The Seattle post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, Wash. Terr. [Wash.]) 1888-1914, 1899-10-22
REAUTIFUL BIRDS
OF THE ANT'IPODES.
1sRAT VARIETY OF FEATHERED
serC1Es IN THE ISLANDS OF
THE SOUTH SEAS.
,..t Most Common I'm New south
Wnaee-stsange Habits Of the
n>wes BaiIaeKs-LArge FlOcks
Barker the Land.

THOUGH Australia has no ma
"a tive song birds like the night
A. iusaie, lark, thrush or Iinnet. II
.~~ssx1s a great variety Of feathered
-@ssea. several Of great beauty. and
-.rv nossessing features OF interest.
1..snr those found In New South Wales
~. nsrrot Is perhaps the most common
erverni Of these are peculiar TO Australia.
49, being over sixty species found In
- ashnr country. Among these are the
ssetatoo parrot, long-bsaked white
eeckatoo, black cockatoo. forest parrot
~ roseila- There are also the grass
roerps Blue mountain parrot, love bird
"a ground parrot. They are all equally
A-ftesuished by the beauty and variety
n thsie plumage, the splendor Of several
~.eeies being unrivaled. Among the lat
~ q the crimson or biood-stained cock
uoo The honey -eater Is numerous,
,rauy Of the genera being peculiar to
lnairalis. II not to New South Wales.
"a not few places the bower bird In
80 attention by reason OF its building.
= ADDITION to Its nest. bower on the
neund. adorned with shells and odds and
- pIcked up In the bush. No certain
- has ever been ass.gned to this
ssraaee structure. save that II II used as
! hid OF playground. which n all that
i Known. Apart from it's bower the bird
i remarkable for the extraordinary
lsaufy Of Its plumage.
fhefe are several other birds which
possess this strange habit of construct
- bowers. here are two varieties OF
nouud- making b!rds-Leipoa oceilata and
N>eapodius--whicn lay their eggs In
~ leaves and twigs. surrounded by
hfre mounds of sand scraped together
81 the birds. the eggs being left to hatch
thxmselves by the heat OF the compost
hap IN which they are imbedded. The
eeRs Of Leipoa are so thin that they
could not be sat upon by the bird without
b<iug broken. The mounds are generally
feand In desert scrubs. the eggs being OF
hsRe size and much used as articles OF
lood by bushmeri.
The beautiful Tyre bird Is occasionally
met with In the dense forests of the col
ony but. being extremely shy. has to be
hunted with caution. Many birds known
Ia Europe are plentiful In New South
Wales. Among these are eagles. hawks.
owls. swifts. swallows. martins. fiy-
caschers. pellcans. sand~pipers. plovers,
ducks grebes, retrels. guils, terms. PEN
xrirs and alhatrosses. The number OF
duchs on the inland rivers and iagoons
b Il times surprising. Rev. J. Il. Teni-
he Aas Travelled In winter along the River
Murray and the long estuary OF the Coo
ronk. and for upward OF l2s miles was
never out OF Sigh; OF large !iocks. which
literally darkened the air and water.
he swallow and cuckoo come and go
at certain periods as regularly as In Eu-
rope. There are other birds which do
The name. but the extent of their migra-
tens has not been ascertained. They
arrive as the sun moves southwark and
fttufn with II. bu, do not so north OF the
equator There are multtsudes OF pig
cons In the colony, many being remark
able fer size and beauty of plumage. In
tie interior districts the birds And their
way In immense numbers TO places
where water is 10 be found. Swans.
mestly black. are 10 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
seen4 IL In not found outside Australia.
The sparrow as Ia other countries. Is the
pest Of the farm and orchard, So long
~ THERE Is plenty of seed and fruit the
bird does not trouble itself about insects.
but leaves II 80 It's insectisorous hreth-
ren. Every Kind of British cage bird
thrsves In the colony. hut when liberated
thes eftsn have TO fight for existence
With the native species. Washington
Peat,