ , M. -:.K• Rowan. • .. -· • .J J ..

. Tierboa, Hout Bay.

THE FAR- FEI'CHED FLEA. '.

nr feel a real and deep humility in hilvi ng thi ~ fle~· oalle.d by niy name"., In these curiously moving words Mr Charl es i>omerantz , · .o.nce a dress­~e~igner in New Y~?rk, is. reported to have acknowledged the : gi,ft. , .from th-e

1 ~er.ican Pest Control Associa.tiq,n, of a large model or statuette of

Stiyalj..!:!§.J?OrnerantH. T_he flea itse].f Yl.r;ts actually discovered, . we - ar~ told, on '· a rat on top· of 0. mountafn in the Philipines" by a· Mo.j or Traubou • .,., •• and was borne av1ay to achi eve frune in New York , where its name wi l : be, if not in lights, at lenst'in italics.

Ir. the scientific worl d it is not done for a discoVurer to ·name \"{hatever }:lo has discovered after himsqlf though a learned 'r;lody may bestow tJiti's Fc.no<J:r on him. If A •.. N. Ot.her: .coinoa across a no;/ specimen of rhino­ceros h~ does not ostentatiously dub it othor i , though ·ne_, may, so to speak~ keop the thing in the family by cUll ing i t f ifi a.e after the woman he ndorese A more normal practice ie·~o·g!ve it the nome either of a dis~!::gui r:hed rhirtoceros~fq.nqi~~: ol? .df.lso of solffione who , though having no paryicul~ connect;ion .with. pacpyderm:t, is generally ref$arded as a bene ... · factor of monkirid. All sorts o'f beasts, one rather imagines,- are called stolir.:.i i n Russia.

·-· , r . D_if.ferent pooplo~ 'luckily_, ha vQ different oobitiot)a, ot'h~ryrise the

world·v1o'u~d be in an even worse mJss than it is , and noone ·will grudge. Mr Pom-:::1-~n.r;~z the nonour which h e hns so richly earned. Pr;ecious few of -us will l i,vo to see t>ur surname, shunted .r:nthor bruequt?lY into 'the genitive, t ucked onto either o.nimo.l, vegato.ble or mineral. We wiuld cll - jump o.t the chance of being immortnlized if it eoul d possibl y be arr anged, by havi ng something culled o.ftor us . Pecha Melba, Wellington boots , . boeuf stroganoff, Plimsoll line, Beecher• s Brook, Hobson' s choice, Av.·en,u i\) Fo_ch,. Ri.chnrdson.' s skua, Cha.r:ey' s Aunt - but "nireo.dy the list (in· which none of us figures) has w~derod a.way from the orderl y realm of science nnd.t~e do.rk -immen~

_:sities ~f- _-';}1e undiscover ed. The question on how keen o.nyon.E'1· of us would · be on hewing a flea named c f'ter hin} is _'academe. One h9pes .that -.w~ should nll accept the honour vdth hurnili~y, tinged no doubt vdt h a. ' secret pride and a stil~ _ more secret sense of gratitude tha.t it wa.s not::·thE;?. _oth:er WfJ¥ ro'und ~ .· . ··- . ,;, ":, -- .

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T!1e p9ragraphs above nre quoted from a. subl eo.der i n the London Times, do.t "l uncert.o.in. ~ They wer e sent :to P~ by !.ir Rose Inne.s of , the Plague Rese~~:. Lu.boro.tory , Joho.nnosbur.g, . who hopes t hey vJil l amuse you and · ' spur you O"l to greater· efforts in _the: __ colleetion of ectopa,ra~ites~ 'I:f ... they dot yotl ~ay - well discove_r 1 ~he-Lo.n~J1~F to the nco.<ietnic question ttea.ted in tbe last two serrt:ence_E4 , .!.. • •

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llfhile. on the su.bj eQt of ff.e9-s ruJ.d :lice; :Dr Br oekhuysen has some very up-t0~date advipe. to o£fer would-be ~ collectors.:He writ~s t~at the ~follqwi~g_ effeet.iv~.-. Q.nq. eimp'le · r1ethod is.- widel y. usod overseo..s for ·taking t l!e lie~ f:-q~ l i-yirig· ?1.~s. · . . •·

, 'One ~equ~es a. c~ntainer :'(~as&1 .Lfor greatest C<:mveni~no~) ·~{lich -will hold ~ost of the bird. A disc of blotting paper impr egnate<). wit-h a ··~·.· few drops of chl orofom (ether, ethyl acetate or other quick, effective aneasthatic) is paced o.t the bottom of .the 'container. VJhen the bird is re~dy for .. delousing• its heo.d should b.o pushed through a .hole· in· a piece of rubber , .thin canvas or s~~ilar ·~~tE}.rio.l.,- ·and . i ts body·is pl aced in the· '!! c9nto.iner.: At the _sone time :the ont erial is stretched over the .opening.Lso -' that. it sen.l.s . of .t he f .umes ·of_;the ane-usi;1h~t~, ~rom the -hend of tlie b:l!rd(:;;· ~~ whil~l.omng t han t6 oen.l with _.th~ l ice qn: its. body. The .bi rd , verrj ~ · · · t.r

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naturally, wr iggles violentl y, and so sh~es it s drugged ectoparasit ee free of its feather s , Whon tho bird is released, these aro easil y collected on the tip of a daop needle , ond preserved in 70 'fo alcohol.

It goes without saying that the ect oparasit es fron each indi~dual bird I!!Ust go into a separate vessel of pr eser vative. Any scall bottle will do , but the.Entono,lo~cal Dept ., s . A. I.M.R., Box 1038 , .Johonnesb~rg , will supply convenient tubes, l abel s and pr eservatives, free on r equest. The l abel s should bear the collectors · naoe , -do:=te -and serial nunber in pencil , ond be insert ed inside the tube.

For dead bi~ds the procedure is the sane, except that t he whol e bird i-s placed with~n on o.irtigh~ container with ·o.neo.sthetic, o.nd l ater vrell shaken out .ovor a l arge porcel ain or ennoel bowl , froq whioh the ectopnrasites con be collected.

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NCYrES AND · RECORDS. J "

" • t c Le st nonth ' s appeal for not es and news has brought encouraging r esults.

I would liko to say 'how nuch I o.pprecipt e the genex:rous o.rtd procpt respnse of all· who eontributed t o t his hunber. · ·

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Dr Brookhuyson ht;e s~rrl; - #.~6. -o.ddi t.~o.nol r ecords of· rare or unusual visitors to our or en, arisi ng out of, it·ens :O.'PP~aring -~n back nucb.. ers which accunn:ntdnt ad whil e .he was away., ... _ ..,.1

. .. He tells. Me that· t he Eur opeal'\ ~o..t)t ho.s previC?U;Sly. been r ecorded in

the Peninsul a. itself at least three 'tines, 4 o.t Cl ovelly .in Novoober 1'948 by w. MncNo.e ; 9 in Fish Hoek Vall ey i n February 1949 by A. Thosm; 4 at Buffels Bay i n Qctober 1.951 bw ·R• H'9rsh01!1~'· In o.dd.i'i;ion Dr .Br.o.ekhuy·sen watched 54 birds soaring i n n cumulus .abov~ Kenilwort't-! Ro.co Course in Mo.rch 1951 . There are nlso two records _for Pc.o.rl, o.-nd one for Vissershoek.

. . . Regarding the, Block ,~ark,,- Dr Bro:ekhuysen .sa.ys h e ho.s noted it on

~~VE:lr.ol o?o~sio~s .. o.t both .?i ·et a.nd ,Z-eekoe Vl eis. · ' ! ·. . " :

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· · ·. There ,nre also thr e~e recorder of .t he <irey-heo.ded Gul l_;Loc'q].ly, in each ouse of single birdss Sept~ber 1949 , o.t the oouth of the Berg River; January l94~.at Black River ; Juno 1947 o.t Heroo.nu~ •

. . . , Finall y Dr Broekhuys.e~ r ena..rks _thOft h e ho.'s tv1ice noted Egyptian Geese bree~_pg on a snall islond i n Ze-eko e: lJl,ei, · so that Mr .Higgo ' s ~ecord {N .s. 12) i s not quite o.s unique as \Vo.s su.pposed.

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Two people have sent nows of the' Farii'iinr Cho.t . Mr K. Morgan has s een this bird in Fish HoElk .oft ~n , enou&l t o- r ega.rd it os fOlrly comon in tha.t l ocality . A pair or pnirs :nre.a~9und h~s house fron t~~e to time, · o.nd. he thinks of putting up a. box for- their benefi t • It :v,rill be interesting to kno.-/ the results of this , .. if any. Mr A.B. Wilson hnw a... single Feoilio.r Cho.t beside_ Boyes Drive on .2 Mny . He a.nd· his >iife wo.t<;_~ e~ the)>ird for some ninutes iu from their car o.t a. di stance of no no r o tho.n 6 ft .. L!r .VIilson o.dds that several times in the past he has watched th ese birds on the slopes of Elsie' s Peak , above Fish Hook. It i s i nter esting that ~he.oniy two r ecords , besides~ own, come from the Fis}l Hoek urea. DPe& this oao.n that Fooilio.r Cha.ts are cor e or less confined to .tho.t locali:ty~· wJ.th: .£l.' fe-.7 pai·re strcy- i FS along t he coa-s~line from Chapman's Peak to Llundudno?(I- have since seen thac again in both places. ) Or does it ner ely indicate another "little bro\m. bir.d" , .which escapes notice mor e often tho.n not?

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Ur Bernard Oarp, who i s very busy dovo~oping· a. £a.sci119-ting succulent nursery, hue neverthel ess found tioe t o contribute a. not e on the food of the Fisoal Sbrite. He saw n . bi~ sone weeks o.go.perchod on t e~ephone wires nea.r Go.nsbaai with a. large nouse (proba.bly .. the. striped Field Mouse Rhubdomys) in its bill. Ur Ca.rp wa.s . pa;dioula.rly -iut ereeted to note tho.t the Fisco.l wa.s. .. ' . ~ , .. . .

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not only. abla''.to capture prey just about ns long us itself , but wa.s a.ble to lif't it to tho heigpt of the telephone wires, imd there hold it. The total length··.Qf the adult striped ::touse uveroges .10 ins (c;;.s· cor.1pc.red wi~h tho Fiscal'1a-..9) , nnA i.~ could v1cigh nearl"y as .nuch ns it~ c:1ptor.

,. . ''· Rodent1l o.re not gonorclly list.ed as port of tho Fiocal Shrike' s food .

However, if r.rl.ce are ,taken a.t all regu,:Lo.rly , this ,will be a. snall cre<:lit itco to pla.ce ng~nst its long list of evil-doings ~ '

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Hiss Clare Robinson nlso \:lrites e.baut diet~ .. as she h~s been watching the feeding habits ot' tho Turt*c 1DQve. She tells ne thc.t. she has seen thEC ta.ke fleshy green l ea.ves of t;!eserclbryru1,t}1eouro , and the :truit s of Lr.ntnn:1 and Pyrecanthus, "besides ·.tho usual pj..n~ · ~d vrg.}~le spyds" . .. · .

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Both our oomon doves arc usually rega·rded as seed- enters above all , but it soer.1s possible that ot~er plant food is ~assert ial to them. Mrs G.M. Bayly of' .Klein Dro.kenstein ;.ecent~ wrote to r:ry fa.~her se~k~ne advice a.bout n T:.o.ughirtc: Dovo which she ho.d r.escued o.fj;.er nn t:i'cc'ident involving its tail feathers. She fed it on cru'shed ceol,i.e~ ~~xclusiv~ly, ·:1nd ~he bird bec~e very tune. At fir at :t.t prospor.o~i. w~ll , and \>men it s'eer.~ed nearlY' ready for the free life again, it sudderlly 'stuH ed to 1:oose its feath.ers , the- wing quill s pa.rticulo.rlyo At tho tine of vtriting it vr.nl? totally unnblo to fly, and any h~~dling c&used nor o f~thors to fall . o~t •. I run incli~Gd to .suspect that it was suffering froc n deficiency disea.se·au~ to insufficient variety in its diet . Hns anyone elso any eo~~!s to. offer?

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f!iss Robinson lias clso beon kecpine; ru',l eylJ on those Ch.....ff.inchos, a.nd in postcards da.ted 16 Olid 28 J.pril sa.ys .. tho.t birds vre-,:e heard .o.nd seen at int erval s throughout tn:1t period•

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· The spell of severo no~h-wcet weather that followed· Ea.st er had certain tragi:c but exceedingly interesting results . From Sot!ler.s~' \/est VIr I.:o.pLeod has seht a.n account of tho events of~ 13 April , vrhich have a lready had bri~f' 1:1ention in tho novtspapors . Th~ s what he writes: · · · '

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"Just 'at middo.y vte hac, a t errifd.c downpour of rair:t @,d ha.i.l,. :1nd that aft e:t'noon we piokod up dead birds- over quite o. wide nreu, in end o.bout our paints factory , There were fi•re differen~ species , but. the '\nost interesting thing uus th'lt the majority of the dead 'birds were European House :.inrtins, · V!hich o.r e very 1rare in these rarts . Of 'the 98 birds· ·collected, there v,rere 6 S,.h ........ Rock ~5nrti!!,!3 , 3 Blaek Swi'fts,. 34 European Svnlllows, 1 ~ Str_!pe­br'ea~ .SYtolLrwr and· 54 European Hou{:!e tjartins. •.• Tho *;.vhole collection was aarlvered to ~he Urliv~rsity fo~ further examination, and tho study of the sta.te ol£' the gonads, pluroge, sto~ch cont ents , pc.~asi tes, etc , , o~ ru ph c. large somplo of d<.. ~orting 'migr,ants ~hould yield most voluo.ble dc.to.. Th~, full r esults will uventunlly ba t:Jublished in ~be osrRICH . '·

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.. Our Somerset. Uont IT'Om'b~rs hil.ve jtist recently achieved o.nothor 11 scoop"

i n. c.dding a now bir d to tho South- west ern Cape list •· J:n $cpi;omber l ast year h::r John r~Ic.rtin notibed over' a hundred·waxbPl- likc \>ird.s in n lucerne field at Klfpheuwel . In spite o·r cc.refui o·'bservation , noone was able to identify them at th·e time, and soon oft"'l'\7ards tney aiso.pppared. However t thqr returned to the same ft.eld in tho· third week of April , · but.' still ~9fied identification. Finally Hr MacLeod we.s reduced to stru.ki.ng 'j;.hem with 0:-. collector ' s pistol~ and brouBf1t dovm u mule and a femnle w#h. a single shot . In the hand the bird p~oved to be the South l~ri~an_Quail Finch Ortygospiza atricollis, of which Gill remarks that they a ro usur.lly seen in small flocks on tho ground "where

.their distinctive mo.rkinge aro not in sight 11• Sno.ll wonder thnt those un-

expected stro.ngers baffled our Somerset West experts.

I:r :·o.cLeod reno.rks tho.t the male ho.d much onlargod gonads , o.nd , o.s these birds o.ro vlinter breedero, one wonders whethor thoy wero getting r eady to breed unywhore neo.r Klipheuwol . Their normal distribution is in the drier pc.rts of the country 1 fron tho Ln.lo.hari to the Eo.storn Co.po, und northwards through parts of o . F. s ., No.to.l and Tr o.nsvual , which ~akes their occurrence in the winter-ro.info.ll nreo. 1 so fo.r south of their uouo.l ro.ngo, o.ll tho more surprising.

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Mr A. R. Brov1n hao some interesting observations on t h e Common F.antail War 'bler whi9h he tu:~.s been wat chi ng at t~e Athl one Sewage Fe:tin wh'ere

:he 1pend1 mrny 0: lunch-hour. On 6 ·January he wat ched a bi ird mo.king rEipa'ti..Ped tri'pt~ bet\'l_eon -two poi nts abou{ :50 ft . a.pnrt . On i nve'.Qtiga..tion, · he· found . t hat t h e· bir d waa r mnoving whit e v egeta.!>].e down lirrl,ng a ne.t i~ taJJX T ':

kikuyu gri\I S, 'tl.nd using it in a new nest l ocated i n a. pa.tch of oa.t·li ke graea. HDw•vsr, the bird found· its n~• situa.tion no more to ·its l iking thnn the~ fir~t , ~d on 12 Ja.nuury made uno~her ~ova to a. point about lOO~ yds dist'o.nt·'frbm the socond site. ~ring the next few da.ysj .!:'.11 tho nest lining wns r ecov er ed frol':!l nest 2 for use in !l!l.~. ~ , which Vlc>.s ulr~10 st complete v1hen grazing catt l e destroyed the gross cover. Accordingl y , yet c.nother move wn~ ma.de , a.nd tho dovmy: mnt~rio.l wa.s reGl.nimed n: third time. Mr Brown ~1o.s ·uno.ble to find nest 4.~ irnniedi 0.te1y, althoa:eh.r· he knew its· whereabouts to · within a. few feet. A weok or two .la.ter he resur:~od his ·search a.nd found a · deserted nest , damaged by gra.¥l~g oo.t·t l e .• · It contained 4 eggs , .of which · 2 were broken. In nl l pr obabil ity thi s wns the little warbl er' s fourth ond .. fit;~ attempt to rt;tise a. feu.:d:l y l ast .~~er , and taken .in oonjunct ·ion with Mr· Brown' s ~otes in ,'N, S~ No 12 , it seem~ .rema.rkabl e··tho,.t :these littl e .birda ur e• abl o to reproduc 'e .. o.t all, on thb Ath+·()·~El ~ewa.g~ Fa.rm •

.... ...... : ."Eo.rl y in February · (writes Mr Brown in a further note) I noticed ,a.

pa.i r of IJ.odv.ring St arlings buildin~ in a · roof-ventilntor in a house in Berg­v~eit . On 19 FebrUary, ~ f~1 days after buil ding ceased, I inspected the nest o.nd f·ound thr ee eggs ~ The birds. we~e seen o.t th.:O nest for several.do.ys foll;ow:Lng, but then .suddenly aba.ncfoned i t .- Is it not rather unusual for Redwing starlings t o buil d at t'his tir.:~e of the year , a.nd , if so, could .one assuoe the eggs to be infertile?"

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It is certainly unusual , though not unknovm, for Redwing Stcrlings to buil d o.nd lay in February. Most pair s begin their second brood in Decaob~ or, at the latest , in Ja nuary. However, I have one recor d of February l aying, and Hr Skead, for the Eastern· Cape, ho.~ ~?'?·, a.ll unpublished. Each instance of l ute nesting nesting can b·e relat ed· either t o bad weather in early summer, de;Lo.ying t~!3 ';meet of breeding, or :to t ho f ·a.iluro of the fi r st attenpt nt · . ·a. secon,d b~bod t in whi ch case .'!;he. bir ds no.y try ~.e&iJl •·t.·· Such Ud.rd att:~f!l;·s · often ·g~t no further t han ren,oyation. ~d r !9lining. .. of the nest, .o.c·compan~-ed· by rerleVTed courtshi ps cere6.oni~s.-:. o.hd mat~rig , but t~e . inpulse to breed . seens to abo.te before the eggs o.re lo.id·~ The some t hing nay have happened in the oa~e of t hp Ber gvl eit bir~s , eyen thoug~ tpey had got ono: stage further ~ On the otl:ler ho.nd there o.r e two thing~ which ne13.ting Redwing Star lings ca.r;mot t tolerate ·- ra.to and ' .Argontine ants - and ·either of these coul \;1 cause t heir desertion of the nest . .I do not think one can just!hfi abl y assuoe that February eggs o.re. ~nfer:t;ile , . whether they a.re deserted o.t a.n eorly stage Of. incubo.t~on or not . For one thing, ny February clutch wns successfully •. hatched and r eared,. o.nd for another, it is known that cert ain birds wi ll .· ··· sit on infertile or artificial eggs for fantustioa.lly l ong periods, w~ll. ' exceeding the norool duration of incubation. . .

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Just as this Ne\vs Sheet "goes to press", nnother interesting item hc.s cooe to ho.nd. Several Hout Bc.y Residents ·awoke this norning (f:onday 11 flay) to find . s?~E! large white birds standing, awkward nnd. onbarrassed upon their front. ·lawns . :r'he birds ' . cnba.rrassnent is not .~t:o bo wondered o.t, for, on invest.igati.<m, I lpund then to. be c.dult Q._o.n_E~ , which had no buai~ess there o.~ 0:11. · Thore wer .e. ~t leo.st . four .of tho,se unf'ory_unato . ; . Go.nnets and runo'Urs of' sevoral, ·n,b're , o,ll ·of thon conrle~-~~y la.nd-bound_,_ ·· ·! ·

unable to launch :then9'6lyes succee.si'uf.'ly in the ~il r..a.r aobrgst the . · go.rden· trees. and shrubs. One of':_then eventually f.oun~ the &in Road, ond with a good run do\m tpis cloo.r. space!,. becp.ne .airborn~. Another was cap­tured by its ~nvol~n~nry host_,_ ~d r_elt:~asff? .~t the .. harbour. A third was due for tho soMe- t.r.e:atoent, bu-~ ':.OO.na·8ed to·· cl~mb o. h.igh terrace from which, after a struggle , it oano.g·ed to ·fly. I do : not·_ knov.r what bo.ppened to -the ·:· fourth. It is interesting that th'e 'flying birds did NOT oo.ke for the Bay, the only visible se·a, but turned in a north-westerly direction and \'lent straight to the nek at Llo.ndudno, where they were lost to sight. This strange invasion of' Gannets ·nny ho.ve been due to the heo.vy s ea ni:=P;. ·:which hung out 1n the Bo.y o.ll yeasterday, nnd in the afternoon S\7ept up the valley and over the mountains. It only dispersed this morning, o.nd nay ·hc.ve forced th-~ birds down soi:lotime in tlie early ~ours . . , ~ < ·

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