The evening times., 1899-08-04
AUSTRALIAN BIRDS.
A Great Variety of Species of Curl
Gus Habits.
tFrom the Birmingham Post,

tFrom the Birmingham Post.)
Although Australia has no native song
birds like the nightingale, lark, thrush. or
linnet, it possesses (writes a Sydney CORE
spondent a great variety OF feathered
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 TO Australia, there being
over sixty species found in no other coun-
try. Among these are the cockatoo parrot
long -beaked white cockatoo, black cock
atoo, forest parrot, and rosella
There are also a grass parrot, Blus
Mountain parrot, love bird, and ground par
rot. They are all equally distinguished b.
the beauty and variety of their plumage
the splendor of several species being un-
rivaled. Among the latter is the crimson
or blood stained cockatoo. The honey
eater is numerous, many of the genera be-
ing peculiar to Australia, if not TO New
South Wales. In not few places the bower
bird invites attention by reason of its build
ing in addition 10 its 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 kind o:
playground, which is all that is known
Apart from its bower, the bird is remarka-
plumage.
mere are several other birds which pos
sess this strange habit of constructing
bowers. There are two varieties OF
mound making birds-Leipoacellata an /
Megapodius-which lay their eggs in few
leaves and twigs, surrounded by large
mounds of sand scraped together by the
birds, the eggs being left to hatch them
selves by the heat of the compost heap in
Leipoa are so thin that they could not be
sat on by the bird without being broken
The mounds are generally found in desert
shrubs, the eggs being of large size and
much used as articles of food by bushmen
The beautiful Tyre bird is occasionally
met with in the dense forests of the colo
ny, but, being extremely shy, has t. be
sought with caution. Many birds known
in Europe are plentiful in New South
Wales. Among these are eagles, hawks,
owls, swifts, swallows, martins, fy-catch-
ers, pelicans. sandpipers, p.oyers, ducks,
grebes, petrels, gulls, terms, penguns, an /
albatrosses The number of ducks on the
inland rivers and lagoons is at times sur
prising. The Rev. J. E. Tension Woods,
the eminent naturalist, says that he has
Travelled in winter along the River Murray
and the long estuary of the Coorong and
for upward of one hundred and twent J
miles was never out of sight of large
flocks. 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 ar
rive as the sun moves southwark, and re-
turn 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 plumage. In the inte-
rior districts the birds find their way in
immense 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 OF Australia
The sparrow, as in other countries, Is
the pest of the farm and orchard So long
as there is plenty of seed and fruit the bird
does not trouble itself about insects. but
1t leaves them to its insectivorous breth-
rem. Every kind of British cage-b bird
thrives in the colony: but when liberated
they often have TO- fight for existence with
the native species.