The National tribune., 1899-05-18
AUSTRALIAN BIRDS,
In splsuaor Of pamags Many Species A.s unrival.a

| In Splsudor OF PIumass Many Species A.e Unrvaed
Although Australia has no native song
birds like the nightingale, lark, thrush
! or linnet, II possesses a great variety o
featiered species, several of great beauty,
| and many possessing features Of interest
Among those found in New South Wales
the parrot is, perhaps, the most common.
Several of these are peculiar 10 Australia
| there being over 60 species found in no
other country. Among these are the
cocliatoo parrot, long -beaked white cocka.
| too, black cocltatoo. forest parrot, and
rosella. There are also the grass parrot,
Blue Mountain parrot, love bird, and
ground parrot They are all equally dis
itinguished by the beauty and variety oi
| their plumage, the SplendOr OF several
species being unrivalled. Among the lat
| ter is the crimson or blood-stained cocka-
| too. The honey-eater is numerous, many
OF the genera being peculiar to Australia,
if not TO New South Wales.
In not few places the bower-bird in
vites attention by reason OF its building
| in addition to it's nest, bower on the
ground, adorned with shells and odds
and ends picked up in the bush. NO
certain use has ever been assigned TO
! this strange structure, save that 1T is
used as a kind of playground, which is all
| that is known. Apart from its bower, the
bird is remarkable for the extraordinary
beauty OF its plImage. There are several
other birds which possess this strange
| habit Of constructing bowers.
There are two varieties of mound d-mak-
| ing birds-Leipoa ocellata and Megapo-
dius-which lay their eggs in a few leaves
and twigs, surrounded by large mounds OF
sand scraped together by the birds, the
eggs being left 10 hatch themselves by the
heat of the compost heap in which they
are embedded. The eggs of Leipoa are
SO thin that they could not be sat upon
by the bird without being broken. The
mounds are generally found in desert
scrubs, the eggs being of large size and
much used as articles of food by bush
men.
The beautiful Tyre bird is occasionally
met with in the dense forests of the
colony, but, being extremely shy, has to
be hunted with caution.
Many birds known in Europe are plenti-
full in New South Wales. Among these
are eagles, hawks, owls, swifts, swallows,
pipcrs, plOvers, ducks, grebes, petrels,
gulls, terms, penguins, and albatrosses::
The number of ducks on the inland
rivers and lagoons is at times surprising
The liev. J. E. Tension Woods, the emf
nent naturalist, says he has Travelled in
Winter along the River Murray, and the
long estuary of the COOrGng, and Tor up
wards of 12O miles was never out of sight
OF large fiocks, which literally darkened
the air and water.
The swallow and the cuckoo come and
go at certain periods as regularly as in
Europe. There are other birds which do
the same, but the extent of their migra-
tions has not been ascertained. They
arrive as the sun moves southwark, and
return with it, but do not go north OF the
equator
There are multitudes of pigeons in the
colony, many being remarkable for size
and beauty of pluInage. In the interior
districts the birds find their way in i'm
mense numbers to places where water is
to be found. Swans, mostly black, are
to be found on some OF the inland rivers,
and on the interior plains and in the
scrub deserts the emu, the Australian
typical bird, is frequently seen. 1t is not
found outside Australia.
The sparrow, as in other countries, is
the pest Of the farm and orchard. So long
as there is plenty oi seed and fruit the
bird does not trouble itself about insects,
but leaves it to its insectivOrous brethren.
Every kind of British cage bird thrives
in the colony, but when liberated they
often have to fight for existence with the
native species.