SEABIRD HOMES ON THE WAITEMATA

This black and white silent film documents the bird life which can be found in the Waitemata harbour. The provenance of this film is uncertain, but it may have been commissioned by the Auckland Zoological Society.

Title: “SEABIRD HOMES ON THE WAITEMATA”.
Intertitle: “The handsome black-backed gull, - kororo of the Maori - is a familiar sight on every beach and harbour in New Zealand”.
Black backed gull walking along edge of wharf.
Intertitle: “One of the largest nesting colonies known is on the island of Rangitoto”.
Long shot: Rangitoto island seen from Waitemata harbour.
Black-backed gulls flying above rocky shoreline.
Intertitle: “Here on an incredibly rough surface of scoria rock the birds make compact nests of coarse grass to hold the three eggs”.
Three eggs laying on small nest made.
Intertitle: “The downy chicks seem eager to leave the comparative comfort of the nest very soon after hatching”.
General Views: Black-backed gull chicks walking amongst rocks and dry vegetation.
Intertitle: “A family adventures abroad, almost invisible against the grey rocks except when moving”.
General Views: Small black-backed gull chicks walking amongst scoria rocks.
Intertitle: “A novel use for undeveloped wings - as an aid to climbing”.
Black-backed gulls scrambling amongst scoria rocks.
Intertitle: “Hungry chicks are sometimes impatient. (the sound effects are here left to the imagination.)”.
Black-backed gull chick calling from amongst scoria rocks.
Intertitle: “The old birds finally return to feed the chicks”.
Pan Across: Black-backed gulls roosting amongst scoria - other gulls fly overhead.
Intertitle: “And the human visitors return by rocky ways to the launch”.
Group of men and women walking down rugged scoria slope.
Intertitle: “Another haunt of seabirds is tiny island of Crusoe”.
White-fronted terns flying above scoria rocks - head of man visible above crest of rise.
Intertitle: “Here the graceful white-fronted terns or sea swallows have their homes”.
White-fronted terns standing near roosts.
Intertitle: “Parental pride if often shown by this quaint bowing ceremony”.
General Views: White-fronted terns standing near nests and roosts - some bobbing heads.
Intertitle: “The eggs, usually one, more rarely two are laid in any convenient place. Only one tern in a hundred ever makes a nest”.
General Views: Eggs laying on rocky ground amongst vegetation.
Intertitle: “A critical moment - the egg begins to hatch”.
White-fronted tern chick breaking out of egg.
Intertitle: “Convulsive kicking by the chick gradually loosens the shell”.
Chick laying in shallow nest.
Intertitle: “A brace of downy chicks show a considerable range of colour from yellow to speckled grey”.
Two white-fronted tern chicks walking on scoria.
Intertitle: “An intrepid youngster about a fortnight old exploring the limits of his island home”.
Chick walking on scoria foreshore as waves wash onto nearby rocks.
End Title: “Natural History Films, we see all nature in motion before us”.