Let us consider these two kinds of introductions. The only mammals in New Zealand which were introduced by man unconsciously are rats and mice. These accompany man wherever he goes and settles, and do so very much against his will. All the other forms—horses, opossums, wallabies, cattle, sheep, goats, pigs, deer, dogs, cats, hares, rabbits, hedgehogs, and guinea-pigs—were introduced of set purposes. All the introduced birds were also brought to this country on purpose. So were the introduced fishes—salmon, trout, carp, perch, tench, turbot, &c. So were the frogs. As we get lower down the scale of the animal kingdom we find the self-introduced forms increasing in proportion and number, and those brought in for definite reasons becoming fewer.
No fewer than twenty-eight species of slugs and snails have been introduced into the country. Of these, one—a water-snail (Lymnaea stagnalis)—was brought here for the purpose of feeding imported trout; all the rest were imported among some kind of agricultural or horticultural produce. The case of the insects is especially interesting. About 270 species have been introduced. Those kinds which were first brought for some definite purpose were silkworms, then honey-bees, and later humble-bees. An unsuccessful attempt was also made to introduce the cochineal insect. The silkworms, which are, of course, not wild animals in any sense of the term, never became established, but they can still be obtained from a few dealers. The humble-bees were brought here for the special purpose of fertilizing red clover; and thus obtaining seed from the plants, instead of having constantly to import seed from abroad. In more recent years eleven species of insects—mostly ichneumons and ladybirds—have been introduced by the Department of Agriculture to cope with other insects which have become pests, the larvae of the former being parasites in the bodies of their prey, the latter feeding directly upon aphides. All the other introduced insects—that is, over 250 species—have been brought here unwittingly.
Nineteen species of earthworms have found their way into the country, most probably among the earth and the roots of introduced plants.
It will thus be seen that wherever people are settled in New Zealand the greatest number of animals to be met with are immigrants like themselves. A popular account, therefore, of the wild life of the country must deal with these introductions, as well as with those native forms which are still to be met with commonly. This, then, must be my apology for writing some sort of consecutive account of the common animals which are now to be found near the haunts of men, as well as of those which take some finding. Descriptions of introduced animals are to be obtained only by reading books of natural history dealing with other countries, or in isolated articles, such as the useful leaflets issued from time to time by the Department of Agriculture.
Nearly all children, and a majority of grown-up people as well, are fond of natural history, and many who have lost the early taste find it revive when they are brought in contact with it later. I should feel rewarded if this little book should stimulate the love of nature in any of its readers, and especially if it would cause a more general desire for nature-study to spring up in our schools.
The first Europeans who landed in New Zealand and who came to know something of the animals which were to be met with were those who came with Captain Cook in his visit here in 1769. They found that the birds and beasts were very different from those they had known in the Homeland from which they had come. They also noticed that there were very few animals or plants which were desirable for food, or which were likely to furnish food to later arrivals; and Cook was sufficiently far-seeing to recognize that before long many of his countrymen would come to these Islands either to visit them or to stay. These early European voyagers found that the Maoris, whom they met for the first time, and who were far more numerous than they are now, had no domestic animals except dogs, which they kept for food. They also found that a rat was very common in many parts; but they met with no other four-footed animals, except, probably, lizards.
So Cook and those who followed him thought it would be a good thing for the country, and for the Europeans who might come later to live in it, if the best and most useful animals and plants which occurred in Britain were brought to New Zealand. They were, then, the pioneers in starting the introduction of European forms by giving the Natives pigs, goats, fowls, and seeds of several plants. Other animals and plants were brought here from time to time, and as white people increased in number, and gradually occupied much of the land and brought it into cultivation, these introduced forms in certain localities soon displaced many of the native forms. All the thickly peopled and settled parts of New Zealand are much more like parts of Europe as far as animals and plants are concerned than they are like the New Zealand which Cook knew. The reason is that wherever white men go to settle they take with them certain animals and plants, which they keep and cultivate. Besides, as already said, a great many things come into the new country with the immigrants—things which are not wanted, perhaps, but which follow white men wherever they go—and these things frequently become very common. We call the plants “weeds” because they grow where they are not wanted. But we have no name for the uninvited animals—mostly small—which thus come into the country, until perhaps they become very common, and then we just call them “pests”—nasty hurtful things to be destroyed and got rid of.
Now, if we are going to study the natural history of the country—both its native (or indigenous) and introduced animals and plants—we must put away from our minds the idea of “weeds” and “pests,” and look at and think of them as wonderful works of creation, full of beauty and interest. All nature is full of beauty, and if one looks for this it will be found everywhere. It will also be found that the study of the book of nature is unending. It does not stop, like the story of a book, but the more one learns and the more one comes to know the more one will find fresh chapters opening. If you are a naturalist, a true lover of Nature, and study her for half a century, you will find at the end of that time that you are only beginning to learn a little about the wonderful things which occur and exist in this wonderful world in which we live.
In describing the more common animals of New Zealand I am going to follow the regular order in which a naturalist would probably catalogue them.
At this point a word is necessary as to the names to be used. Some people profess to object very strongly to the use of technical names, and say, “Give us English names that we can understand.” The objection is absurd, and arises from ignorance and want of thought. How could a naturalist give English names to the thousands of native and introduced moths, beetles, and flies already known? To take a more special case among the beetles alone, how could he distinguish among the twenty-five species of native and the half-dozen or more introduced ladybirds? The thing cannot be done. On the other hand, technical names are given on a definite and simple plan, and are really not difficult to master. We use them every day in speaking of garden-plants—Anemone, Crocus, Gladiolus, Chrysanthemum, Dahlia, Fuchsia, Veronica, and so on.