THE GIFT OF

FLORENCE V. V. DICKEY

TO THE

UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA
AT LOS ANGELES

THE DONALD R. DICKEY

LIBRARY
OF VERTEBRATE ZOOLOGY

\

,

SHELL PABOQUEET.

See p. 167.

NATURAL HISTORY
SKETCHES.

BY THE OLD BUSHMAN.

AUTHOR OF "SPORTING SKETCHES, HOME AND ABROAD," ETC.

"All hail to the lordliugs of high degree,
Who live not more happy, though richer than we;
Our pastimes to see, under every green tree,
In all the gay woodlands right welcome ye be."

WITH ILLUSTRATIONS.

A NEW EDITION.

LONDON :
FREDERICK WARNE AND CO.

BEDFORD STREET, COVENT GARDEN.
NEW YOEK: SCRIBNER, WELFORD AND CO.

"ILL, EDWA IM 4SD CO., PRINTERS, CHANDOS STREET,

STACK ANNEX

TO

ANTHONY GREEN,

EMERALD HILL, MELBOURNE,
AS A MAB.K OF KESPECT FOB HIS SKILL AND TALENTS

IN HIS PROFESSION,
AND IN EVERYTHING KELATING TO THE SPOBTS OF THE FIELD ;

AS A TRIFLING ACKNOWLEDGMENT FOB MANY AN ACT
OF KINDNESS RECEIVED;

AK-n AS
A SLIGHT TOKEN OF FRIENDSHIP AND ESTEEM ;

f (is little »rfc

IS DEDICATED BY HIS OLD FEIEND,

THE AUTHOE.

668024

CONTENTS,

INTRODUCTION Page is

CHAPTER I.
The Kangaroo and Kangaroo shooting 1

CHAPTER II.
The Wild Dog— The Native Bear— The Wombat 31

CHAPTER III.

The Opossum — The Ring-tail — Flying Squirrels — The Native
Cat— The Tiger Cat— The Kangaroo Rat— The Bandicote
— Small Bush animals — The Platypus— The Spiny Ant-
eater, and Domestic Cattle 36

CHAPTER IV.

The Wild Turkey— The Emu— The Lowan, and the Native

Pheasant 61

CHAPTER V.

Duck-shooting— The Black Swan— The Wild Geese —The

different Ducks peculiar to this Country 66

CHAPTER VI.

The Coot — Moor-hen — Dabchick — The Greebs — The Bittern
— Herons — White Cranes — The Egret — Spoonbill —Ibis
— Nankeen Crane — The Native Companion — Coast Shoot-
ing, and Sea Birds 86

CHAPTER VII.

The Bronze-wing and Scrub Pigeons — The Ground Dove — The

Snipe and the Rail 92

CONTEXTS.

CHAPTER VIII.
Quail Shooting — The different Quails peculiar to Port Phillip,

and a Hint to Bird-catchers 105

CHAPTER IX.

A Chapter on the Ornithology and General Fauna of Victoria 115

CHAPTER X.

Notices on Shooting — Suggestions for the preservation of the

Game — The Dogs of the Natives, and Bush Dogs 155

CHAPTER XI.
The Snakes and Reptiles peculiar to the country, and small

Bush annoyances 197

CHAPTER XII.
BushLife 210

CHAPTER XIII.

General Remarks on the Scenery— The Forests— The Climate,

and the Seasons of Port Philip 217

CHAPTER XIV.

General Sporting of the Colony— The Turf— The Chase —

Steeple Chasing— The Ring and Cricket 235

CHAPTER XV.
River Fish and Angling 243

CHAPTER XVI.
Sea Fish and Sea Fishing 248

CHAPTER XVII

Coun
Friends, and Conclusion

INDEX

The Aborigines of the Country — Parting Advice to old Bush

" • ds, ; ' ~ ' '

INTRODUCTION.

AMIDST all the wonderful revolutions that have
marked the present century, no country beneath the
sun has experienced such a rapid change, in so short
a period, as the Australian colony of Port Phillip.
Tracing the gradual development of this colony, we find
that, in the year 1788, the first British convict-ships
landed their melancholy freight on these shores, and
until the year 1803 this country remained a penal
settlement. In that year the convicts were transferred
to the Derwent. The first French discovery-ships,
tinder Capt. Baudin, entered Western-Port Bay and
christened one of the large islands there, French Island,
which name it now bears. Capt. Sturt appears to have
been the first European visitor to the banks of the
Murray in 1829. Major Mitchell, however, was the
discoverer of " Australia Felix " in 1836 ; but Batman
was the founder of the colony of Port Phillip, and one of
the earliest settlers in the Melbourne district. "When
he first camped upon the hill overlooking the now
flourishing town of Melbourne, and which to this day is

Vlll INTEODTJCTIOtf.

called Batman's Hill, the country was in tlie hands of
the savage, and the kangaroo and wild dog roamed
through the surrounding bush, then as lonely as any
part of Australia. Field sports were, of course, at that
day little heeded by the white settlers, whose sole occu-
pation was to establish themselves in their new home ;
and the wild man, truly the monarch of all he surveyed,
held unmolested sway over hunting-grounds, then
swarming with every species of Australian game. Tardy,
however, was the progress of advancement, and this
country might have remained in its state of primitive
wildness, had not tidings of the wonderful discovery of
the Victorian goldfields reached the Old "World, and
thousands of adventurers from every clime flocked to
these shores, resolved " to do or die " in the struggle
after wealth. Then, indeed, " a change came o'er the
spirit of the dream ;" a large and populous city sprang
up as by magic in the desert, and some little idea of the
rapid rise in value of property here may be gathered
from the fact, that, in 1853, land in the town of Mel-
bourne sold for £210 per foot frontage, which, a few
years previous, might have been bought for £5 per acre.
The whole face of this district quickly changed. The
woodman's axe was heard in forests which had till then
only echoed back the howl of the wild dog, or the shout
of the savage. The country became gradually peopled.
The cockatoo settler built his log-hut on his small clear-
ing, the wild solitude of the bush vanished before the
presence of civilized man, and the game was of course

INTEODUCTION. IX

driven back into wilder and more secluded regions by
the foot of the stranger.

At the first rush to these shores, every one was far
too much occupied in the search for gold, to turn his
attention to the sports of the field. In fact, so all-
absorbent was the thirst after instant wealth, that all
regular work was for a time at a standstill. Fortunes
were made and spent with a rapidity almost incredible,
and it was not until hundreds usurped the place of one,
that the goldfields began to lose their attractions, and
men were obliged to seek a living in less exciting but
steadier pursuits. Out of the thousands who yearly
landed in Victoria, it was not likely that all should
prosper. Many were totally unfitted for the life they
had chosen ; others, good men and true, but whom ill
luck seemed to mark peculiarly as her own. Among these
latter were men in the prime of life, brought up at home
to the sports of the field from their earliest youth ; and
it is a matter of little surprise that when " the lecture
came from the last shilling," they should turn to the
gun as a means of support, and, in the freedom of the
bush, unshackled by the trammels of the British Game
Laws, seek an independent livelihood in pursuits which
had hitherto been only an amusement : and rough and
hard as is the shooter's life out here, when properly fol-
lowed up, few care to leave it when they have once
fairly entered upon it.

Such was my case. Six years' rambling over the
forests and fells of Northern Europe had totally unfitted

X INTRODUCTION.

me for any settled life. I had no luck in the diggings.
The town was out of the question, and to keep the wolf
from the door there were but two alternatives, to seek
work on a station, or face the bush on my own account.
I chose the latter, and never regretted that choice. I
luckily fell in with a mate in the same circumstances as
myself. The gun had often brought both of us " to
grief" in the Old "World, so we agreed that for once it
should help us out in the New. Our tastes were similar.
The sphere of life in which we had both moved at home
had been the same, and therefore all those little disa-
greements and collisions which are the inevitable conse-
quences when men of different education, training, and
tastes, are shut up together in the close companionship
of a bush tent, were avoided. For nearly four years did
we " rough it " under the same canvas, with scarcely a
single dispute, and very rarely even " a growl." We
had, it is true, at times, hardships to contend with, but
we never met troubles halfway. We took the rough
with the smooth, and whether game was plentiful or
scarce, generally had a fair share of it. Many a happy
day did we pass together in the forest. Many a good
bag of game have we brought home ; and often, although
thousands of miles now separate us, do my thoughts fly
back to the old bush tent and the old comrades left
behind me ; and the chequered scenes of a wild forest
life crowd upon my mind like the " visions of yester-
day."

With the exception, perhaps, of New Zealand, where

INTRODUCTION. Xi

there is scarcely a bush animal, save the half- wild pig,
and no game-birds except ducks and pigeons, Australia
offers less attractions to the Gordon-Gumming school of
sportsmen than any foreign country; and to all who
have read his diary of African slaughter, or Capt.
M. Eeid's Hunter's Feast, where American forest
life is so graphically portrayed, I fear the perusal
of the following pages will appear dull and devoid of
interest.

I can tell of no hair-breadth escapes, no moving inci-
dents by flood or field ; and, in regard to adventure, it
has been my lot, during the whole of my sporting career,
to fall in with fewer than is the usual luck of travellers.
But this is not my fault, and the man who writes for the
amusement or instruction of his brother sportsmen, can
do no more than give a true account of the sporting life
of that country in which he chances to be thrown. Vic-
toria, at the present day, occupies no mean position
among the British colonies, and doubtless there are
many sportsmen at home who will like to know what are
the chief pursuits of the field out here, for scarcely a
family in England now but has some member or friend
knocking about in Australia. These are the men for
whose amusement this little treatise is particularly
written, and, however imperfect it may be, it has at
least the truth to recommend it. I must, therefore, beg
of them to take it for what it is worth.

There is no large game out here to tempt a man to
wander so far for the sake of the chase alone, let hi»

Xll INTEOBUCTION.

sporting propensities be ever so keen. One can imagine
the real sportsman, who finds his sphere too cramped and
limited at home, wishing to pay a visit to the wilds of
Africa, or the prairies of the far West. In both these
countries the game is well worth following, and the value
of the quarry amply compensates for the risk and trouble
attendant upon its pursuit. But in Australia the kan-
garoo and the wild dog are the only large animals of
chase, and the only game-birds of any size are the emu
and wild turkey. The kangaroo, as a wild animal, stands
about on a par with the park deer at home. The wild
turkey is now rare in the Melbourne district, and an
emu, at the present day, killed within forty miles of the
town, would be a matter of history. But for small
game, I don't think this country can be surpassed ; and
ducks, pigeon, quail, and snipe, may be killed in almost
any quantities, at the proper seasons, in those districts
where they have not been shot out. After all, a man
can always make sure of a better day's sport here than
at home (unless he happens to be the lucky possessor of
covers and preserves of his own, and then he will most
likely stay where he is well off), without the expense of
a certificate, and with no fear of a bullying gamekeeper
before his eyes. If he leaves the neighbourhood of the
town he can wander pretty nearly where he pleases, and
he has the satisfaction of knowing that, should all other
trades fail, he can at least get his living by his gun if he
knows how to use it, and this is more than he could do
at home. The very absence of all those wild animals to'

INTRODUCTION. Xlll

be found in other countries, while it renders the chase
here less exciting, at least adds a greater security to
bush life in Australia; and as there is now little or
nothing to fear from the natives in the settled districts,
the sportsman can roam the plains and forests day and
night in perfect safety with no other companions but his
dogs, and no requirements, in case of being benighted,
except a few matches and a little salt.

There is, perhaps, no other country where a man who
depends upon his gun for a living, has to work harder
than he does in this. He must of necessity be camped
within reach of a market for his game, which, on account
of the increase of population, becomes every year more
scarce and wild in the settled districts. Moreover, the
shooting grounds here lie so wide apart, and so much in
patches, that the shooter has to travel miles from one
place to another before he reaches a likely spot, and I have
many a time had to walk home six or eight miles to my
tent, after sunset, with a heavy bag of game, when I was
already pretty well tired out with my day's shooting.
In the winter all the swamps are full, and many of the
plains covered with water, and most of the best ground
inaccessible except by wading. In the summer the heat
is dreadful, and I can hardly say which is the most
laborious, fagging on the dry plains under a burning
summer's sun, or plashing through the swamps in winter
up to the knees in mud and water for miles. What
with the heat and the blowflies, which, infest this country
during the summer months, one third at least of the

XIV INTEODUCTIOK.

game is lost, and a man cannot depend at all upon the
natives in the Melbourne district for assistance. There
are indeed but few left, for disease and intemperance are
sadly thinning their ranks, and these have become so
lazy and fond of grog, since their intercourse with the
white man, that they care little for work ; and if they do
bring you in a couple of ducks, or a bag of eels, they
know their full value. The shooter here must trust en-
tirely to his own exertions, and if he does chance to " drop
on " a little lot of game, keep it to himself, for there is
now as much competition in this respect as any other.

"When I first commenced shooting, our great drawback
was the difficulty of finding a market for the game.
Melbourne was our only mart, and as we had then no
horse, and no means of getting the game up without car-
rying it ourselves, a journey into town on foot at night,
with a heavy swag of game (for the small game in the
summer must be sold early in the day after it is killed),
after a hard day's shooting, was no joke ; now, however,
there are hawkers at every fishing-station along the coast,
who will buy the game at a fair price, and, as the country
opens out, there will be many other places, where the
shooter can make a far better living than in the vicinity
of Melbourne. But let him be camped where he may,
he should by all means endeavour to keep a horse, for
many a weary mile's walk will this save him. An old
" crawler," good enough for his work, will cost him
but a trifle, and a season's keep in the bush stand him
in little more than a pair of hobbles or a tether-rope.

1NTEODUCTION. XV

After these few preliminary remarks I shall proceed
to notice those animals and birds which form the chief
pursuit of the sportsman out here. But let the reader
bear in mind that I never camped more than forty miles
from Melbourne in any one direction. Still, in one place
or another within that district, I fell in with nearly
every species of game peculiar to Victoria, and my Notes
will give a pretty fair idea of the field-sports of Australia

NATUEAL HISTORY
SKETCHES.

CHAPTEE I.

THE KANGAROO AND THE WALLABY.

THE Kangaroo (the koorah of the natives) may be called
the Australian deer, and being the only large wild animal
of chase in the country, deserves something more than
a casual notice. Of the large kangaroo I fancy we had
two distinct species in our forests, and a smaller variety
called the wallaby ; of which aiimal, I believe, there are
several species ; although the common wallaby is the only
one met with in the Western-port district. Altogether,
between twenty and thirty species of kangaroos exist in
Australasia.

The singular form of the kangaroo is doubtless familiar
to all who are likely to look into these pages ; it is one
of the few animals whose habits are strictly terrestrial,
which, although by nature furnished with four legs, use
only the two hind ones as organs of progression. These
hind legs at first may appear disproportioned to the size
of the animal, but, upon examination, will be found beau-

2 TSATUEAL HISTOBY SKETCHES.

tifally adapted to their purpose. They are three-jointed,
the thigh-bone similar in shape to the shoulder-blade of
other animals ; being broad, and deeply grooved for the
insertion of the powerful muscles which give such force
to the spring of the kangaroo. The second joint is very
long, being nothing more than bone and sinew, and the
tendon, which runs down it, behind the hock, into the
foot of the animal, is immensely powerful. The foot,
which forms the third joint, is from 12 to 18 inches
long, according to age, and is tipped or armed with a
thick sharp-pointed nail, two to three inches long. It is
also furnished with a smaller nail on the outside, higher
up, and two small claws joined together inside the joint
opposite ; and a thick, leathery, rough kind of skin runs
down behind the hock to the toe, and this is spongy on
the ball of the foot. "What would be the hock in another
animal, appears to be the heel of the kangaroo ; for you
often see the print of the whole lower joint of the leg in
soft ground : I fancy this is when the kangaroo is run-
ning slowly. I am no comparative anatomist, but I should
say that both the outer and inner formation of the
animal would form a beautiful study. The fore-arms are
short, and the paws broad and large, resembling those of
a beast of prey, being armed with five long sharp claws.
These marsupial animals form a class to themselves,
otherwise it would be difficult to assign a plac& to the
kangaroo, were we to take the feet or teeth as a guide.
In form, the hind leg is similar to that of a hare, and
•when in an upright position, the kangaroo rests upon its

THE KANGAEOO. 3

hind feet and haunches, after the manner of a squirrel ;
the tail stretched out at full length along the ground, not,
as I have seen it represented in a picture, curled up like
that of a rat, for the kangaroo cannot bend its tail.
"When running, it springs from the ground in an erect
position, propelled by its powerful hind legs and balanced
by its tail, holding its short fore-arms well into the chest,
after the manner of a professional runner. Thus it bounds
lightly and easily along, clearing any obstacles, such as
trees, and even low fences, in its stride. I never fairly
measured one of these strides or springs, but I am certain,
when hard pressed, an " old man," or " flying doe," will
clear nearly ten yards at a spring. The long tail mate-
rially assists them in running, and its measured thump
may be heard on the ground long before the kangaroo
itself appears in sight in the thick forest. It is a curious
fact, that a wounded kangaroo very often breaks the
hind leg in struggling ; and I once knew an " old man"
snap the bone just above the hock, as short as a carrot,
in taking a spring. The general height of a full-grown
kangaroo, when sitting upright, is, perhaps, about 5 feet.
The largest, I think, that I ever killed, measured 9 feet
6 inches from the tip of the nose to the end of the
tail when stretched out on the ground. The tail is very
thick at the root, gradually tapering to the end ; and in
an old kangaroo will be 3 or 4 feet long, and weigh 10
to 15 Ibs. I have, however, seen them over 20 Ibs. In
shape the head much resembles that of the fallow-
deer ; but the " lachrymal sinus," peculiar to that class
B 2

4 NATUBAL HISTORY SKETCHES.

of animals, is wanting. The countenance is mild and
placid, but, like the sheep, we rarely see two exactly
alike. The eye is bright; the nostrils not very wide;
the ears large and pricked ; and many of the males have
a marked Eoman nose, like that of an old ram. In bush
parlance, the old male kangaroo is called an "old man;"
the young female a "flying doe;" and the young one,
till eight or ten months old, "a joey." The weight of a
full-grown doe, or young buck, just killed, will vary up
to about 120 Ibs. Some of the "old men" reach to an
immense size, and I have often killed them over 2 cwt.
A hind-quarter and tail, the only part sent to market, or
a young buck, or flying doe, will average about 50 Ibs.
when skinned and dressed. There is a good deal of
flesh on the hams and back, but a great proportion of
bone. The tail makes a very rich soup. The fore-
quarter is very light, the chest deep, and there is some-
thing peculiar in the shape of the ribs. The kangaroo
is a good swimmer, and when hard pressed will take
to the water as readily as a deer. Mr. Gould men-
tions a kangaroo which swam for two miles through the
sea, one mile being against a sharp wind and heavy
waves.

The kangaroos vary much in colour, according to age
and sex. The general colour, however, is dark mouse-
brown on the back, lighter on the belly and flanks. The
wool or hair is very fine, soft, and close ; and I have seen
a strand on the back of a winter skin nearly 2 inches
long. Not that I fancy the wool itself could be ever used

THE KANGAROO. 5

for any domestic purpose ; but I think that the Bkins,
when properly dressed, would make famous linings for a
winter cloak, or pells in northern climes. They make an
excellent apron for a gig or dog-cart ; and when lined,
are very showy. In the rutting season they have a very
red tinge underneath, and we occasionally see one with
the whole body-colour approaching to light chestnut. As
they advance in age, the colour appears to fade ; and I
recollect a pure white " old man " in one of the mobs at
"Western-port. He suddenly disappeared, but I don't
think any one shot him, or we should have heard of it.
I do not, however, mean to infer that all the old kan-
garoos would become white if they lived long enough.
I consider a pure white kangaroo nothing more than a
very rare Albino variety. We occasionally meet with
such anomalies among birds ; and I recollect a milk-white
teal, which flew with a mob of black-duck on Langhome
Swamp out here. The skins are, of course, best for fur
in the winter. When the skins are well picked, and
properly dressed and sewed, a kangaroo rug beats any
other for bush-work (but for out-door use they should
be tanned) ; and a pair of kangaroo-leather boots are a
real luxury to any old gentleman whose feet are tender,
and who wishes to preserve a favourite corn.

In stretching the skins, the shooter should try to get
them as square as possible ; and this is best done by
stretching them on sticks, something after the fashion
of a boy's paper kite. But they will dry just as well if
stretched and nailed out against a tree, and the tanners

G NATUEAL HISTOBY SKETCHES,

think as much of them if they are merely thrown over a
pole to dry. In skinning a kangaroo, get the neck-skin
as full as possible ; and this depends much upon how you
open down the fore leg. If the skin is to be dressed with
the hair on, and the head and feet perfect, as a curiosity,
be careful in skinning out the toes, and cut as much flesh
from the lips and ears as possible, and soak the skin in a
strong solution of alum and saltpetre, or the feet and ears
will go. Be careful that no blood clots on the skin, or the
hair will very likely come oif and leave a bare place when
dressed. If skinned and dried properly, it may be sent
to the tanners or curriers at any time ; and although the
shooter can prepare the skins himself, the process is long
and tedious, and if he wants to make a rug, he had best
have the skius dressed by a currier.

We had, I fancy, two distinct species of kangaroo in
our forests. The large one, which we used commonly to
kill, and this we found in large mobs both in the timber
and on the plains, and a rather smaller variety, darker in
colour and redder under the belly. These were generally
in more secluded situations, among the honeysuckle scrub
in deep gullies, in smaller droves, rarely exceeding a
dozen.

The flesh of the kangaroo is very inferior to venison in
flavour, and in juice and nourishment not to be com-
pared to mutton. It tastes dry and insipid when dressed
bush fashion, but the tails make famous soup when
served up by Mr. Williams, in Melbourne, as " kangaroo
steamer." There is rarely any fat inside the carcass,

THE KANGAROO. 7

and it is a curious fact that dogs never appear to thrive
on kangaroo, especially if they eat it raw, although
they soon get fat on opossum. "VYe used to make a good
soup of the heads whenever we could get vegetables,
which are not always at hand in the bush. My general
mode of bush cooking was simple and expeditious. Just
cut off a steak from any fleshy part, and throw it on the
ashes to grill ; and I always fancied a kangaroo-steak or
even a bird, used to taste better and more juicy when
dressed this " lazy bed " fashion, than in any other way.
Some persons seem to think that there is no nourish-
ment at all in the meat, and there is a great prejudice in
the bush against it. This is a " vulgar error." My old
mate and myself lived upon it when in the forest, and I
know we did our work as well as any two shooters.
Perhaps at times we might have preferred a beef-steak ;
but as we got the kangaroo for nothing, we just used it
and made no invidious comparisons. " Spare the damper
but pitch into the kangaroo, lads ! " used to be our bush,
motto when flour was scarce. The young bucks and
flying does are the best eating ; the old men are tough
and stringy. There is an immense deal of blood inside
the kangaroo, and the flesh, unlike that of any domestic
animal, does not appear to be worse from being hard-
driven just before death. The meat is dark in colour,
soon dries, and in appearance and taste is similar to poor
doe venison.

In habits the kangaroo much resembles both the sheep
and the fallow-deer. Timid and shy, their senses of

8 NA.TUBAL HISTOEY SKETCHES.

sight, hearing, and smell are most acute. Like the hare,
they appear unable to sec an object directly in front of
them when running, at least I have often stood still and
shot one down as it came running straight up to me in
the open forest. It is not a ruminating animal, and the
four long front teeth, two in each jaw, are sharp, flat,
and double-edged, peculiarly adapted for cutting or
browsing ; and the thick blunt crushing molars betoken
a purely herbivorous animal. They are very gregarious,
and are always to be met with in smaller or larger
droves. I have often seen as many as a hundred and
fifty in a drove, and our general mobs used to average
fifty or sixty. After the rutting season, the old men will
often draw away from the mobs and retire bv themselves
to the thickest scrub. Each drove frequents a certain
district, has its particular camping and feeding grounds.
The mobs do not appear to mix, and when the shooter
once obtains a knowledge of the country, he has no diffi-
culty in planting himself for a shot. Their camping-
grounds are generally on some open timbered rise, and
they have well-trodden runs from one ground to another.
They feed early in the morning and at twilight, and I
think also much by night. I fancy we might have shot them
at night by a fire of dry wood lighted in a long-handled
frying-pan, after the manner of torch-shooting in Ame-
rica ; and this plan would also succeed with opossums
on a dark night. But the difficulty would be to find
the right kind of wood out here, for I know of no resi-
nous trees in these forests. A good bull's-eye lantern

THE KANGAROO. 9

might perhaps answer. The kangaroo lies up by day
during the hot summer weather, in damp thickly-scrubbed
gullies, in the winter on dry sandy rises. Here, un-
less disturbed, they will remain quiet for hours ; and
it is a pretty sight to watch a mob camped up, some of
them playing with each other, some quietly nibbling the
young shrubs and grass, or basking in the sun half asleep
on their sides. About Christmas the young ones appear
to leave their mothers' sides, and congregate in mobs by
themselves. I have seen as many as fifty running toge-
ther, and very pretty they looked. The kangaroo is a
very clean animal. Both sexes seem to keep together,
and, except in the rutting season, when desperate battles
take place between the old males, they appear to live at
all times in a state of domestic felicity. As far as I
could see, the sides run pretty equal. Like sheep, they
can be driven in almost any direction that suits the
driver, and a good driver is half the battle in kangaroo-
ing. It is next to impossible to turn a mob of kangaroo
when fairly off; they may divide ; but they will keep on
the way they are heading. Like sheep, they always
follow a leader. Their principal food appears to be the
tender sprouts of small shrubs and heather, quite as
much as grass ; but there is a small kind of spike-grass,
brown on the underside, called the kangaroo-grass, to
which they are very partial. They will also come at
night into the small bush inclosures, and nibble off
the young blades of wheat, oats, &c. I often fancied
they might be kept out of such places by encircling the

10 KATUEAL HISTOET SKETCHES.

fence with " sewells," which we used when deer-shooting
in the forests at home. These " sewells " are long lines
of packthread, with two white feathers tied crosswise on
the line, about a yard apart, strung up a yard or four feet
from the ground on sticks. I never knew a fallow-deer
face them. I think we might have used them with
good success in driving kangaroo; but until the game
becomes scarce and more valuable, the hunter will rarely
go out of the old-fashioned routine to procure it. Al-
though the kangaroos feed off the ground, they do not
always appear to use the fore paws as a support, but
crouch down. I have only now and then observed
them browsing off the trees in a standing position, and
I wonder we do not oftener see them feeding in this
manner, for which their upright posture and fore-arms
seem peculiarly adapted. "When in confinement, they
will eat bread, of which they seem very fond, holding it
in their fore paws, and nibbling it like a squirrel. They
are very subject, in the bush, to tape-worms, and I
have taken dozens out of the stomach of one which I
have been cutting open. Like the sheep, they can go a
long time without water, and I never could detect them
frequenting any particular water-holes at night for the
purpose of drinking. I have known their camping-places
on some of the plains miles away from any water-hob.
They appear to keep much in the neighbourhood of cattle.
The kangaroo is altogether a very domestic, interesting,
inoffensive animal, and I often regretted that we had no
better or wilder substitute for the red deer in this country.

THE KANGABOO. 11

As most of my readers probably are aware, the kan-
garoo, like nearly every other animal indigenous to
Australia, is " marsupial," i. e., the female is provided
with a pouch outside the bottom of the stomach, in
which are the teats, to one of which the young foetus
is attached during the period of gestation, I believe
about sixty days ; and when fully formed, — as soon in fact
as the young one begins to live, it becomes detached
from the teat, which now supplies it with milk. "When
the young one leaves the teat, it is in an equal state of
development to the new-born offspring of any other
animal ; in fact, this pouch appears to be the womb of
all these marsupial animals, and not, as many suppose,
merely a place of refuge in which the old mother carries
her young. Here the young one at first principally lives,
till able to run at the foot of the mother ; but even then,
when danger is near, it tumbles head over heels into the
pouch for protection ; and it is wonderful how quickly the
old doe can pick up the joey when running at full speed,
and shove it into the pouch, its pretty little face always
outside. There she carries it till hard pressed, when the
love of life overcomes the love of the mother, and she
then casts it away to save herself. This, in bush phra-
seology, is termed " dinging the joey." I once saw an
eagle-hawk chasing a doe kangaroo with a heavy joey in
the pouch through the forest. The cunning bird kept
stroke for stroke with the kangaroo, which it hardly dare
attack ; but it well knew, as soon as the old mother
became exhausted, she would cast away the young one.

12 TSATURAL HISTORY SKETCHES.

T\vo ounces of kangaroo-shot from my gun, however,
stopped the eagle's gallop : I might have killed the old
kangaroo as well, but had not the heart, after seeing the
struggle she was making to save the life of her offspring.

It is a curious fact that these marsupial animals
should be exclusively confined to Australia, a country
which, as regards zoology and botany, stands lower in
the scale of creation, according to geologists, than any
other. It is true that the racoon and opossum of
America belong to this class ; but they are only mar-
supial in a mean degree. The breeding habits of these
animals were long a matter of doubt, and for a while it
was hard to determine in what class they should be
included. The peculiar formation of the generative
organs was in itself enough to puzzle the best ana-
tomists, nor was it likely that much light could be
thrown on the subject by those men who, till lately,
had the only opportunities of studying their habits in a
state of nature. Much has been cleared up, but much
still remains hidden in mystery. What always puzzled me
the most was (knowing as I did their breeding habits) how
close the young foetus become attached to, or, more pro-
perly speaking, grow on a teat, in a pouch outside the sto-
mach. I have killed old doe kangaroos at all seasons, and
always during the period of gestation havefound the young
one tightly glued on to the teat by the mouth, even when
scarcely so long as my finger. But I never by any chance
found the rudiments of a young one inside the stomach.

By some naturalists these marsupial animals are placed

THE KANGAROO. 13

very low in the scale of the mammalia ; and, judging from
their anatomical structure alone, this classification is
probably correct. But some go so far as to contend
that it is warranted by the deficiency of intelligence
exhibited both in their habits and physiognomy. To this
reasoning I decidedly object. The brain is not so fully
developed as in the true mammal, and their anatomical
structure and inward functions show an affinity to the
" oviparous vertebrata;" in fact, they appear to form a
sort of link in the chain of creation between a higher
and lower class of animal. But, however peculiar and
imperfect their formation may be, when compared to the
higher mammalia, in every other respect they stand fully
on a par. There is nothing monstrous or ill-shaped in
their outward appearance, and I am sure that the coun-
tenances of all, especially of the opossum and little native
cat, are peculiarly intelligent. The habits of all are well
adapted to their mode of life ; and any one who has had
opportunities of watching them in a state of nature, will
agree with me that no deficiency of instinct or intelli-
gence is exhibited in any of their actions.

The kangaroo I consider particularly gifted with all
the attributes of a wild animal, fully equal to the deer in
the senses of sight, hearing, and smell; and although
the mode of progression may be different, in a mile race
I should certainly " stand on" the kangaroo. It is my
humble opinion that, as far as regards intelligence and
instinct, the kangaroo, opossum, and native cat ol
Australia, stand quite as high in the scale of creation

14 IfATTJBAL HISTORY SKETCHES.

as the deer, hare, or ferret, of the old world ; and with
regard to those most singular animals, the duck-billed
platypus and spiny ant-eater, although their incongrui-
ties of form are much more apparent, we shall find the
formation of both well adapted to the habits of the two
animals, the one of which passes the greater portion
of its life under ground, the other under water ; and
I cannot see that they are in any degree inferior to the
mole or hedgehog of Europe.

Geologists contend that these marsupial animals
existed, in all probability, in the earlier periods, while
the great work of creation was in progress, and before
the true mammalia appeared on the stage; that they
are, in fact, but an imperfect type of that class. Be this
as it may, one thing is clear, that they alone have
preserved their true character through ages, during
which the earlier inhabitants of our earth have been
swept away; and, unlike them, they appear to have
been but little affected by the revolutions and changes
which time has wrought in the aspect of our globe.
And this very fact would, in my opinion, warrant us in
assigning them a higher place than they now occupy.

"When the joeys are strong runners, there is always a
ready sale for them in town, as pets, at £1 each. They
come into good season early in October, and may be
caught up to Christmas. The best way to get them is
to pick the old does out of the mob as they come lum-
bering up with the joey in the pouch. As soon as the
mother is shot down, run up, secure the young one, tie

THE KANGABOO. ]_ej

its hind legg, and put it into a bag, with a hole for the
head to come out ; give it a little milk and flour mixed,
at intervals of every four hours, out of a bottle, like a
cade lamb, for the first few days. "Warmth is their prin-
cipal requirement at first, and it is a good plan to put a
weak joey into a bag lined with opossum-skins. Lay
them out on the grass for a few hours in the middle of
each day, and when they begin to nibble grass, they are
fit for sale, or they may then be tethered out by day,
near the tent, with a chain and collar. It is wonderful
how fearless they are, and how soon they become tame.
They make sweet little pets till they become too large ;
they are very fond of warmth at all times, and when
allowed to run loose, soon take charge of the whole
place. They have a shrill chatter like a monkey when
angry or frightened, and at times are very spiteful.

The old doe kangaroo has but one young one at a
birth, although there are three teats in the pouch, and
they only breed once in the year ; but they certainly are
very irregular in their seasons, for I have killed a strong
running joey in July, and once shot an old doe in De-
cember with a small joey on the teat. The general
pairing season, however, appears to be about January or
February, and the joeys, strong runners, in September.
If ever the kangaroo is deemed worth preserving here,
none should be killed from October until the following
March, and even then the heavy does should be spared
as much as possible. It would seem better, in the eyes of
a sportsman at home, not to begin killing them till the

36 KATFBAL HISTOET SKETCHES.

joeys could run, and to leave off just before the pairing
season ; and in the old world this would be the proper
arrangement. But here the autumn, instead of the
spring, is the breeding season, and the winter the only
time when any profit is attached to the chase of the
kangaroo. The regular shooter will of course give them
a rest after October ; for he has then the small game to
occupy him. The carcasses are worth nothing for the
market in the hot weather, and one winter's skin is
better than two summer ones.

Although, during the two seasons that I was kan-
garooing, we spared neither age nor sex, but killed them
at all times, I should have felt far better pleased, and
shot with much more satisfaction, if I could have known
that I was killing my game at fair and proper seasons.
At present, the kangaroos appear to be regarded as
nuisances in the bush, and every means are used to
exterminate the race : they are snared, shot, and run
down with hounds, just for the sake of killing them, and
the carcasses left to rot in the forest. This does, indeed,
seem a shameful waste of one of the bounties of nature.
We scarcely ever now see a kangaroo within thirty
miles of Melbourne, and they will soon become scarce
even in the wilder country. I am hardly competent
to judge how much damage they do to the grass in
the wild districts. Of course, among cultivation, they
must be far worse than the hare or rabbit at home, and
no one can blame the farmer for trying all he can to get
rid of them ; but in the large plains and forests, where

THE KANGAEOO. 17

there are no more signs of the plough than in the deserts
of Siberia, and where the pastures are not half stocked
with cattle, one would imagine there was plenty of room
for a few kangaroos. I cannot but think that the value
of this animal is not yet properly appreciated : the leather
is acknowledged to be finer than calf-skin, and the hides
run nearly as large ; yet the dealers grumble to give
more than Is. Qd. per skin ; and as for the meat, it is
valued little more than carrion, and this in places where
it can be got for nothing, while beef and mutton cost
5d. per Ib. If, however, the preservation of the kangaroo
becomes a question between the occupier of the land and
the shooter, and it, can be proved that they are injurious
to the settler in the pastoral districts, I have nothing
further to say on the subject ; but I do not think this is
the case ; and it will, perhaps, be a matter of regret, at
no very distant day, that the kangaroo, which, although
not to be compared to the deer, is still a valuable animal,
aftbrding good meat, and, to say the least of it, forming a
very pretty and interesting feature in the Australian,
forests, shall have become, like many animals and birds
in the Old World, a theme of bygone days and a mere
matter of history.

Although harmless and inoffensive when unmolested,
nature has furnished the kangaroo with a dreadful weapon
of defence in the powerful hind claw, with which it can
rip up a dog, like the tusk of a boar ; and I have seen a
large kangaroo take up a powerful dog in its fore claws,
bear-fashion, and try to bite it. I never but once had
c

18 KATUBAL HISTOEY SKETCHES.

one turn on me, and this was an old male which I had
knocked down, and when I went up to it on the ground,
it sprung up and came at me: he luckily fell from
exhaustion as I stepped back. Like deer, when wounded,
they will often take to water, and, if they get a dog in
their claws at such a time, always try to drown it. But
I do not believe in the fiction that they will carry a dog
to a water-hole for that purpose. They are exceedingly
tenacious of life, and, when wounded mortally;, will run
for a long way, till they drop from internal hemorrhage.
As soon as they are down, the best plan is to cut the
throat ; and be very cautious, in going up to a kangaroo
apparently dead, to keep out of reach of the hind foot,
for, in the death-struggle, the kicks are often very
dangerous. I have been twice knocked off my legs as
clean as if bowled down by a cricket-ball ; but I was
luckily, in both instances, close to the kangaroo, and
was struck with the flat of the foot instead of the
sharp claw. I never heard them utter any sound,
except when wounded : their cry of pain is a loud hoarse
groan.

The best kangaroo-ground in Port Phillip is theWestern-
port district, and begins about thirty-five miles south of
Melbourne. Prom hence down to the Heads is a wide
promontory, covered with deep forests intersected with
plains, about forty miles long, bounded by Port-Phillip
Bay on the one side, and Western-port Bay on the
other. Here, such is the wild nature of the country,
and so well is it adapted to the habits of the kangaroo,

THE KANGAROO. l«y

that it seems as if they could never be shot out ; although,
of course, as the country becomes more peopled, their
numbers must decrease. During the two seasons I shot
here, I am certain considerably more than 2,000 kangaroos
were killed by our party and another within a very limited
distance, and we were camped on the very edge of the
good ground nearest to Melbourne. I fancy the great
breeding-grounds lie back in the wild undisturbed forests
and plains between this and the Heads, and perhaps
they draw down, in a kind of migration, into the more
open country. I know no kangaroo-ground at all on the
other side of Melbourne within the same distance. The
country there is principally plains, with little or no
timber. A few small flocks are met with under the
Dandenong ranges, and there is a good kangaroo-ground
up by the Tarra; but, according to all accounts, no
country near Melbourne is equal to the Western-port
district for kangaroo.

There are several methods of killing the kangaroo.
Coursing them with kangaroo-hounds ; snaring them ;
stalking them in the timber with rifles; and our old
method, which is by far the best of any, — planting three
or four shooters in a line through the forest, and sending
a man on horseback with dogs round the kangaroos, to
drive them up to the guns.

Coursing them with good hounds, in an open country,

on horseback, is fair work and good sport for men who

have not to get their living by the chase. It is, in fact,

the aristocratic mode of kangarooing. The breed of

c 2

20 NATURAL HISTORY SKETCHES.

kangaroo-dogs in use out here, is a large broken-haired
Scotch deer-hound ; the general colour red, or badger-
pied. A good dog of this kind is valuable ; but we meet
with so many cross-bred mongrels, that half the dogs
which are called kangaroo-hounds are hardly worth their
keep ; and I do think a lazy, half-starved, good-for-nothing
kangaroo-dog is the biggest loafer one can see about a
tent. A brace of good dogs will soon " stick up " a
kangaroo in the open, if they start on fair terms,
and in wet weather, when the ground is greasy, it is
long odds against the kangaroo. In the beginning of
winter, a three-parts grown kangaroo is easily ridden
down. It requires a little judgment in a dog to pull
down a kangaroo at full speed, and save itself from the
hind claw. An old dog, up to this work, will run stride
for stride with the kangaroo, and watching its chance,
will spring at the neck, and throw it down on its side.
A young dog generally manages to get in the way of the
claw, but a deep cut or two soon teach it caution.
The very best kangaroo-dog I ever knew, was an old im-
ported snipe-nosed white Scotch deer-hound, such a one as
Landseer loved to draw. He was worn out ; but although
he had scarcely a tooth left, could manage a kangaroo
single-handed, and his scars showed him an old warrior.
We never used kangaroo-hounds for our work ; any bush-
dog is soon taught to drive, a sheep-dog as well as any
other ; and a kangaroo-hound would have been little use
to us unless he would " show," i. e. lead us up to the
dead kangaroo after he had killed it ; and such a dog is

THE EANGAEOO. 21

scarce and valuable. For driving, a slow hound is better
than a fast one.

Snaring kangaroo -with a thick wire snare tied to a
post or log, and set in their runs in the bush, or a pad-
dock fence, answers well when a man is camped in a
good country, and in regard to the skins, is better than
shooting them. Snaring properly, however, requires no
little skill and care, and an immense deal of attention.
Snares set in the bush-runs are dangerous, on account of
the cattle, and the kangaroo soon drops down to snares
set in a fence. The snares should be visited night and
morning, and a man cannot be sufficiently blamed, who
sets his snares in the forest and neglects to see to them
regularly ; for, independent of the chance there is of a
cow or dog being hung up (and I have taken more than
one valuable dog out of a snare), it is an act of the
greatest cruelty to let a miserable kangaroo remain for
hours in a snare, struggling to free itself. I have often
shot a kangaroo which must have been snared for a day
or two. In the summer time here, when the water-holes
are drying up, the bullocks and cows often get stuck in
the mud, where they remain to die in a state of the
greatest misery, unless pulled out. Sometimes when fast
in, the station-master will not give himself the trouble
to pull them out ; and I once remember a miserable
cow in a water-hole, on the plains, for ten days, which at
length died there, although I told the owner of it. Had
I shot it, I should probably have been blamed. I have
also seen bullocks standing in a pen against a slaughter-

22 NATURAL HISTORY SKETCHES.

house, without a drop of water, or any food, for days,
under a burning sun. Surely this should be prevented.

Stalking kangaroo in the forest, with a rifle, is, per-
haps, the most sporting way of killing them. It has a
good deal of excitement in it, and the skill of the shooter
is fairly tested. We never used rifles when driving, on
account of the danger of a stray ball in a mixed company.
But I often used to "lurch" one on the feeding-grounds
at night ; in fact, I could generally reckon on a couple of
shots any evening, if I went the right way to work. It
requires an ounce ball, at least, for this kind of shooting ;
for often does the ball, especially a small one, pass right
through the kangaroo without stopping it, unless it
chances to hit a vital part. But stalking, except in the
wildest bush, is dangerous work, if a man is not very
careful ; and I had one or two narrow escapes myself in
our forests from rifle-balls.

I could any day kill a brace of kangaroo by walking
through the thick forest, with the dogs driving them in
all directions around me ; and this and stalking are the
only methods which a man can adopt, unless his party is
strong enough for driving. The great objection to this
sport, however, is that the hind-quarter must be carried
home at once to the tent, perhaps two or three miles
through the forest, unless near some bush road or well-
known spot, where it can be left " till called for."

The approved method of preparing and carrying home
a hind-quarter when killed, is to skin all the fore-quarter,
and cut it away at the rib next below the kidneys, leaving

THE KA^GAEOO. 23

them on the hind-quarter, to which the whole skin is
left attached. Cut a hole through the skin at the neck,
shove the tail through it, and drawing the skin up to the
root of the tail, it will cover the belly of the hind-quarter.
Hoist it up on your back, having a leg over each shoulder,
the tail hanging down your back, with a leg in either
hand in front ; and to any one following, you have the
exact appearance of an Italian boy carrying a large
monkey. It is wonderful how light a heavy hind-quarter
rides when properly balanced this way. The insides and
fore-quarters are of no use, and are left in the forest, a
prey to the wild dogs and eagle-hawks.

"When a party has adopted the pursuit of kangaroos as
a regular trade, there is no plan like driving. But for
this work there must, at least, be two guns, a driver, and
a brace of dogs. If a couple of parties join, it is best, for
they need not interfere with one another. Each one has
his separate tent, and the game can be divided as agreed
upon. "With us the driver had one share, and then every
man took what he killed. The more guns there are the
better is each man's chance of a shot. The dogs should
not be too fast, and if they have a little music in them, all
the better. In fact, if the driver has a horn and a deep-
toned hound with him, it will much enliven the sport.
Of course, there is one head man upon whom devolves
the whole plan of the day's proceedings. The shooters
start first, so that they may station themselves before
the driver comes round the kangaroo. And one of the
greatest secrets in driving is to give the shooters time

2i NATT7EAL HISTORY SKETCHES.

enough to get well planted before the kangaroos come
up. Of course the driver must know where the guns will
be stationed, and a good knowledge of the country is
indispensable to him. The shooters are planted across a
certain portion of the wood, in a line, about 150 yards
apart, each one choosing a good run, with the shelter of
a tree or bush. The best plan for the shooter is to sit at
the foot of a large tree, not to stand behind it, as I
have seen many do ; and when the kangaroo are in sight,
be very careful not to stir a limb, or even to move the
gun, till they are well within shot. The driver goes
round on horseback with the dogs, and when well round
the kangaroo, he gallops on to them, and sends the mob
right up to the shooters. On they come, crashing
through the timber like a troop of cavalry, and " bang,
bang," puts every one on the qui vive. Sometimes the
mob breaks the line at one point, and only one man gets
a shot ; but, after the first shot, they often divide, and
run right down the line, when every gun pours in
its broadside. Kangaroo-driving certainly beats deer-
shooting in one respect ; for a man, who at all under-
stands it, is sure to have three or four shots in the day.
I always, if possible, like to be planted about the middle
of the line, or else sneak right away down below all the
other shooters, and never choose the first stand. It is a
good plan, if a shooter sees the whole mob breaking
the line together, to give them a shot, even if out of dis-
tance ; for this will sometimes turn them down the line.
I always had two guns ready, and have sometimes brought

THE KAKGABOO. 25

down four at a drive. Never, on any account, run out
from your stand after a wounded kangaroo until the
•whole mob is past (a very common trick with a green
hand) ; for by so doing you will, perhaps, turn all the
kangaroo out of shot, and in return will, most probably,
call down many a left-handed blessing from your next
neighbour, who was probably just picking out a fair
shot, and only waiting till it came near enough. As soon
as the drive is over, the shooters meet, and each man's
shot is canvassed. " What's hit is history — what's
missed is mystery." I like to see the old hunter walk
quietly up with one kangaroo over his shoulder, which
he throws down without a remark, and turns back for a
second, which he has left in the forest. Two or three
may be seen struggling through the bush, pulling a
heavy old man after them, while another is shouting for
the driver to bring the dogs to track a wounded kan-
garoo, which he is certain has not gone far ; to which
request the driver, in general, pays very little attention,
unless he knows his man. It not unfrequently happens
that when the kangaroo come up in a line, the shooter
gets two at a shot, and I have seen three brought down
with one barrel. But the best " family shot " I ever
saw, was made by my old mate. He shot right and
left into a mob coming up to him, and got four old does,
three of them with heavy "joeys " in the pouch ; so that
he bagged seven kangaroos at the two shots. It is a good
plan, if the kangaroos are coming up gently, to whistle,
and they will often stop in a line, and hold up their

26 NATT7BAL HISTORY SKETCHES.

heads like seals. The dead kangaroos are now collected,
drawn to some bush-road or well-marked place, laid in a
heap, a piece of white paper stuck over them, to keep off
the vermin, and after just one pipe, the bushman's vade-
mecum on all occasions, the party proceed to another
plant. So the day goes on, drive after drive, till evening,
when the dead kangaroo, after the fore-quarters are cut
away, are brought home to the tent ; some on horseback,
some on the hunters' shoulders. They are then skinned
and dressed, the hind-quarters hung upon a gibbet, and
the skins nailed out to dry. A hind-quarter will keep
twice as long if skinned before it is hung up, than
if hung up in the skin ; and if dressed in a work-
manlike fashion, of course looks all the better for the
market.

Occasionally we were joined by some sporting friends
from town, to whom the novelty of a few days' bush life
adds double zest to the sport, and a grand battue then
took place. These kangaroo battues always reminded me
of the rabbit battues at home, when the keepers invite
their friends for a day's rabbit-shooting in the forest.
On such occasions all restraint is laid aside, every man is
determined to be pleased, and the freedom of the sport is
enjoyed alike by all, when all are on an equality. I can
now recall to my mind's eye our head forest-ranger on
the morning of such a day, in his rusty old bit of
velveteen and white hat, coupling up dogs, bustling
about, giving orders to the driver, laying down the
plan of the day's proceedings, and greeting us with his

THE KANGAEOO. 27

cheery welcome, " Come, gentlemen, we must show you
some sport to-day."

The evening of such a day is passed in all the free
jollity of the bush. The chorus of many an old sporting
song startles the magpies from their roost on the old
gum-tree above the tent; anecdotes of days long past,
and till now, perhaps, forgotten, while away the time,
and it is not until the chairman passes the word, " Come,
my lads, there's just a ' nobbier ' each, we'd better finish
it, and turn in ready for the morning," that we cared to
leave the camp fire. That sky must indeed be cloudy
which never has one gleam of sunshine ; and these little
re-unions on occasions like the present, of old sporting
friends, form some of the pleasantest breaks in the
monotony of the shooter's forest life.

The great secret in kangaroo-shooting is never to be
in a hurrv ; load with as much powder as your gun will
stand, and never fire till the kangaroo is well within
distance (I used to kill' more within twenty yards than
over it), and aim well at the neck. No. 2 was my
favourite-sized shot. Slugs fly too wide ; but for random
shooting, a practice I never adopted, a few slugs mixed
with the shot will bring down a kangaroo at a very long
distance. The gun should be strong and heavy, and able
to carry G drams of powder and 2 oz. of shot comfortably
to the shoulder. I like Eley's green cartridge better
than a bullet for kangarooing ; for I have seen so many
carry the ball away and drop dead in the bush, where
they often lie, of no good to any one ; and many a skin

23 NATURAL HISTOEY SKETCHES.

have I got by seeing the old crows rise off a fresh-killed
carcass in the forest. In stalking kangaroo single-handed,
no doubt the man who can use a rifle well, and always
hit the kangaroo in the head or heart, will kill more than
with a smooth bore and shot ; but I am here alluding to
driving, where there is no fear but that the kangaroo
will come well within range. Nothing stops a kangaroo so
surely as a charge of No. 2 thrown well into the neck, at
about twenty yards ; and I certainly did like to see a
brace of kangaroo at full speed rolled over by a clean
double shot. I may mention, not with the slightest
desire of boasting, that no one on the kangaroo-ground
killed their shots cleaner or got more kangaroo in so few
shots as myself. My motive in adverting to the fact is
merely to prove that my theory of kangaroo-shooting is
correct. Let them come near enough, and aim well at
the neck. Moreover, the longer the distance the more
the shots spread ; and it is easy to guess which skin is of
the most value, one which the shots have entered in the
neck like a ball, or one spotted all over with shot-holes
like a colander. A kangaroo at full speed is by no
means an easy shot, especially to a " new chum :" their
peculiar jumping motion is very puzzling, and I always
fancied it like shooting at a man hopping by steam.
" Confound the looping beggars, I can't touch 'em at
all," once observed an old deer-stalker to me (who had
brought down many a red deer on his native hills), after
missing three fair double shots at kangaroo in suc-
cession.

THE KANGAROO. 29

But I cannot say that I ever really fancied kangaroo-
shooting much as a sport. There is a sameness in it
when carried on month after month, which is very
wearying, even if followed as an amusement ; and at
the present prices a man is not sufficiently remunerated
for his trouble if he follows it as a trade. Moreover,
there was too much of the carcass-butcher about it to
please me, and driving kangaroo is certainly one of the
tamest of all field-sports. "When a man is hunting for
his daily bread, he is justified in adopting the surest
means of procuring it; the sport of the chase now
becomes a business, and what would be deemed pot-
hunting by the amateur, is looked upon as all fair by
the professional shooter, who is perhaps guilty of many
a poaching trick to obtain his game, which would be
condemned in fair sporting. This, however, I thought
nothing of, for I was shooting for my living and not
for pleasure; but I never could reconcile to my mind
the wholesale and wanton destruction of this animal
which is now carried on all over the bush. Whenever I
wanted a kangaroo for the body or the skin, I felt no
compunction in killing it in whatever manner I best
could ; but I never shot one wantonly, and it certainly
used to go much against the grain when I saw a
kangaroo pulled down by dogs and left to rot in the
bush, and old does' shot with a heavy joey in the pouch,
which is mercilessly torn out and its brains dashed out
against a tree : with the exception of clubbing seals, this
certainly did appear to be about the most barbarous

30 NATTTBAJi HISTOEY SKETCHES.

•work I ever joined in. There is, it is true, some excite-
ment in a day's kangarooing to the man who only now
and then joins in it, and the old hand often feels " his
heart in his mouth " as the mob come up to him, thump-
ing and crashing through the forest; and there is at
times a good deal of boisterous merriment in the day's
sport with a party of the right sort. But to me it always
appeared like coursing at home, slow for an hour and
dead for a minute; and although, when getting my
living by shooting, I had to take everything in its turn,
still I must say that I think I found less real sport in
kangarooing than in any other kind of shooting.

But men situated like myself must look to the profit
of the chase, not to the sport alone ; and I think, on this
head, kangaroo-shooting, if rightly followed, beats any
other kind of winter shooting within the same distance
of Melbourne. Duck-shooting certainly was the most
profitable a few years ago, before the birds were shot
out round Melbourne ; but now a man can hardly get his
living by ducks, unless he shoots with a punt and big
gun ; and even then he must go up the bay ; and for this
purpose will require a sailing-boat. When we were kan-
garooing, we used to sell our carcasses on the ground for
2s. Gd. each to a man who carried them up to Melbourne,
and we had the skins, which were worth about 18s. per
dozen : the hind-quarters in Melbourne are worth from
Ss. to 10s. each, according to quality. Twenty-five we
considered a fair two-horse load in the winter, and these
we could easily get in four days : but we had the help of

THE KASGABOO. 31

the man who bought the kangaroo of us, and the use of
his horses for driving ; without this assistance we must
have kept a horse ourselves, and had a third mate.
A good many may always be sold on the ground, and a
couple of men, if they were worth anything, ought to
kill two dozen weekly, and they can live well in the bush
for £1 per week. There are two great advantages attached
to kangarooing : the shooters get their meat for nothing,
and they " have their nights in," which the duck-shooters
do not. But if ever I were going into kangarooing again,
I would adopt a different system, and salt the hams
instead of selling the carcasses ; I would try and get two
good mates, buy an old horse, tent, and rations for six
months, go up into a good country, shoot for the skins,
and cure the hams. There would be, besides, a few joeys
at £1 each, and opossum-skins always worth 5s. per
dozen ; and if one of the party could skin and preserve
any rare pretty birds they fell in with, a good many
might always be sold.

The receipt for curing kangaroo hams, which I had
from a very old hand, was as follows ; and what few we
made for home consumption were first rate, and ate as
much like reindeer hams as anything I ever tasted: —
15 Ibs. of salt, 2 Ibs. of treacle, 3 Ibs. of coarse sugar,
3 oz. of saltpetre, ^ Ib. of carbonate of soda, mixed
cold in a tub, the brine strong enough to float a potato :
don't boil the brine. The above quantity is sufficient for
fifty hams. Cut the hams nicely into shape ; if the bone
is taken out, the better for soaking, but the shape of the

32 TfATTJEAL HISTOET SKETCHES.

bara is not so well. Soak the bams in tbe brine for five
days, occasionally turning tbem : when properly soaked,
bang tbem out to dry. If they are smoked, which adds
much to their flavour, a proper smoking-bouse should
be knocked up : a tent chimney will do. But you must
only use green wood, and keep damping it, so that it
does not blaze. I am sure I do not know what is the
best wood to use here in smoking, for the juniper-bush
does not grow in these forests: we used honeysuckle
for what few we smoked. A hole dug in the ground, in
which a fire of honeysuckle-cones and other rubbish
is lighted, built over with a cone-shaped hut of tea-tree
scrub, in which the hams should smoke for three or four
days, will answer the purpose. It is always as well to
have a tub of brine in every bush tent on the kangaroo-
ground ; for the meat is much improved by lying in it
for only a night, and in the summer, when meat will not
keep, a slice of kangaroo ham and a little bit of bacon
is no bad relish.

To dry the meat without salt, cut it into long thin
slices, light a large fire, and near this erect a frame of
tea-tree poles. Place the flesh upon this frame, at such
a distance from the fire that it will only dry up the
juice : in about twenty-four hours the strips become hard
and stiff, and will keep for months. This is the American
mode of drying venison or buffalo.

"We could, I dare say, have sold a good many hams at
a much better profit than selling the carcasses whole as
we did. Curing hams and drying skins requires a great

THE WALLABY. 33

deal of attention ; and the dogs about a bush tent are
generally the greatest thieves in the world, and take
some looking after. The hams of the old-men kangaroo
rarely turn out well.

The Wallaby is a species of small brush kangaroo,
about the size of a yearling kangaroo. The general
colour is very dark brown, and the hair considerably
coarser and longer than in the common kangaroo, which
animal, however, it resembles exactly in shape and habits,
and is, in fact, a miniature kangaroo. I never met with
the wallaby on the mainland in these parts, but I believe
they are common in certain places further inland : they
abound, however, in the scrub on Phillip Island, in
"Western-port Bay. They generally keep in the thick
scrub, or on its edges, are easily shot in the runs, and
this sport much resembles roe-deer shooting at home.
The flesh is very good eating, and the skins worth 12s.
to 14s. per do/en. The wallaby is very common in Van
Diemen's Land, and on certain islands in the strait.
This is the common wallaby, the only one which ever I
saw wild ; but there is another species peculiar to some
of the high ranges inland, called the rock wallaby. This
is described as being a shy, solitary animal, generally
seen in pairs ; is rather larger than the common species,
and has a slightly brush tail. In habits it resembles
the chamois, frequenting the most inaccessible ranges,
and living among the rocks. It is very difficult to
shoot ; and this sport must be something like chamois*
hunting.

34 NATURAL HISTOET SKETCHES.

There are several varieties of kangaroo in colour, those
from the north being much lighter than our kangaroo;
but I cannot say how many different species are met with
throughout the country.

THE "WILD DOO. 35

CHAPTER II.

THE WILD DOG — THE NATIVE BEAR — THE WOMBAT.

THE Wild Dog, warrigal, or dingo, is met with in all
the thick forests, deeply-scrubbed gullies, in belts of
timber boi'dering on the large plains, and in patches of
tea-tree on the plains themselves, throughout the whole
country, of course commonest in the most unfrequented
districts, and is the only large wild animal of prey at
present known in Australia. Shy and retired in its
habits, the wild dog is rarely seen by day, unless dis-
turbed, lying up generally in thick patches of tea-tree
scrub till evening sets in, when, like the wolf and fox of
the old world, they roam abroad in search of prey. In
habits the wild dog appears to resemble the European
fox much more than the wolf. Its shape, colour, and
general appearance, is that of a fox, although much thicker
and larger, and the colour is generally brighter red ; but
the pricked ears, sharp nose, bright eye, and thick brush,
all strongly remind us of " old reynard." It is, however,
taller and heavier, and altogether a much bolder and
finer-looking animal. The colour is usually light red,
but there is a beautiful variety nearly black, which is,
however, rare, and, like the black fox of northern Europe,
only occasionally found in a litter of red cubs. The cry
D 2

36 NATURAL HISTOEY SKETCHES.

of the wild dog at night is a long dismal howl, very much
resembling the horrid cry of the Swedish wolf, echoing
through the forests, making" night hideous ;" and some-
times a small pack would come sweeping by our camp-
fire at night after kangaroo, and the chorus was then
very fine, when all else was still. The wild bitch brings
forth from four to six cubs, like the domestic bitch,
generally in a large hollow log or old tree-root. Unlike
the wolf, they rarely hunt in large packs, and if, by
chance, four or five are seen together, I fancy it is an old
bitch and her cubs : I have, however, heard stock-riders
say that they have sometimes seen a large drove congre-
gated over a dead carcass on the plains up country. They
appeared to be much more common in our forests during
the winter than in the summer, and this is also the case
•with the northern wolf: we had no lack of them on the
kangaroo-ground, attracted, doubtless, by the carcasses
that strewed the forests; and if ever we left a dead
kangaroo out at night, it was pretty sure to be half
eaten by morning. I believe the wild dog was never
known to attack man, nor will they molest horned cattle,
unless it be a cow in the act of parturition, when they
will sometimes eat away the calf. Their chief food appears
to be kangaroo, sheep, all bush animals, and ofi'al, and
birds ; and when kept on the chain, they are " death
upon " any fowls which come within their reach. They
are a fearful scourge to the settlers on the large sheep-
runs up the country ; for, strictly as the fold may be
guarded at night, a wild dog or two will occasionally

THE WILD DOG. 37

creep in, and kill and maim many of the sheep ; for, like
the common dog which takes to worrying sheep, they
•will bite and tear perhaps a dozeu to every one that they
kill ; and this is not the worst ; for the sheep will often
break fold, and, frightened to death, scattering themselves
over the bush, may not be recovered again for days.
There is a kind of venom attached to the bite of the wild
dog ; for the wound always festers, and sometimes morti-
fication takes place : the bush remedy is to rub a little
salt into the bitten part. Like the Ishmaelite of old,
every man's hand is against them ; they are shot, snared,
and run down bv kangaroo-dogs, whenever they can be
met with ; but the most certain way of getting rid of
them is by poison. Take a small piece of meat, cut a
slit in it, and insert as much strychnine as will cover the
end of the blade of a penknife ; hang it up by a string to
a twig about a foot or eighteen inches from the ground.
The dog never goes far to die after taking this bait ; but
they will carry arsenic a long way. They are difficult to
shoot, being very wary ; and there is no regular method
of hunting them carried on here : what are killed, are
shot, worried by bush-dogs, or poisoned.

The wild dog will often breed with the tame bush-dog,
and the cross is generally larger and savager than the
original breed. I recollect one morning about daylight
going out of my tent and seeing a wild bitch with all
our dogs playing round her. She made off into the
forest when she saw me. One of our dogs followed her,
and came back after three days, bitten all to pieces. The

88 NATURAL HISTORY SKETCHES.

wild dogs are cowardly by nature, but -when brought
to bay, they make a hard fight of it, and it will give
a good bush-dog all his work to do to kill one single-
handed : they snap like a wolf. When the distemper
raged so fearfully a few years ago among the domestic
dogs out here, it extended also to the wild dogs, and
scores were found dead in the bush.

Although called the untamable dog of New South
"Wales, I have seen them to all appearance as tame as
the domestic dog, and I knew a shepherd who had one
which followed him about like a sheep-dog. But
they are never to be trusted, nor do I fancy that they
can ever be made of any use to man, either for guarding
or any other purpose. The only bark I ever heard one
utter, was a kind of "yap yap," after a long howl.

The Koala or Native Bear of Australia is also a pouched
animal, and from its sluggish habits is sometimes called
the Australian sloth, about the size of a large poodle dog,
of a light gray colour, with white throat and rump, and
no tail ; and a very comical-looking fellow he is, with his
round bald face, small black eyes, and square fringed ears.
The skin is very thick, and tans to an excellent leather ;
the fur short and close. The legs are very powerful, and
the claws long and sharp. It is lazy and sluggish, but an
inoffensive animal, subsisting principally upon green
leaves, and is purely herbivorous. It lives in hollow trees,
and is not strictly nocturnal in its habits, for we often
killed them by day. I generally found them most com-
mon about the end of autumn, and used chiefly to see

THE WOMBAT. 39

them in the evening crawling about the top branches
of the large gum-trees, often with a young one perched
upon the rump. The habits of very few of the animals
here are diurnal, and we meet none in the Australian
forests by day (except it has been disturbed from its lair),
with the exception of the kangaroo or an old bear. The
bear must be considered as representing the monkey,
of which animal we have none here; a circumstance I
rather wondered at, considering the wooded nature of
the cointry and the fine climate. The bear makes a
poor figure on the ground, but will soon get up to the
top of the highest tree. They are extremely difficult to
shoot, 01 account of the thick hide ; and it is cruelty to
shoot at them with shot, if they are any height up a
tree ; bu~, a bullet brings them down " by the run." The
flesh is ?atable — not unlike that of the northern bear
in taste. It is considered a delicacy by the blacks. I
always fcund the bear singly. They have a loud hoarse
groan or cry, which they utter when frightened or
wounded.

The Wtmbat is analogous to the badger, and common
in most oi the sandstone ranges in the country, where
they live ii deep burrows, like the badger at home. It
is a thick, chubby animal, much larger than the native
bear, of a iniform brown colour, with short strong legs.
The skin i; of little use as a fur, for the hair is short and
bristly. Tie habits of the wombat are strictly terrestrial,
and it is ra-ely seen by day. The flesh is eatable. It is
an inoffensive animal, living chiefly on herbs and roots.

40 3TATTJHAL HISTOET SKETCHES.

CHAPTEE III.

THE OPOSSUM — THE RING-TAIL — THE FLYING SQUIRREL — THE TXJEB-
CAT — THE NATIVE CAT — THE KANGAROO BAT — THE BANDICOTE —
SMALL BUSH ANIMALS — THE FLYING MOUSE — THE PLATYPUS —
THE SPINY ANT-EATER — DOMESTIC CATTLE.

Two species of so-called opossum were common in our
forests : the large Silver Opossum and the little Stiff-tail.
"Wherever the gum or peppermint trees grow to an; age or
size, there you will always find the large opossum; of
course, much more numerous in some localities thai others,
and generally in the vicinity of water. The silver opossum
is something in the size and shape of a large cat but the
tail is long, black, and brushy, the undersice being
covered with black skin instead of hair. The leeth are
not carnivorous, but the front teeth are long. The toes
have long sharp claws, and it has a blunt thumb on each
hind foot. The nose is pointed, the face rmnd, the
countenance mild, the ears large and pricked A full-
grown opossum will weigh about 10 Ibs. Unlike the
kangaroo, the opossum can curl its tail, and if |in falling,
a dying opossum catches it round a branch, (it dies in
that position, and there hangs. The skins vaiy much in
colour, from a dark black-brown, which species is pe-
culiar to Van Diemen's Land, where the opossums are
larger and handsomer than in Port Phillip, to a light

THE OPOSSUM. 41

silvery gray, with a reddish tinge on the belly, the
common colour of our opossums ; the shades, however,
varying much ; and we also had a variety dark reddish-
brown throughout. When in full fur, the skin is very
handsome, and has many rich tints. The opossum lives
by day in the holes of the large gum-trees, and comes
down at night to feed. Their principal food consists of
green leaves, grass, vegetables, bread ; and I believe they
can also eat cooked meat. They are very partial to the
leaves of the peppermint gum, which gives their flesh a
rank taste. Their flesh, however, is eatable, for the blacks
principally live upon it ; and their method of cooking and
eating opossum is primitive and disgusting. They throw-
it on to the coals, with the skin on and the entrails in,
and when warmed through, tear it to pieces with their
hands and teeth. There were few bush-animals and
birds which we could not digest, but a tough old opossum
beat us. The flesh of the little ring-tail is much more
white and palatable, and if served up with rabbit-sauce,
would be no bad substitute for rabbit. An opossum
just warmed through on the coals is, however, the finest
food for dogs. They come down to feed a little after
sundown, and remain out till the laughing jackass sounds
his morning call. As may be imagined, they are very
destructive to bush gardens. The opossum is very
nimble in its motions, and when the trees are high, is
soon out of gun-shot, especially if the first shot does not
bring it down. The only purpose for which we used
to shoot them was for the skins, and as food for the

42 KATURAL HISTORY SKETCHES.

dogs. The skins are worth about 5s. per dozen : they
are in best fur during the winter ; in the summer the
hair is all scratched off the rump, — I could never account
for the cause rightly. It is a curious fact, that the hair
easily comes off a fresh-killed opossum ; and when shoot-
ing for the skins, one must be very careful not to pull the
opossum about till cold. I have seen the fur stripped off
the whole body, just like a scalded pig. I fancy that
the opossums come down from the ranges much in the
autumn in a kind of migration to the low country, at
least I often used to find them about the end of autumn
thick in some places a few miles from the ranges, where,
in the summer, they were very rare. They have a loud
call, something between a scream and a chatter, which
we used to hear much in the forests, especially during
the pairing season. The opossum has usually but one
young one at a birth ; I have, however, more than once
taken two from the pouch. The young one, at first, is
red-coloured. The females breed but once in the year.

Every bush-dog has, to use a colonial phrase, " a
rank down" on the opossum, and will hunt them up or
find them in the trees at night, and stand barking under
them till the shooter comes up. The opossum then acts
very foolishly, for it will often only just run up out of
reach of the dog, at which it will sit swearing, after the
manner of a cat, without at all noticing the shooter
below. A still night, after rain, with a moon just over
the tree-tops, is the right night for 'possum-shooting.
They are, however, very irregular in coming out, for in

THE OPOSSUM. 43

gome nights you may beat the wood through and scarcely
find any, while on another night you will perhaps find
dozens in the same trees; but on damp nights they are
sure to be out. When the moon only gives a doubtful
light, they are not easy to see, especially in the thick
trees ; the only plan then is to get the tree well between
you and the moon, and run your eye along each limb in
the moon's rays. The ears of the opossum sticking up
will often betray it, for they sit very still, doubled up on
the branch, often in a cleft. When the night was clear
and the trees bare, I never cared to have a dog with me ;
for let it be ever so well broken, a dog will have an
occasional snap at the opossum on the ground, unless
it falls stone dead ; and the least blemish on the back
spoils the skin. The shooter must be careful how he
handles a wounded opossum. Hawker says, in his
Instructions to Sportsmen : " Beware of a wounded
coot, it will scratch you like a cat." I can say the same
of a wounded opossum ; and I have seen one fasten on a
dog so tightly with its teeth as to be with difficulty
shaken off. A pea-rifle is better than a gun to shoot
opossums with, but be sure to take them in the head, or
the bullet-hole will spoil the skin. The most I ever
shot in one night was at a place called the " Banging
Water-holes," near Dandenong : the trees were old and
bare ; the night still and clear. I killed ninety-three. This
•was an unusual occurrence ; but a man may always with
little trouble kill a dozen on any night in the forests where
the opossums are at all thick.

44 NATURAL HISTORY SKETCHES.

The best rugs are those which come from Van Die-
men's Land, made by the shepherds of snared skins ;
and as these can be bought in Melbourne, properly
dressed and tanned, for about 50s. each, it is hardly worth
making them here for sale : still, every bushman should
make one for his own use ; for of all the coverings in dry
cold weather, an opossum-skin rug is the best, as I can
well testify; for, the winter after leaving Australia I
spent in Sweden, and many a night, when the cold north
wind came howling through the pine forests, dashing the
snow and sleet against my window, the temperature of
the air many degrees below zero, I used to wrap myself
in my old opossum-rug and contrast the wild inclemency
of the northern winter with the sunny and cloudless
skies under which I secured these skins. If any blacks
are handy, it is best to get them to sew the skins, for a
black's rug beats any other. It takes about eighty skins
to make a good rug, and I have seen a hundred and
twenty used : of course, if the belly is used, much fewer
will do ; but although the red colour gives the rug a rich
appearance, the skins are always thinner in this part. It
is best to tan the skins by throwing them, wJien green,
for three days, into a tub Avith a strong decoction of cold
boiled wattle-bark before stretching them. A good rug
should be at least eight feet by six, and when lined and
bound, it has a very rich appearance. To dry the skins,
nail them out against a tree with the fleshy side to the
sun, and they will dry in a day. As the back is the best
part, stretch the skins long but not broadwise : the more

THE OPOSSUM. 45

they are stretched of course the thinner they are. In
cutting them out for a rug, try and get them as much of
a size as possible ; mark out the square, and cut the skin
•with a sharp knife inside, not laid on a board, or you
will cut the hair. When sewing them, use the carpet-
stitch, i. e. turn down the edges of the skins and sew
through them double. The blacks score the inside of
their skins with a kind of hieroglyphic, and I have seen
one marked representing a chart or map. This much
softens the skins. The proper way to prepare any skins,
sucli as opossum, native cat, flying squirrels, &c., for the
furrier, is to adopt the plan that we used in Sweden with
the foxes' skins. "When skinning the animal, don't open
it down the belly, but make an incision across the vent
up each hind leg as far as the second joint ; cut through
the legs and root of the tail, and draw the body out of
the skin, like skinning an eel ; skin the head out right
down to the nose ; slit down the feet to the toes, taking
out the leg-bones, and draw out the tail-bone. The skin
is now turned inside out. Cut a flat piece of wood as
broad as the body, but longer; point the nose end a
little, and thrust it into the skin down to the nose, draw-
ing the skin smoothly and tightly over it. Nail the ends
of the skin at the tail to the board, put two cross-sticks
into the legs to stretch them, and hang it up to dry. As
soon as it is partially dry, draw out the board, turn the
skin the hair side out, and put the board in again ; don't
let the skin get too dry before you turn it, or you will
nave a difficulty in doing so. The reason you should

46 NATTJBAL HISTOBY SKETCHES.

put the board in on the fur side first, is that the skin may
not fasten hard on to the board, which it would do if the
board was put in to the fleshy side first ; but I fancy, if
the board was well greased, it would not stick. A little
wood-ashes rubbed on the fleshy part of the skin, assists
much in drying it ; and I have often found wood-ashes,
sifted fine, an excellent preservative both for animals and
bird skins, when no poison was at hand.

The Ring-tail Opossum is much smaller, scarcely half
the size of the common opossum. The general colour is
a plain dark brown, often with a very red tinge ; the
breast and belly pure white, the fur short and close, more
bristly, and the skins are worth little or nothing for
rugs. The tail is long and bare, like a rat's, with a white
tip on the end. It is a pretty little animal, and soon
becomes tame. They principally frequent thick tea-tree
scrub, where they live in small colonies, building a drey
like the squirrel at home. You do, however, occasionally
at night find them in the gum-trees with the others, but
they are nowhere so common as the large opossum. I
have Occasionally taken three young ones from the pouch
of a ring-tail. Besides these, there are many Australian
opossums, or Phalangists, as they are more rightly called.

We had two species of flying squirrel in our forests, —
the large black and white, or Ma^ie Squirrel, or Plying
Pox, and the little Sugar Squirrel, or " Tooan " of the
natives. The magpie squirrel was rare in our district.
It is principally found, I think, in the high Stringy-bark
ranges, and they abound in the ranges on the Gripps-
land road. Strange to say, no opossums are found there.

THE LITTLE BUGAE SQTJIBBEL. 47

I fancy the opossum is more partial to the peppermint
and gums, and perhaps the same localities do not suit
both. The large squirrel is of a dirty brown and white
colour, the fur much coarser than that of the little sugar
squirrel ; the body itself is not very large, but I have seen
them two feet long from the nose to the tip of the tail,
and about a foot broad when the wings are spread out.
These wings are nothing more than a fine flap of skin,
which extends the whole length of the body on each side,
and expands when stretched out to the toes of each foot.
They certainly cannot fly, but they can float through the
air for a long distance, always in a downward direction ;
and this is how they puzzle the dogs ; for while they are
barking under the tree, the squirrel floats out on the
other side to the bottom of the next tree, which it soon
runs up, and thus gives its enemy the slip. The cry of
the big squirrel is a loud piercing scream.

The little Sugar Squirrel is not at all uncommon
among the honeysuckle and small gums in all the forests,
but is very difficult to shoot, on account of its small size
and the thickness of the trees it generally frequents. It
is a pretty little animal, about six inches long in the
body, and the tail, which is flat and brushy, nearly the
length of the body. The colour is light gray, white un-
derneath, and the fur is beautifully soft and valuable,
being a real chinchilla. They live by day in the holes of
trees, and, like the opossum, come out at night to feed.
The wing is about an inch and a half broad on each
aide. The little squirrel has four young ones at a birth,

48 KATUHAL HISTORY SKETCHES.

and I think breeds but once in the year. I don't know
how it is with the wild dog, but I fancy none of the bush
animals here have more than one litter in the year. The
little squirrel is not gregarious, but generally dispersed
in pairs throughout the forests. These animals are not
true squirrels but belong to the Petaurists.

The Cuscus or Tiger-Cat is rather a rare animal, very
like the British polecat in shape and size ; and I fancy,
like that animal, it lives much by the side of the creeks and
swamps. It is sparingly dispersed over the thick bush,
and I generally found them singly. The colour is deep
chocolate-brown, irregularly spotted with white, and the
tail, which is long and thin, is also spotted. It is strictly
carnivorous ; but the hind foot has a thumb, like the opos-
sum. It is a shy, solitary animal, and rarely seen, although
I have oftener killed them by day than night. They
must be very destructive to the small game in the bush.

One of the commonest of all the bush animals is the
little Native Cat or Dasyure, a pretty little animal, about
the shape and size of a ferret ; but the nose is sharper,
the ears are large and pricked, and the tail is long and
brushy, nearly the length of the body. The general
colour is light sandy brown, with white spots ; but there
is a beautiful variety, jet black spotted with white. This,
however, is rare and very local, and, unlike the black
variety of the wild dog, is a distinct species ; and a black-
and-white spotted cat is never found among a litter of
sandy ones. The native cat is a small beast of prey,
very destructive to birds, especially poultry, and eggs.

THE DOMESTIC CAT. 49

They are common throughout the whole bush, living by
day in hollow logs, old dead log fences, and holes in the
ground, and at night they come out to feed on the
ground ; and the dogs, when hunting, generally run them
up the small shey oaks and honeysuckles. Tou rarely
see a wild cat up a gum-tree. They much frequent the
belts of timber on the edges of the swamps ; and I have
often killed them on the beach by moonlight, coming
down, no doubt, to look after the dead fish washed
ashore. The little native cat is one of the most prolific
animals in the bush, and I have often killed six young
ones in a nest. It is marsupial ; but, unlike the rest of
these animals, does not appear to carry the young much
in the pouch after they have left the teat. They are not
at all shy ; are very easily caught in any kind of trap
baited with meat. A common figure of 4 trap is the one
generally used in the bush.

The Domestic Cat sometimes wanders away from a
station and turns bushranger ; and certainly the largest
cat that I ever saw in my life was a large black and white
one which I killed in a honeysuckle scrub here. He
must have been the very Nestor of colonial cats. I re-
collect when a common cat would fetch a £5 note here.
Now, however, they are at a discount. Tou rarely see a
cat about a bush tent. I fancy a tent is hardly comfort-
able enough for " pussey." Among the Laplanders, as
long as they dwell in houses, the cat lives with them, but
it rarely follows the wandering tribes that lead a bush
life with their reindeer upon the northern fells.

50 NATUBAIi HISTORY SKETCHES.

I do not believe that there is any land rat indigenous
to this country, except the bush rat ; but of course the
common gray Norwegian rat has found its way to Mel-
bourne, and swarms in all the back-alleys and by-streets
of that town. The little mouse has also been implanted:
both are to be met with about the towns as common as
in England, but we rarely see either in the bush.

The Flying Mouse is certainly the most beautiful little
animal in the colony ; not so large as the smallest
British shrew-mouse, of a rich light brown colour above,
white underneath. It is a perfect flying squirrel in
miniature, but the tail is flat and feathered. It is rare,
and very local, and, on account of its size, is seldom
seen. They sometimes come into the bush tents, and I
have seen a family of young ones taken out of a hollow
tree.

Two other small bush animals, the Kangaroo Eat
(putchook) and the Bandicote (boo), in these woods sup-
plied the place of the hare and rabbit at home. They
were both excellent eating, and common throughout the
whole bush. The kangaroo rat is about the size of a
three-parts-grown rabbit, but more slender, in shape like
a rat ; the colour light brown, with sometimes a very red
tinge ; the tail long, thick, blunt, and bare, tipped with
white. The hind legs are very long, like those of the
kangaroo, and the feet are the same ; but they run on
all fours. They are pretty generally dispersed over all
the forests, live in tussocks of grass on dry rises, and
when the dogs bolt them, are very pretty snap-shooting

THE BANDICOTE. 51

up the country. They call our kangaroo rat the Paddy
Mellan, and describe the real kangaroo rat as being
nearly the size of a wallaby, and running on all fours.
If such an animal does exist, I never saw it. "We used
to call a species of wallaby, or small yellow-bellied kan-
garoo, which is, I believe, found on Phillip Island, the
Paddy Mellan.

The bandicote is a large species of bush rat, in shape
and appearance resembling a very large shrew-mouse,
but nearly double the size of a common English rat.
We had, I fancy, two species ; at least, we used to kill a
large bush-rat of a dark brown colour, with very bristly
hair, much resembling the animal which we called the
common bandicote. This latter was, however, much the
commonest, of a light brown colour, the rump striped
with white crosswise ; the under parts white, and the
hind foot in shape like that of the kangaroo. They are
generally found in hollow logs, and a bush-dog here has
plenty of work in examining every dead log or fallen tree
that it comes to, in the hopes of finding a bandicote or
native cat. Both the bandicote and kangaroo rat have
more than one young one at a birth ; but, like the other
bush animals, only breed once in the year. There are
various smaller bush animals, such as field-mice and. rats,
to which I paid very little attention.

"We used to kill a large species of water-rat in the creeks,

and occasionally on the coast, with a dark brown body,

yellow belly, and blunt tail, tipped with white, which we

called the Beaver Eat, It is a little larger than the

E 2

52 NATUEAL HISTOET SKETCHES.

common water-rat, and the feet are large and flat. The
skin is beautifully soft, and, I believe, valuable.

The duck-billed platypus, or water-mole, as it is called
here, is found in the Yarra, the Exe, and many of the
streams to the north and east of Melbourne, but I never
met with it in the Western-port district. It is also com-
mon in many of the inland streams, and not rare in the
Saw-mill Creek, on the Dandenong ranges. They are
remarkably shy animals, and rarely seen, except at
evening, when they come up to the top of the water,
and look like so many black bottles floating on the
surface, and sink down directly, if alarmed.

They only are found in fresh water, and I never saw
them in any still detached water-holes. They may be
shot by quietly watching the stream in the evening, and
will take a bait, as a small piece of potato on a hook.

The singular form of the platypus must be well known
to all ; for the OrnithorJiyncJtus paradoxus of New Hol-
land has long ranked among the wonders of the world.
I have generally seen them 1 foot to 18 inches long, and
the shovel-bill 2 inches ; the colour dark brown, the
fur stiff and bristly, and I never saw the skins used
for any other purpose than making tobacco-pouches.
The tail is short, the bod} broad and flat, and the whole
appearance of the animal betokens its mode of life.
Although gregarious, I do not think they live in colonies,
but each pair occupy a hole in the bank, often a long
way under ground. I think they are amphibious, but I
never saw them basking on the bank, and the position of

THE DUCK-BILLED PLATYPUS. 53

their feet is not formed for -walking on land. The foot
is broad and -webbed, the hind one turned outwards, and
the male has a sharp spur on it, which is said to be
poisonous : I fancy not. The eyes are scarcely percep-
tible, and the absence of teeth is compensated for by
two horny projections at the root of the tongue, which
are doubtless used by the animal in crushing the mol-
lusca, on which it feeds.

It is certainly a singular-looking animal, and when
first discovered, as its name denotes, was, I have no
doubt, considered a paradox ; but as science more clearly
develops the hidden mysteries of nature, many a paradox,
when viewed in the right light, is cleared up ; and when
we consider the habits of the platypus, we shall see
nothing so very wonderful in its formation. The shape
of the body is well adapted to the habits of an animal
the greater portion of whose life is spent under water.
The powerful webbed foot is scarcely more singular
than that of the mole, and is used by the platypus
as a propeller, in the same manner as the flat shovel-
foot is used by the mole, for a spade. The beak,
or shovel-nose, is no more singular than the trunk of
the elephant or the snout of the tapir, and peculiarly
adapted for shovelling up shells, &c. from the bottom of
the stream.

The beak, the web-foot, and the peculiar conformation
of the collar-bone, and its habits of breeding, certainly
show some affinity to the bird ; but here all resemblance
ends. As to the idea of its laying eggs, that has long

54 NATTJEAL HISTORY SKETCHES.

been exploded : they are clearly mammals, for the female
has teats.

Strange as the forms of all these animals appear to us,
we may depend upon it that they still exist for some
good reason, and we are hardly justified in regarding as
monstrosities any peculiarities in the works of nature
which we cannot understand.

We had a curious species of hedgehog, or ant-eater,
common on all the dry sandy rises in the Western-port
district, — the Echidna or Spiny Ant-eater of naturalists,
about three times as large as the common European
hedgehog, with sharp quills, about two inches long, a
long tapering snout, similar to the beak of the platypus,
but round and thin. And here, again, we see how well
nature has adapted the outward form to the habits of every
animal. It had the tongue of the true ant-eater, very
similar to that of the woodpecker, and large burrowing
feet like the mole. They live under-ground, very near
the surface, and the dogs find, and quickly grub them out.
I never saw one above ground except when caught. It is
surprising how soon they can work their way into the
ground out of sight ; and when once down, it requires all
the force of one man, with a spade, to prize them up.

This animal belongs to the same class as the platypus,
by naturalists called monotremata, peculiar only to Aus-
tralia. They stand the very lowest of all the mammalia.

I could never identify more than three species of Bat
in our parts, and this little animal was by no means so
common as I should have imagined, in a country abound-

THE DEVIL-DEVIL. 55

ing, as this does, with hollow decayed trees. Our com-
mon bat was a little larger than the large variety of
British bat, and we had two smaller species. The great
vampyre-bat is, I believe, met with in the Straits ; but I
never saw one, although I have heard of its being killed
near Melbourne. The most extraordinary shot I ever
made in my life was here, when I shot a bat and a large
moth at a right-and-left shot.

Two other animals — the Devil-Demi, and the mys-
terious Bunyip — are met with at the present day in the
wild swamps of Gipps' Land, according to the blacks. I
need scarcely say that I never saw either. From what I
can learn, there is a small species of panther, or wild cat,
in Van Diemen's Land, which the blacks call the devil-
devil, but it is not met with here ; and as to the bunyip,
I suspect it exists only in the imagination of the abori-
gines. Still I have heard old hands affirm, with the most
extravagant oaths, such as an old hand only can invent,
that they have stood face to face with the bunyip in tea-
tree scrub ; and they describe it as a large animal, like a
polled cow, with carnivorous teeth.

On some of the islands in Western-port Bay, and along
the coast, the common wild English rabbit has been
turned out, and thriven well ; and I believe, in many
places out here, a rabbit-warren, properly looked after,
would pay better than any cultivation. There is much
poor hungry soil in Port Phillip, which is of little use for
the plough, and less for pasture, mostly scrub and sand,
but where many English esculents would grow, if planted

56 NATURAL HISTOET SKETCHES.

•wild, for the rabbits to feed on. The rabbits could always
be sold in Melbourne for good prices. The native cats
and hawks would be their worst enemies ; but a small
•warren could be well looked after, and would, I am sure,

Pay-

The deer has been introduced into Van Diemen's Land,
and lias done well in confinement ; and I fancy, if turned
loose, would thrive here. I recollect one fallow-deer,
which had somehow or other become loose, used to run
wild at the foot of the Dandenong ranges, and has more
than once been seen heading a mob of kangaroo. There
was a talk of importing some fallow-deer to turn out
before the hounds here, and great was the cry against
it. I should much like to know the difference between
hunting a wild dog or a deer as " bagmen." It is true
that the wild dog is generally torn to pieces, whereas the
deer, in all probability, would be saved ; and that it does
not break their hearts running them, is proved by the
deer which are turned out, season after season, before
the Queen's hounds in England.

It has been suggested that the alpaca might be intro-
duced into this country from South America, and turned
out wild to usurp the place of the kangaroo. That they
would thrive here I have no doubt, and I believe they
have been already kept in confinement. But if the
experiment is to be tried on a large scale, I do not think
it would answer at first to turn such a valuable animal
loose as /me natures. As long as they were kept in pad-
docks, and looked after like sheep, they would be private

DOMESTIC CATTLE. 57

property ; but if once they were turned loose, they would
be anybody's game ; and I do not see how they could be
preserved sufficiently to allow them to gain head in the
country. Nor do I fancy, wild as Port Phillip may be in
some parts, it is, anywhere in the settled districts, so
inaccessible as the native home of the alpaca.

There is no particular wild breed of cattle, horses, or
sheep, indigenous to Australia. In fact, it would appear
that this immense island had been left a barren waste
upon the face of the globe, until its hidden resources
should be developed by the skill and perseverance of
civilized man ; for so genial is its climate, and so peculiar
its soil, that almost any animal or plant will thrive here,
no matter from what part of the world it is imported.
And this very fact, now clearly proved, goes far to refute
the argument that Australia is a country fitted by nature
only as a residence for the lowest class of animals, the
marsupial. "Whether or not, as has been hinted by a
modern author, this land is as yet only in a primitive
era, and may still be subjected to those changes which
the study of geology proves to have taken place in the
old world, must, of course, remain a vague hypothesis.
In some parts of the country, up the Bass Kiver for
instance, large mobs of cattle breed in the bush, roam
the forests, without a brand, as wild as any on the plains
of the Brazils, or the South-American Andes. I never
cared to meet what they call the tame cattle here in the
bush, notwithstanding even the stockman's guarantee,
" Oh, they won't hurt you." And this reminds me of a

58 NATURAL HISTORY SKETCHES.

very unpleasant situation in which I was once placed
when going over Sir M. ~W. Ridley's kennels at Blagdon,
Northumberland. Of course I was accompanied by old
Fenwick Hunnum, the feeder. While we were looking at
the bitch pack, a quarrel broke out in the dog-kennel, and
the old boy slipped out to quell the riot, quietly observing,
as he shut the door behind him, leaving me alone with
the bitches — " They won't hurt you, I expect." They
certainly did not hurt me ; but the way in which they
came sniffing round me with their bristles up, one
every now and then uttering a low growl, was anything
but pleasant; and I was glad enough when the old
man came back and exultingly remarked, with a grin
on his old foxy face, " I told you they would not hurt
you."

Many of these so-called tame cattle are dangerous,
especially the cows, which calve in the forest, plant their
calves, and go a little distance off to feed, and old working
bullocks: I believe here the bulls are the most harmless.
I did not so much mind them in the timber, for a man
has a chance of getting behind or up a tree (I was once
stuck up a whole night in a honeysuckle). But I always
looked out on the plains, and whenever I saw a bullock
stand sulking by itself, I always gave it a wide berth ;
such a one is generally " a Eoosiau." Of course, with a
gun a man has not so much to fear, but a charge of shot
will often not stop a rushing bullock. One would not
like to shoot a bullock on a run ; but better kill him than

DOMESTIC CATTLE. * 59

he kill you, and I always had a, bullet in my pocket ready
to slip in in case of need. I always found a good large
dog the best protection.

It appears that the first convict-ships which came to
these shores, in 1788, brought out with them one bull,
one bull calf, four cows, one stallion, three mares, and
three foals; and from these have sprung the immense
mobs of cattle and horses which now wander over the
forests and plains of Victoria. According to the " British
Farmer's Magazine," it seems that in 1851 there were
390,000 horned cattle, and 16,500 horses in Victoria;
and the sheep in this colony, which, in 1838 numbered
three millions, had increased to five millions. It is most
probable that the sheep were introduced into Victoria
from the older colonies. In 1788 the first sheep were
imported into Sydney from India; the number originally
brought in was twenty-nine. These, in 1803, had in-
creased to 10,000, and in 1846 to nearly seven millions.
In 1807, the export of wool from Australia to England
was but 245 Ibs., and in 1855 it had reached forty
millions of pounds ; which, coupled with its annual ten
tons of gold, ought to render this country one of the richest
in the world.

I have, I believe, above noticed all the common bush
animals of Victoria. In the wilder parts, some other
species are, no doubt, met with ; but these are all I know.
It will be seen that there is very poor encouragement for
the fur-hunter out here ; but at the same time there is

60 - JTATUBAL HISTOBY SKETCHES.

not a single wild animal in the forests which the bushman
need fear. We will now turn to the feathered game
list, which we shall find richer both in species and
individuals.

THE EMIT. 61

CHAPTEE IV.

THE EMU — TEE WILD TDKKET — THE LOWAN — THE NATIVE
PHEASANT.

THE Emu, or as the natives call it, " Ourer," is also
called the Australian cassowary and is the largest bird in
the colony, but is now rarely met with in the settled dis-
tricts, and I can say nothing of its habits from my own
personal observation. It is by no means rare in many
parts of the country ; but we must now look for the emu
far back in the wild plains and extensive sheep-runs up
country, which are rarely intruded upon by the presence
of man, except it be a solitary shepherd or stock-rider.
A small flock used to frequent the wild country round
the kangaroo-ground, and during my stay there two were
killed. They were not so very shy, and often came within
range of the wood-splitters' tents. In habits and appear-
ance the emu much resembles the ostrich ; but it is not
nearly so large, and wants the fine tail and wing feathers
peculiar to that bird. The general colour is brownish-
black, the feathers long, and clothed with fibres like hair ;
they can't fly, and are generally ridden down with kangaroo
dogs. It is a very fat bird, and when boiled down, emu
oil, like the shark's oil among fishermen, is the bushman's
universal remedy for rheumatism and other bush coin-

62 NATUEAL HISTOEY SKETCHES.

plaints. "When properly dressed, the skin makes a fine
rug, which is very warm, and moreover, a bit of a " curio."
A full-grown emu will stand above six feet, and I know
that it takes two men to lift one on to a horse. The
breeding habits of the emu differ from the ostrich ; at
least, I once found two eggs, and they were not fresh,
near Arthur's Seat, on the coast here. They lay open in
a little hole in the ground, scraped among a heap of moss
and rubbish in the forest. They were rather larger than
a swan's egg, of a greenish-black colour.

The Wild Turkey (gollopachin) is certainly entitled to
the first place in the list of Australian game birds. It is
a species of bustard, smaller, however, than the European
bustard, and the male wants the moustache peculiar
to that bird. The legs are not so long in proportion, it
flies much better, and when in the air, rather resembles
the common turkey. It is of a light gray colour,
mottled and pencilled with black. An old male will
weigh about 20 Ibs., a female 9 to 12. They generally
frequent the plains and open moors, are partial to old
sheep-folding grounds, and I have seen as many as
twenty-seven feeding together on the wide open country
towards Gelong. It is a very shy bird, and few are met
with now in the neighbourhood of Melbourne, but they
abound on the large sheep-stations up country ; they ge-
nerally came into our district as stragglers, but an odd
couple or so bred in the heather ; for I have often raised a
single bird in the summer on an open moor ; and there
were certain places where we could generally see three

THE LOWAN. 63

or four feeding, about the autumn ; probably birds bred
iu the neighbourhood. "What few I have seen killed
were chance birds. It is next to impossible to get up
to them on foot in the bare plains ; but like all other
bush-game, they take little notice of a bullock-dray or
horse, and are easily stalked under shelter of these.
They generally fly low, and as they rarely alter their
course, the best plan, if the shooter sees one flying
up to him on the plains, is to stand still, and he will
probably get a shot. The wild turkey is a fine-eating
bird, and worth about £1 in Melbourne, but you rarely
see one in the market; for where they do abound, nobody
cares to shoot for profit, and what are killed find their
way to the head station. They were very rare in the
Western-port district : the country is too deeply tim-
bered. The large open plains on the sheep-stations iu
the interior are the peculiar home of the wild turkey.

The Loioan, or native hen, is peculiar to the country
in the vicinity of the " Mallee Scrub," in the interior,
a species of dwarf gum, about 12 feet high, and
smaller scrub, so tightly interlaced with the tendrils
of the native vine, as to render it impenetrable.
The lowan is a plain dull-coloured bird, brownish
black, a little larger than the common fowl, and lays
an immense egg for its size, in the sand. The birds
lay a number of eggs together, heaped up in the
form of a pyramid ; whence their name of the mound-
building bird of Australia. They are covered and
hatched in the sand, and, strange to say, the young

64f NATURAL HISTOBY SKETCHES.

birds are not seen till they are pretty well feathered ; I
never met with this bird in a wild state.

The Native Pheasant is the Lyre-bird of naturalists,
and the " bulla-bulla" bird of the natives, from its call-
note, and is by no means rare in the peculiar localities
which they frequent, — the most secluded gullies in certain
high ranges. They were common in some of the gullies
on the Dandenong ranges, up the Plenty ranges, at the
head of the Tarra, and up the Bass Eiver, on the eastern
coast of Western-port Bay ; but I never heard of one
being killed on the west side of that bay. There is
nothing handsome in the general plumage of the native
pheasant ; — it is about as large as the pheasant at home,
the body dull-coloured brown ; but the beauty of the
bird consists in the tail of the male, which is very long,
the feathers clothed with fibres like those of the birds
of paradise, in the form of a lyre, the two outer feathers
curved outwards, like those of the black-cock at home.
It is one of the shiest birds in the world, rarely seen on
the wing, but keeps on the ground among the thickest
scrub and fallen timber. It is a perfect mocking-bird,
and the only way to shoot them is to lie still and call
them. It is little use in a white man going after them
without the assistance of a black. The blacks make
periodical excursions up into the ranges, about Sep-
tember, when the birds are full-feathered, and come
back laden with tails. Just as I left Melbourne, I saw
the nest and egg of this bird brought down from the
Plenty ranges. The nest was large and domed, the egg

THE LOWA1S*. 65

uniform dark chocolate-brown coloured. I never killed
the pheasant, although I have often heard them on the
ranges, and I should not have noticed either this or the
lowan-bird, but that I fancy they make up the full list of
Australian game-birds, with those which I am about to
mention.

66 NATUEAL HISTOEY SKETCHES.

CHAPTEE V.

DUCK-SHOOTING— THE BLACK SWAN— THE WILD GOOSE— THE DIF-
FERENT SPECIES OF DUCKS PECULIAR TO POET PHILLIP.

I DO not believe that any country in the world is
better adapted by nature as a home for the water-fowl
than Australia. Dreary swamps miles in extent, lagoons
of immense size, where the bulrush and reed vegetate
in rank luxuriance ; creeks and water-holes, completely
hidden from the view by dense masses of tea-tree scrub,
afford unmolested shelter and breeding-places for the
birds ; and a few years ago, when the sound of a gun was
rarely heard in the solitude of these morasses and fens,
the country around Melbourne must have literarily
•swarmed with wild fowl. When I first came into this
country, the palmy days of the duck-shooter were in their
zenith ; the fowls and buyers plentiful, the shooters
scarce. The year previous there was not a float or big
gun in this part of the colony, and the first punt that ever
floated on Melbourne Swamp, was built in Melbourne
Street, where the market now stands, in the morning,
launched in the afternoon, fitted up with an old musket,
and the birds shot and sold in Melbourne before night. In
this winter, £1,000 was cleared off Melbourne Swamp
and its neighbourhood by the two men who launched

THE BLACK SWAN. 67

this punt. The diggings were then in full swing, money-
was like dirt, and the birds sold at any price. The
buyers were not particular. Many a brace of sea-gull
have been sold for 5s. and I once knew a pair of old
shags with their beaks trimmed up, sold for 15s. as " rock
duck." But this did not last long. The duck-shooters
of that day, like the diggers, never heeded the morrow,
and not one laid up for a rainy day. As the birds be-
came scarcer, the shooters increased, and prices fell, till
at the present day duck-shooting is not worth following
within fifteen miles of Melbourne. "What a change has
six years made in the appearance of this country. The
swamps and lagoons near Sandridgeare all drained or built
on, and a railroad now passes over ground on which, at
that day, four or five couple of ducks might be killed with
ease in a night's flight-shooting.

Eight species of wild duck are more or less common
in this district, and I believe these are nearly all the
ducks indigenous to Victoria : the Mountain Duck,
the Black Duck, the Wood Duck, the Pochard or
China-eye, the Whistle-wing or Pink-eye, the Shovel-
bill, the Teal, and the Musk Duck. I have seen one
other species in Melbourne, said to have been shot in
the neighbourhood, as large as the black duck, but more
resembling the British gadwall in plumage. This I
believe to be only a rare and occasional visitant to these
parts ; although I have heard that it is common in some
parts further inland.

The Slack Swan is common throughout the winter
v 2

G8 NATURAL HISTOEY SKETCHES.

after the young birds can fly, on all the large swamps
and lagoons ; sometimes in good-sized flocks, but generally
in small companies, which I took to be the old birds and
birds of the year. Early in summer they retire to their
breeding-haunts, and we saw very little of them again
until the swamps and water-holes filled. They appear
to breed in August and September. The nest is a large
heap of rushes, and the female lays five to seven dirty-
white eggs, not so large as those of the swan at home.
They breed a good deal on some of the large islands
in "Western-port Bay, and I attribute the decrease of
swans in this neighbourhood to the quantity of eggs
that are yearly taken by the fishermen in this bay.
Swan-ponds near the Heads, is also a great place for them ;
in fact, they are by no means rare in this district, and an
odd pair or so breed on most of the large swamps. The
black swan is not nearly so shy as the European hooper,
and they are by no means difficult to come up to with a
punt-gun. They are a heavy-flying bird, and don't care
to rise on the wing, if they can save themselves by
swimming.

The black swan is a graceful, elegant bird, not so large
as the hooper at home; the shape of the beak is the same,
but the cere is red, and the windpipe is not folded within
the breastbone. The colour is deep black, the pinion-
feathers white, which contrast prettily with the black
plumage of the body when the bird is in the air ; the
bastard wing-feathers are prettily curled. They have
a very musical call-note when passing overhead on a

THE MAGPIE. 69

still night ; and I have listened with pleasure to the soft
low notes of a pair of swans answering each other, while
floating on the lagoon, by the side of which I lay at
flight-time. At night they always fly low. The black
swan does not attain its full plumage till after the first or
second moult : the young birds are light mottled-gray.

The swan is hardly worth shooting here for the
market, as they only fetch 5s. each, and they are a heavy
bird to carry about. The flesh of the young swan is ex-
cellent, and one roasted in a camp oven generally with
us formed the duck-shooter's Sunday dinner, when-
ever we could get one during the season. I wonder the
skins are not more highly prized for the down, which is
very thick. This is the only species of swan indigenous
to Australia ; but I once saw the real rara avis out here,
or white swan, flying up the bay about a quarter of a
mile out to sea. Nobody believed me when I mentioned
it, but I pointed it out to a friend who was with me.
I can't pretend to say where it came from. One would
naturally think it had escaped from some aviary ; but
nobody at that time kept tame swans in this neighbour-
hood that I know of, although a pair may now be seen in
the Cremorne Gardens, Melbourne.

Two species of wild geese are met with here, — the
Magpie, or Tree-goose, and the Cape Barren goose.

The Magpie, or Tree-goose (ongak), is the common wild
goose in this district, and, as far as I could learn, is the
only common wild goose peculiar to Port Phillip. Al-
though met with here only in small flocks, generally I

70 NATTJBAL HISTOHY SKETCHES.

think families, there are lakes in the interior where they
swarm. I think they remained in our district throughout
the year, although we used only to see them at uncertain
periods, and never for long together. As the name
denotes, the colour of the magpie-goose is pied, dull
black and white : it is about as large as the British
brent goose, and the tail is very square. It is a singular
bird : the beak is higher in shape, and not so broad, as in
the common goose, has a palish red rough cere, and the
upper mandible is long, and has a powerful curve or hook.
It has a large warty cere, extending over the front of the
head, which is in shape like that of a game-cock, cut out
helmet-combed. The feet are semi-palmated, and formed
for perching ; the claws long and sharp. I rarely saw
them either on the ground or on the water, never, cer-
tainly, in open water, although I have raised them out of
the thick reeds and grass that choke up many of the
creeks and lagoons here. They are generally perched
high up in the tea-tree scrub, where they will sit for
hours; and a curious sight it is to see them sitting
upright, with their long necks stretched out on the
watch. They have a very loud, hoarse call-note when
alarmed, nothing like that of the common wild goose.
The greatest curiosity of this singular bird, however, is
the windpipe, which has three folds, like that of the
European hooper ; but, instead of being folded within the
breastbone, it lies on the left hand, outside, bedded in the
flesh. They bred sparingly with us, for I have found
the nest in a thick tea-tree scrub ; and I fancy the small

THE MOUNTAIN DTICK. 71

flocks that we see in the autumn are families, which had
been bred in the neighbourhood, and that they do not
pack and make distant migrations like the wild geese at
home. Although a shy bird in the open, they are by no
means difficult to creep up to in the thick tea-tree scrub,
and many a pair have I killed right and left. They are
capital eating, and will fetch from 12*. to 15s. per couple
in the market.

The Cape Barron Goose, the New Holland coreopsis
of naturalists, looks like a cross between a goose and
a turkey, and is only a rare and occasional visitant to
our parts. It is rather larger and heavier than the mag-
pie-goose, of a light gray colour, spotted and chequered
all over with black; and the beak and feet in shape
resemble those of that bird. I never saw them here but
twice, — once in a small flock, and once when two pitched
with the tame geese at Mordialloc (this, I believe, they
are fond of doing), and which were caught alive. They
soon became tame, and used to stalk about the paddock ;
but they were very pugnacious with the other geese :
their call-note was a deep trumpet-like sound. They
very little resemble a goose when walking, but put me
more in mind of the Canada goose in shape than any I
know. These are the only two species met with here,
and neither of them appear to be true geese.

The Mountain Duck is the largest and handsomest of
all the ducks out here, nearly as large as the bernicle
goose of Europe, and in colour resembling the male
sheldrake. They are generally seen feeding on the plains,

72 NATUEAL HISTORY SKETCHES.

in small companies, in the vicinity of water, and as they
are very wary, and the old drake always on the look-out,
a brace of mountain duck is no mean prize. I very rarely
saw them on the water, but they pack in some favourite
lagoons, and are not difficult to come up to with a punt.
I never saw them in the creeks, but always in the open.
The old male bird utters a peculiar hoarse guttural
warning when danger is near. They breed in our neigh-
bourhood, I have heard, in trees ; and I have taken the
young birds, but a few days old, in the damp grass on
the swamps. They rarely associate with the other species,
and fetch no more in the market than the black duck,
although nearly half as large again, for the flesh is con-
sidered coarser.

None of the Australian ducks, except the black duck
and the teal, appeared to fly in large flocks ; and all the
male birds had that peculiar excrescence in the windpipe
peculiar to the British wild ducks. I fancy most of the
ducks out here breed in trees.

The common wild duck of this country is the black
duck, and, whether for its flavour at table, its wild, gamy
appearance, or the sport it affords the shooter, is certainly
equal to any duck in the world.

The Slack Duck is of a deep black -brown colour ; the
feathers edged with lighter brown, a very brilliant deep
purple speculum on each wing, the cheeks and throat
rich chestnut-red. It has a peculiar snake-like appear-
ance about the head and neck, and, with the exception
of the spinetailed swift, is, I think, the sharpest-flying

THE BLACK DUCK. 73

bird in the colony. A pair of good black duck will
weigh about 5 Ibs., and average now 7s. in the market.

The duck season here commences in the end of January,
when the old birds bring their young down to the creeks
(I have shot flappers, in some seasons, early in January),
and should end with September, when the swamps be-
gin to dry up, and the birds pair off and retire to their
breeding haunts. After they have bred, they keep about
the creeks and water-holes in small flocks or families,
till the rain fills the large swamps, when they seem to
congregate and frequent the open places on the swamps
and plains, where there is shallow water and good feeding-
ground. There is little good to be done with a shoulder-
gun out here, in the large swamps by day during the
winter. The black duck lays from six to eight eggs on
the ground, appears to breed much in heather, and I
have taken the nest in an open moor far away from any
water.

There is no better sport than- flapper-shooting here,
and there is no country in the world by nature better
adapted for it. The creeks in the summer (and in the
winter the ducks are all out on the open swamps and
large lagoons) are a succession of water-holes, walled in
by a thick hedge of tea-tree or reeds ten to fifteen
feet high. This screen appears impenetrable, and little
use would it be for any one to attempt to force his way
through it ; but the old hand soon finds a cattle-track,
which he well knows leads to water, and, creeping cau-
tiously down it, with his retriever at his heels, he suddenly

74 NATUEAL HISTOET SKETCHES.

comes upon a large, clear, open water-hole, on the margin
of which a score or so of ducks are floating lazily about,
or sleeping in the hot sun. One barrel on the water, one
as they rise, and in dashes the retriever, and first chasing
the winged birds, brings to land the killed and wounded ;
and perhaps two couple or more of ducks lie dead upon
the bank. The reeds are generally so thick round the
water-hole, that many a wounded bird, and others that
fall dead at a little distance, are lost. The ducks which
go away rarely fly far, but drop in another hole a little
lower down the stream; and two or three good shots
fill the bag. You will rarely find ducks in the brackish
water-holes at the mouths of the creeks. I have re-
marked two things in duck-shooting out here : whenever,
by day, I saw the swallows flying over the tops of the
bulrushes, and dipping down into the hole, I was almost
certain I should find no ducks; and at night, whenever the
frogs were silent on the lagoon, ducks were on the water.
A good retriever is indispensable to the Australian
duck-shooter, for the scrub and reeds around the creeks
and water-holes are so thick, and the grass on the swamps
and plains is so long, that a wounded bird is lost in a
few seconds. A winged black duck often dives and
comes up again in thick rushes, where it sits so close
that even a good dog will often pass over it. It is a safe
plan, after a shot, to try round the edges of the scrub
outside the hole, for a wounded duck often creeps out on
land. A duck-shooter here may reckon on losing half
his birds without a retriever.

DIFFERENT SPECIES OF DUCKS. 75

Of all the field sports in this colony, I think I did
like a good night's flight-shooting the best. There is a
charm in this silent solitary sport which I could never
find in any other. When seated well in the shade, by
the side of some favourite feeeding-ground, with the
moon just on the wane, all is still, save the occasional cry
of some night-bird as it rises from the neighbouring
swamp, or the whistle of the wings of a pair of ducks, as
they pass overhead, and the croaking of hundreds of small
frogs in concert, the deep clock of the bull-frog joining as
it were in bass accompaniment. The slight ripple of the
clear water dances iu the moon's silvery rays, when all at
once " whish," a splash in the water, and a sharp " quack
quack, quack," warns the shooter that a black duck has
pitched, and the concert of frogs is hushed in an instant.
This is soon joined by others, and having risen on the
water three or four times to shake their feathers, and
chased each other about for a few minutes, they settle
down to feed. Now is a moment of breathless suspense
to the shooter ; the gun is quietly raised, but the birds
at first are too far, or not well packed ; however, at
length, he gets three or four in a line, and the heavy
boom of the gun breaks the stillness of night, re-
verberating over the swamp with a hundred echoes. It
may be that some scores of birds were feeding on the
lagoon out of sight, which now rise like a clap of
thunder, and the air is disturbed by the wings and the
cries of the birds as they fly round the shooter's head.
His quick ear can well distinguish the different birds by

76 NATUEAL niSTOET SKETCHES.

their varied call-notes ; — the soft musical hoop of the
black swan, the sharp loud quack of the black duck, the
hoarse croak of the mountain-duck, the snort of the
shoveller, and the shrill call of the teal, are all familiar
to him ; and as he gathers up his dead birds, he hears the
ducks pitching again in various parts of the lagoon,
giving him promise of a goodly harvest by morning.
"When the dead birds are collected, the pipe is lit, the
gun charged, and he quietly settles himself down in his
rushy screen for another shot. The early part of the
evening is best for this sport ; the birds leave the feeding-
grounds about midnight, often go out to sea, if the lagoon
is on the coast, and return again a little before daybreak,
when they often pack on the bank of the lagoon. So in
punt-shooting, the evening and the morning shots are
those upon which the shooter principally depends.
"Where the birds are feeding well upon ground which has
been but little disturbed, flight-shooting is the best and
surest game of any with a shoulder-gun, and there is
some little difference between flight-shooting out here
and at home, where the shooter has to sit for hours,
often in sleet and drizzly rain, his teeth chattering and
his fingers so cold that he can scarcely pull the trigger.
Here a good pea-jacket will keep the shooter warm on
the coldest night, and though I have occasionally used
gloves, I never really wanted them. The best seasons
for flight-shooting are the autumn and early winter. In
the months of March and April, 1858, my old mate
killed upwards of a hundred couple of birds, princi-

DIFIEEENT SPECIES OF DUCKS. 77

pally black duck, at night, with his own gun, in one small
water-hole close to the coast. This is the only kind of
shooting in the colony for which a man really requires
water-boots. As the birds generally feed in shallow
water, he fetches the dead ones out himself, and he may
often have to sit for hours on a tussock of rushes, up to
his knees in water. Cording's Indian-rubber water-
proofs are the best I ever used for this work ; they are
warm, perfectly water-tight, never want dressing, and,
what is best of all, never get hard, and are always easy
to pull on and off. They are certainly too heavy for
walking much in, but for flight-shooting, boat-fishing, or
any other work where the wearer is not constantly in
motion, I will back them against any boots in the world.
The American gutta-percha overalls are not worth any-
thing for work. At all other times except flight-shooting,
the best dress for the Australian duck-shooter is canvas
or flannel trowsers and low half-boots. The climate is
so fine here, that a man may wade in the swamps with
impunity at all seasons of the year, and the best clothes
the shooter can wear are those which dry the quickest.

The flight-shooter usually ties a black ribbon round,
or sticks a small lump of mud on, the end of the barrel
of his gun, to guide his eye well on the object. My
plan was better, both for flight and opossum shooting.
Cut a forked piece of tea-tree, the forks about six inches
long, and tie it round the end of your barrel, the muzzle
protruding between the two forks, which stick up one on
each side, like a pair of horns. I learnt this trick of an

78 NATUBAL HISTORY SKETCHES.

old poacher, who had often used it with success when
nailing pheasants on the perch at home.

One season I killed a good many birds to stuffed decoy-
ducks floated on a piece of board, and kept in their
place with a string and a stone. We used them on the
Swedish coast for eider-duck, and called them " boul-
van." They answered very well in the daytime in any
clear open water which the ducks used, where there was
good shelter for the gun. Any ducks passing over would
pitch to them ; but it is wonderful how soon they discover
the deception, and you must fire as soon as ever they
settle on the water. A fresh-killed duck set up in a
natural position, with forked sticks, in some respects
answers better, as it retains the natural smell. I always
made it a rule to fire directly I got three in a line, no
matter how many birds were scattered upon the water ;
for in this sport delays are dangerous. I have often
killed six or eight couple of ducks in a day to stuffed
decoy-birds.

The swamp-hawks were my greatest annoyance; for
many a time when I have been just getting ready for a
good shot, an old swamp-hawk has come sailing over and
sprung the ducks ; and if ever I left my decoy-birds on
the water to go to another hole to see if there were any
ducks, I was sure to find one, if not more, of my stuffed
birds torn to pieces by the hawks.

Eley's cartridges are dear out here, — three shillings
and sixpence per dozen ; but I am not sure that a duck-
shooter would not gain by always using a green one in

DECOY-DUCKS. 79

his second barrel. In duck-shooting, in all cases except
at flight, when I liked a loose charge best, I used the
candle cartridge, and I found them quite equal to Eley's,
except that they occasionally ball the shot. As every
one may not know how to make them, I will give my
receipt. Procure a tin cylinder that will exactly fit into
the muzzle of your gun, about three inches long, some-
thing like a candle-mould ; stick a cork in the bottom end
and set it on a table ; put the shot in it, melt some can-
dle-grease in a ladle, which pour on to the shot till they
are covered. Let it stand to cool ; take out the cork
when the tallow is hard, and shove out the cartridge ;
wrap a piece of thin paper round, and it is ready for use.
I once killed a pair of black duck stone-dead at eighty
yards with a candle cartridge : this was perhaps a chance
shot, but I could always reckon on my birds at fifty
yards; and I know this is about fifteen yards further than
I could do with a loose charge. I shot with a single pigeon-
gun, No. 6 gauge, 6 drams of powder, and a two-ounce
cartridge. One needs a strong gun for such a charge,
and I fancy cartridges shake a gun much. I am no
friend to an out-of-the-way-sized gun for shoulder-shoot-
ing. The one I used I found big enough for any purpose,
and quite heavy enough to carry about and bring up to
the shoulder quickly. Depend upon it, the man who sticks
to one gun for every kind of shooting, will bag more
game than he who is continually changing; and I believe
I should have done better if I had always used a strong
double. The best gun for this country is a strong dou-

80 KATURAL HISTDET SKETCHES.

ble, twelve or thirteen gauge, heavy enough to carry two
ounces of shot if wanted. The shooter out here requires
a stronger and heavier gun than at home, and a
season's wear and tear, with the charges we often put in
for kangaroo or ducks, will give the best gun a pretty
good shaking. I am quite sure that I fired more shots
in one year out here than I should have done in four
seasons at home.

In flight-shooting it is a good plan to crack off a cap
before loading, to clear the nipple, for you can't always
see well. Never keep your caps loose in the pocket,
always use a small tin box. The bottom of a bushman's
pocket is generally full of fine broken tobacco, and many a
miss-fire have I had through putting on a cap in a hurry,
without seeing first if it was clear. Another hint and I
have done. Always have your powder-flask slung round
you in duck-shooting, and don't trust to the pocket. I
have lost many a powder-flask by neglecting this caution,
in struggling through thick tea-tree scrub.

Of course, punt-shooting is the most profitable kind of
duck-shooting ; but it is not every one who can use a
punt and big gun ; and in this country they will cost some
money. Besides, there are not many places now within
reach of Melbourne where a punt-gun will pay. There
are now as many pop-shooters as ducks about Melbourne
Swamp, and the birds are so much disturbed in all
places, that they don't pitch anywhere in such mobs as
formerly. Above Gelong, and on some lagoons near
Ballarat, I believe two or three punts are worked, and

THE WOOD DUCK. 81

the shooters get a fair living. Connor, who was cer-
tainly the best punt-shooter out here, stuck to it longest
of any in our bay. He had a sailing boat, and cruised
in the bay with his float and big gun on board, and shot
on the coast and the large lagoons at the Heads ; but he
knocked off at last, as I suppose it hardly paid, about
three years ago. I recollect he used to make one
trip a week, and brought back about fifty couple of fowl.
If a man is camped for any certain time near a good
lagoon, he can easily manage to knock up a float himself
with a few boards, and fit up a moderate-sized gun with
a rope-breeching (I never saw any other used here), and
the whole affair need not cost him £10.

The Wood Duck, take it altogether is, I think, the
handsomest little duck in the colony, hardly so large as
the pochard at home, with a head and beak exactly re-
sembling the bernicle goose of Europe. The plumage is
silvery gray, mottled with black, with beautiful long
scapulars striped black and white; the wing-speculum
very brilliant, the breast black, the head and neck chest-
nut, and the male has a small crest or mane. It was by
BO means a common duck, at least with us, and was
generally seen in pairs or small families in some secluded
water-hole ; sometimes on the water, but more often
standing on the bank. They were by no means shy, and
easily crept up to. Bred in holes of trees, and often
perched on the gum-trees by the side of the creeks. It
appeared to be rather a local bird, and rarely associated
with the other species.

G

82 NATFEAL HISTOEY SKETCHES.

The Pochard (a better name would have been " the
"Widgeon"), gray-back or China-eye, as we used to
call it, is a dull heavy duck, very much in plumage re-
sembling the British widgeon, but plumper and larger,
being very little less than a black duck. The eye is
French white. It was not very common with us. Eather
local, and sometimes seen in small flocks, but oftener in
pairs. It was a shy bird, and very rarely associated with
the black duck, certainly never in quantities.

The Whistle-wing, or Pink-eye, is the smallest and
tamest, but with us the rarest, of all the Australian
ducks, not larger than the water-hen at home. It is a
pretty little duck, of a light silvery mottle, with a faint
pink mark over each eye, and a remarkably large, broad
shovel bill for the size of the bird: we usually found
them in odd pairs, but I have shot on some lagoons
where they came in good-sized flocks.

The Shoveller, or " Spoony " of the duck-shooters, is
something like the shoveller at home in size, shape, and
general appearance, but the plumage is not so handsome.
They are chiefly found in creeks by themselves, but oc-
casionally join a mob of black duck on the plains. It is
rather a pretty duck, next in size to the black duck, and,
except the teal and black duck, was the commonest of all
the ducks in this district. The plumage of the male is
bright chestnut mottled with black, the breast dark, the
scapulars long, the speculum on the wing pale blue, and
the bill broad. They seemed to be partial to particular
localities, and I knew one creek, called the Skeleton

THE AUSTRALIAN TEAL. 83

Creek, above Williamstown, in which I could always find
a flock. The best shot I ever made at ducks in my life
was in this creek. I was beating for a snipe on the banks,
with a small single gun and one ounce of No. 7 shot. I
fired into a mob of spoonies which were going up the
creek about fifteen yards from me. I bagged eight. I
never at any other time got more than five birds with one
barrel, even when properly loaded for ducks.

The Australian Teal is a handsome little duck, not
quite so large as the teal at home, and, next to the
black duck, the commonest of all the species. They
generally flew in fair-sized flocks, often mixed with the
black duck, were tolerably tame, and we rarely brought
home a bag of ducks without a couple or so of teal. It
appeared to be more common on the coast than any of
the other ducks. The male bird is a splendid mottled
chestnut and black, with a very brilliant green neck,
while the female resembles the European teal. "We saw-
so few of these handsome birds in proportion to the others,
that I always considered it a distinct variety, which
some of the old duck-shooters also did, and used to call
it the " merganser." But a young friend of mine took
the nest, with seven eggs, out of a hole in a gum-tree,
and shot both the old birds, a handsome male and a
dull female. Still I felt certain we had two varieties,
and that all the dull-coloured birds we killed were not
females, and in April, 1857, I shot a dull-coloured bird
with a red eye, which, on dissection, proved to be a
male. Teal fetch about three shillings per couple in
o 2

84 XATUBAL HISTOBY SKETCHES.

the market, are considered the finest-eating birds of the
whole lot, and a teal supper at ten shillings per head
used to be the general evening's finish for the " men
about town " in Melbourne.

The Music Duck, so called from the strong musky
scent peculiar to the male, especially in the breeding
season, is a singularly ugly bird. Clumsy and chubby
in shape, as large as a small goose, of one uniform dull
grayish-black colour, thick head and beak, and the male
has a large warty flap, or excrescence, hanging down
from the chin. It has a curious appearance when swim-
ming, the body almost entirely under water, the head
and neck alone visible. It was, I believe, not uncommon
in some of the inland lagoons, but rare with us. In fact,
it is a shy solitary bird, frequenting creeks and water-
holes grown up with very thick rushes, and not often
seen. The wings are mere rudiments, like those of the
divers, to which class of birds I fancy it belongs, and it
trusts much more to its powers of diving than flight for
its safety. I never saw one on the wing. I have killed
it out at sea, in the bay, but I generally used to come
upon an odd one in some out-of-the-way creek or water-
hole, and never saw more than two together, although
they bred with us. It is rank and fishy to the taste,
and, except as a curiosity, hardly worth shooting. Some
call it the Moss duck.

This completes the list of Victorian ducks, and it will
be found very meagre in varieties, when compared with
that of Britain, which numbers about twenty-six varieties,

THE MUSK DUCK. 85

exclusive of the swans and geese. There are no true sea-
ducks in this part, but nearly all the species which I
know appear to frequent the salt as well as the freal>
water.

86 NATURAL HISTOBY SKETCHES.

CHAPTEE VI.

THE COOT — THE WATER-HEN — DABCHICK — BITTERN — HERON — WHITE
CRANES — EGKET — SPOONBILL — IBIS — NATIVE COMPANION — NAN-
KEEN CRANE— COAST-SHOOTING— SEA BIRDS.

THE Australian Coot is the porphyry-bird or sultan-hen
of South Africa, and much resembles the British coot in
size, shape, and habits ; but the body-colour is a beautiful
blue and white under the tail ; the cere, beak, helmet,
and legs are bright red. One of the peculiarities of this
bird is, that it can bring its food to its mouth with its
feet, which are not lobed like those of coot at home, but
the toes are long and thin, like those of the water-hen.
They were very common in most of the sheltered creeks
and water-holes. They bred with us, and in the autumn
appeared to flock, and then we principally found them in
rushes or tea-tree scrub, in which they perch. They are
very hard to rise, run like lamplighters, are easy to shoot
when on the wing ; and though I liked them much when
roasted, were hardly worth shooting for the market.

The Water-Tien was much rarer with us than the coot.
I generally found them in thick rushes, and never saw
more than two together. It very much resembles its
British namesake in size, habits, and general appearance.

The Ddbchick here very much resembles the little dab-

THE HEEON". 87

cbick at home in all respects, but was prettier about the
head. It was a summer migrant to our parts, and a pair
or two might then be seen on any water-hole ; and it is
a wonder how they become so generally dispersed, when
we consider their weak powers of flight. We had one
or two other species of grebe, very rare, however, in our
district.

It is no wonder that a country like this should abound
in swamp birds of every description, and the Bittern, which
more than perhaps any other shuns the haunts of man, is
one of the commonest of the wild tenants of the Australian
waste. I have killed eight or ten in the day, rising from
the rushes and grass in one large swamp, and any day
in the autumn I could bring home a couple of bitterns.
They appear much to resemble the European bird, but
are a little duller in colour. The call-note is exactly the
same, and often have I been startled, when quietly seated
at night watching a duck-hole, by the heavy bump of the
bittern from the reeds close to me ; and as the weary
shooter is plodding his homeward way, after evening has
closed in over the dreary swamp, the dull measured boom
of this solitary bird appears to add to the desolation
which reigns over all. I have heard of a little bittern
being killed out here, but never saw one.

The Heron is very common on the low marshy grounds,
and by the sides of the creeks ; and I have seen large flocks
of thirty or forty together. In size and plumage it re-
sembles the European heron, but is not nearly so fine or
handsome a bird ; and many of the feathers, especially

88 NATURAL HISTOET SKETCHES.

the scapulars, have a much redder tinge. It is gregarious
in its habits, except in breeding ; for, unlike the herons
at home, the Australian heron builds a very small soli-
tary nest on some old tall gum-tree, often far away from
water. I always fancied we had two species of heron,
the one much smaller than the other.

The Purple-and-wJiite Heron occasionally came down
into our parts, generally in small flocks ; but I considered
it a rare bird. In appearance it resembled its European
namesake ; but I fancy it was rather larger and hand-
somer. It is, I believe, common in Van Diemen's Land ;
at least, we used to call it the Van Diemen's Land heron.

"We never shot any of these birds for the market, buts
we always ate them ourselves, and, to my fancy, they
were fully equal to any of the so-called game-birds.

"We had two species of White Heron, or, as they were
called by the shooters, the White Crane, — the one much
resembling the great white heron of Britain in size and
appearance, with a black beak, and another variety, which
was much smaller. I think the large white heron was
the commonest with us. Now and then an odd one came
on to the large swamps in the winter ; but their princi-
pal resort was "Western-port Bay, and I have seen a&
many as a dozen feeding together at the mud flats there
at low water. It is a shy, wary bird. They breed on
the large rocks out at the Heads, and seemed to come-
down to our district in the autumn. I have, however,
seen them in "Western • port Bay a very little after
Christmas.

THE NASKEEX CBANE. 89

The Little White Egret was a very rare and casual
visitant to our parts. I only saw two specimens killed
with us. It seemed exactly to resemble the egret at
home, and is, I think, one of the chastest and most elegant
birds in the colony.

The Spoonbill was rare with us, and I only knew of
about three specimens being killed. It is an elegant
bird, pure white, with a fine pink tinge under each wing.
In some places it is very common.

Occasionally, an odd Ibis is killed here ; and the spe-
cimens that I saw resembled the sacred ibis of Egypt in
plumage, and had not the purple tinge peculiar to the
ibis of Britain. It is an ugly dull-coloured bird, and
has a tuft of curious feathers, like a bunch of coarse hay,
hanging from the breast. We used to call it the straw-
necked ibis. The real home of the ibis is, however, far
inland ; and it is only when the up-country is heavily
flooded that they visit the districts near the coast.

The Nankeen Crane, or night heron, is another chaste-
looking bird, and a summer migrant to our parts,
coming down in October to breed, and leaving in the
autumn. The whole body-colour is pure nankeen, black
cheek and head, white belly, yellow eye, cere, and legs, and
three long white feathers, so closely joined together as to
appear but one hanging down from the back of the head.
They were far more common with us in some seasons
than others. The nankeen crane is strictly nocturnal in
Its habits, sitting by day moped up in the high gum-trees
or tea-tree scrub, half asleep ; as soon as evening sets in,

90 NATTTBAL HISTORY SKETCHES.

they wake up to feed, and the hoarse croak of this bird
may be heard about all the swamps and creeks through-
out the whole summer night. They are very easily shot
by day; for, when disturbed, they rise with a heavy
wing, and seem, like the owl, scarcely to know where to
fly, and soon pitch again.

"We had another species of bittern, or heron, in shape
and size much resembling the nankeen crane ; but it was
of a light chestnut-brown colour, variegated with black,
and had not the long pendent feathers peculiar to that
bird. It was not so common, seemed to be much more
diurnal in its habits, and I oftener used to see them by
the sides of the creeks than on trees. I called it the
" spotted bittern," for want of a better name.

The last on our list of the swamp birds, although cer-
tainly not the least, is the Native Companion, or Austra-
lian crane. This bird is larger than the European crane,
which it resembles in shape and habits ; but the colour
is uniform light slate-blue, with a red cere and bare head,
and it wants the handsome tail-feathers peculiar to our
crane. They are about the most wideawake birds in the
colony ; and, as they generally frequent the open swamps
and wet plains in small companies, and the old male bird
is always marching about on the look-out, every now and
then uttering his loud trumpet-like note of alarm when
danger is near, it is next to impossible to stalk them in
the open ; but, in the end of summer, they draw down
to the edges of the creeks, and are then easily approached
under cover of the tea-tree. I once dropped on a little

SEA BIRDS. 91

mob of five in such a place, and I nailed three at a double
shot ; and well I recollect bringing them home on my
back at night, about six miles, with five couple of black
ducks and thirteen pigeons. An old bird will stand over
five feet high, and weigh upwards of twenty pounds. I
once found the nest in a swamp near us : it was built
high, of dry rushes, like that of the swan, and in it
were two large eggs, mottled with red, especially at the
large end. I once caught a half-grown young one, which
I kept at my tent a long time. It was a voracious
feeder, and lived principally on boiled rice.

There are very few sea birds on these coasts. From
Mordialloc down to Frankstone, on Port-Phillip Bay, the
beach is low and sandy for eleven miles, and beyond this
to the Heads it is high and rocky. The shores of "Western-
port Bay are principally mud-flats, fringed with mangrove
scrub ; and on the "Williamstown side, as far as Gelong,
the coast is low, edged with banks of seaweed, washed in
by the tide, and also fringed with the mangrove. On these
flats the ducks, waders, and pelicans feed at low water,
and two or three species of gull and tern, curlews,
avocet, and large flocks of stints, are met with up and
down the whole beach. But to the coast-shooter neither
of these bays offers much attraction. Further out
towards the Heads, the coast is less disturbed, and bluff
headlands of ironstone rock afford a wilder and safer
home for the sea-fowl ; and facing the wide ocean many
other and rarer species are probably met with than in our
land-locked bays.

92 2TATUBAL HISTOBY SKETCHES.

CIIAPTEE VII.

THE PIGEON— THE SNIPE— THE BAIL.

THE bronze-wing pigeon,forsizeand beauty of plumage,
certainly stands No. 1 on the list of Australian bush
game ; and of this bird \ve had two varieties,— the com-
mon bronze-wing and the scrub pigeon.

The Bronze-Wing is a beautiful bird, plumper and
larger than the dove-house pigeon, but not so large as
the British wood-pigeon ; the upper plumage dark
brocoli-brown, the breast and neck glossy and shining,
the under parts light, the forehead white, and on the
wing is a beautiful speculum of bright bronze-coloured
feathers, from which the bird derives its name. We had
no blue pigeon in Victoria. The male bird is finer and
handsomer in plumage than the female, the white on the
forehead much larger, tinged with chestnut-red, and I
fancy that this tint becomes deeper with age ; the cheeks
and throat are deep chestnut, the wing-speculum larger
and brighter ; and a glorious bird does an old cock
bronze-wing look, when seated on the bare limb of a
large gum-tree, his burnished wings, chestnut head,
and glossy breast reflected in the rays of the evening
sun.

Like most of the game birds, the bronze-wing pigeon

THE BBONZE-WINO PIGEON. 93

was a summer migrant to our parts, coming down about
the end of September for the purpose of breeding, and
what few escaped the gun, left about the end of March.
An odd straggler or two would certainly remain in the
forests throughout the winter. At different seasons they
frequent different localities. "When they first arrive,
they are to be found among the shey oaks and large
honeysuckles, generally on dry rises, and as often on the
ground under the trees as up in the branches. As the
season advances, they get much into the heather, espe-
cially at night and morning ; and both the pigeon and the
quail are very partial to heather that has been previously
burnt. They are very fond of the wild cherry. When
the thistle-down is floating, every patch of thistles holds
a pigeon ; and as soon as the wattle-trees drop their seed,
you will surely find the pigeon at the foot of them ; in
fact, you may look for pigeons in the wattles at all times.
They breed principally among the honeysuckle and shey
oaks ; the nest flat, similar to that of the wood-pigeon
at home, in which the female lays two white eggs, and
the old cock-bird takes his turn at sitting. I once found
a nest with eggs as late as February 4th ; but I fancy
this was a second clutch : not that I think the pigeon
breeds more than once in the year, but, like the partridge
at home, when the first clutch of eggs is destroyed, the
old female lays a second. By the end of January, the
young birds are strong fliers, and large flocks of pigeons
then congregate in some favourite localities, previous to
leaving ; but where they go, or from whence they come to

94 -NATTJBAL HISTOEY SKETCHES.

us, nobody seemed rightly to know. For about a month
from this time, a man who knows just where to look for
them can have some rattling sport. The most I ever killed
in one day was eleven couple and a half ; and this was not
an individual day's luck, for pigeons were so thick in the
month of February in that year, in the honeysuckle and
.shey-oak scrub on the beach, when I was camped at
Mordialloc, that I averaged with my own gun twenty-five
couple per week for above a month. Although the
pigeons flock here, they generally rise singly ; or, if two
or three fly up together, they are so wide apart that you
rarely kill more than one with each barrel, and you never
get a "family shot," as you can into a flock of wood-pigeons
at home. I have occasionally killed two at a shot, young
birds, sitting together on the same branch. The coo of
the pigeon is deep and loud, principally heard at night
and morning, and often leads the shooter up to them in
the forest. The surest but most pot-hunting method of
killing pigeons is to creep up to them as they sit on the
bare limb of a tree ; and a dull, warm, rainy day is the
best for this kind of shooting. The blacks are the boys
for this work. A certain way of killing pigeons is to
watch by a water-hole on a summer's night, just as the
sun goes down, when they come to drink ; and I have
killed eight or ten in an evening at a favourite hole, and
this in not a very good pigeon country ; but they will
come a long way to water. When "reading" woodcocks
in the north, the first appearance of the evening star
was the signal for the shooter to take his stand in the

THE SCRUB PIGEON. 95

forest glade ; and here, in pigeon-shooting by a water-
hole, as soon as ever the evening star shows, you may
go home. The most sporting way of killing them is as
they rise from the heather, or the ground among honey-
suckle scrub, when they go away as straight and as sharp
as any of "Barber's best blue rocks." A great country
for pigeons is about the Surney, on the coast, forty miles
from Melbourne; and another famous place is on the
Gipp's-land road, below Dandenong. But they are to
be met with in larger or smaller quantities all over the
bush. As the small settlers begin to take up the forest
land, the pigeons disappear ; for, although I have heard
of them in the corn-fields, their principal food is certainly
seeds and berries ; and, although not a very shy bird
the wild bush, the pigeon likes quiet and secluded places
to breed in. Pigeons will fetch 2s. 6d. per couple
throughout the year, and they are well worth it.

The Scrub Pigeon is a smaller, and, I think, a hand-
somer bird than even a common bronze-wing. It is
much rarer, generally found singly or in pairs, very
seldom in small flocks, except late in the season ; the
colour is a uniform dark cinnamon-brown, the forehead
reddish, and the wing-speculum, although not so large
as in the common bird, is far deeper and more brilliant.
It is very partial to particular localities, and, like the
woodcock at home, there are certain places where you
will always find a scrub pigeon. It is a shy, solitary
bird, frequenting the thickest scrub, and seems partial to
tea-tree by the side of water. They almost always rise

QQ NATURAL HISTOET SKETCHES.

from the ground. "We used to kill an odd scrub pigeon
at times all through the winter ; but about April and May,
when they congregate, is the best time for shooting them.
In fact the best season for them appears to be after
the other pigeons have left.

We had a little bird on the ranges which we called
the Ground Dove, about the size of a fieldfare at home,
and much more like a thrush than a pigeon. It was a
summer migrant to our parts, came and left with the
painted quail, and was generally to be found on the
ground on dry rises in the forest among fallen timber.
It rises with a loud flutter, and flies with a dipping
kind of flight. It is a pretty bird, variegated red, brown,
and black, with chestnut markings, and five or six white
diamond spots on each wing-shoulder. It lays on the
ground three largish, mottled, reddish eggs, in a careless
nest. Although not strictly game, we used to sell them
with the quail.

There is a large species of pigeon on the Sydney side,
called the crown pigeon, but it is not met with here.

The Australian Snipe is much larger than the common
English snipe, shorter in the leg, plumper, and thicker ;
and the general plumage and appearance, its manner of
rising and flight, remind us more of the double or solitary
snipe of Europe, than our common bird. There is no
real woodcock in Australia, and I fancied that the snipe
here appeared in some slight respects to partake of the
nature and habits of that bird. I never saw a jack-snipe
out here, nor do I believe there is one, although some

THE AUSTRALIAN SNIPE. 97

shooters say that they have killed them ; but I think
this was nothing more than a kind of little stint, which is
often found on the plains. Where the snipes spend the
•winter and breed, no one seems to know. I have heard
that they breed on the high ranges at the head of the
Tarra, and a friend of mine has flushed them in June
in the Stringy-bark ranges, 200 miles up the country.
One thing is certain, they must breed very early; for
when they came down to us in September, there was no
difference in the size of the birds that we killed ; and I
believe there can be no doubt that they did not visit our
parts till after the breeding season, for I never heard
of the nest being taken, and the habits of the snipe that
came to us were not those of breeding birds. They
appear in the districts round the coast in September,
remain throughout the summer, and leave in February
or the beginning of March. They come down by stages,
for we generally heard of the first snipe being killed
up country a fortnight at least before they reached us.
The first place that they visit in our district was the
Clyde, a low flat of wet pasture-ground, about fifteen
miles below Dandenong, towards "Western-port Bay.
This is the best and earliest snipe-ground that I know ;
but the water very soon goes off", and a man, to have any
good shooting, should be there when they first come.
They then take another flight, and, like the snipe at
home, following the flood, come into the Dardenong
country, and thence disperse themselves over the
swamps and low grounds, frequenting of course peculiar

98 NATUBAL HISTOET SKETCHES.

localities where there is good feefKng-groitnd, till they
reach the coast, where all that are spared remain
until they leave; and I could always make sure of
a couple or two in the honeysuckle or tea-tree scrub
along the beach, when I could find them nowhere else.
The habits of the Australian snipe are very puzzling,
and a man who is not used to snipe-shooting here may
beat acre after acre of what we should consider in
the fen capital snipe-ground, without springing a bird,
and perhaps pass over the very places where the snipe
do lie. Fancy an old fenman trying for a snipe among
ferns and heather on a dry sandy rise, or in thick honey-
suckle scrub ; yet these are the very places to look for
the Australian snipe : in the summer and in the heat of
the day you will find them here in large wisps, and no-
where else. In the early part of the season a man may,
however, beat for them in much the same places as he
would at home; and as the season advances, they lie much
under the shelter of any large timber near the swamps,
and in patches of tea-tree which skirt the creeks and
wet ground. They never lie far in, and an old dog who
knows his business will potter steadily along a yard or
so in the tea-tree, and tumble out the snipe as fast as
ever you can load and fire. In the very heat of summer
they get much into the honeysuckle scrub, but always
somewhere near their feeding-grounds ; and here it is
snap-shooting with a vengeance ; for when they rise they
are only seen for an instant. The Australian snipe in
the open is not nearly so difficult to kill as the snipe at

THE ATTSTEALIAN SNIPE. 99

home. They are a larger object, fly much steadier, and
generally go away straight ; yet, owing to the places they
frequent, are often missed. They are very fond of lying
in the shade by day. If by chance any large gum-trees
stand in an open wet plain, they will generally get under
them, and I have often planted myself under a favourite
tree, and stood still while others were beating the ground
round me, and killed as many as all the other guns. They
usually rise quietly, but I have heard them " scape "
like the English bird, especially when coming down to
the feeding-grounds at night. I fancy one wisp follows
another as they are travelling down, for in some days you
will find snipe in places where a week before there was
not one. Of course, this is much owing to the state of
the feeding-grounds and the season ; before the water
dries up, they are dispersed over the whole face of the
country ; but as it goes down, and many of the feeding-
grounds become parched up, they pack more. There are
then certain places where you are always sure to find
some, and a man must know the country well who can
make sure of a bag of snipe late in the season ; for I never
knew a bird that sticks to favourite localities more than
the Australian snipe. They shift their quarters in the
early part of the season very suddenly, and if a man
hears of a wisp of snipe in any particular place, he must
be off at once, or, upon reaching the ground, he will
probably have the mortification of seeing the feeding-
marks of hundreds of snipe, and find perhaps only a few
outlying birds. TLe Australian snipe is a terrible bird

100 WATUEAL HISTOEY SKETCHES.

to run, and you will rarely rise one just at the spot where
you saw it pitch. They often perch in the tea-tree scrub,
and I have twice killed them sitting on the bare limb of
a large gum-tree. Whether for sporfc or profit, I consider
the snipe the finest small-game bird in Victoria. They
remained in our district longer than any other summer
game. There is no pot-hunting in snipe-shooting, they
must be killed in a sportsmanlike manner, or not at all.
It is fair to shoot them whenever they are found. Every
one knows the pleasure he experiences in a good day's
snipe-shooting, and what was of the most consequence
to us, we had always a ready sale for them in Melbourne,
at 2s. 6d. per couple; and occasionally some free-liver
will give 5s. in the first of the season : in 1853, I sold
the first snipe that I killed for 5s. Although this is
certainly a great country for snipe, yet I have never
seen such wisps here as in Sweden, when the old and
young birds were on their way down from their north-
ern breeding-haunts in September. The most I ever
bagged here myself in the day was thirteen couple and
a half; and although I have heard of some extraordi-
nary days' snipe-shooting, I never myself saw twenty
couple of Australian snipe fall to one gun in the day.
No bird has been driven from this district more than the
snipe, and to get a good day's shooting a man must now
go a long way afield.

As a specimen of a day's sport out here, I will give an
extract from my game-book of December 22nd, 1854, on
which day "the old boy" and myself shot on the island

THE AUSTRALIAN LANDRAIL. 101

near Mordialloc. "We both shot well and pretty even,
and all was game on that day. At night we brought
home to my tent —

16| couple quail, 3| couple scrub quail, 1 rail, 3 couple
pigeons, 11 couple snipe, 3 nankeen cranes, 1 red lowry,
5 black-ducks, 3 shovellers, 3 coots, 2 black cockatoos,
2 moorhens, 7 shell parroquets.

I do not quote this as anything extraordinary, and I
have no doubt it has often been beaten ; but I fancy it
would puzzle two men to do it again on the same ground.
It will, however, give the reader an idea of the varied
contents of an Australian game-bag.

The painted snipe is the common snipe on the Adelaide
side, but is not met with here. It is a pretty variety,
and something resembles the painted quail in plumage.

The Australian Landrail is a species of crake, as large
as the corn-crake at home, but handsomer in plumage,
and principally frequents rushes and sedge in moist
situations ; but you often find them in fern on dry rises,
a long way from water. They are very common during
the summer, very hard to rise, run a great deal, fly
exactly like the corn-crake at home, and their cry
when disturbed is a sharp " chip, chip, chip." They are
excellent eating. Bred with us, and left early in the
autumn.

"We had two smaller varieties, which I have described
hereafter, in my notes on the ornithology of this
country, as they scarcely come within the list of game
birds.

102 NATURAL HISTOET SKETCHES.

I can't say that ever I shot a true Water-rail out
here. I have killed a small dark-coloured bird in the
swamps rather resembling that bird, but I do not re-
member whether it was a rail or a crake. One thing is
certain, if there is any real water-rail in this country, it
must be very rare.

THE QUAIL. 103

CHAPTER VIII.

QUAIL-SHOOTING— THE COMMON QUAIL— THE SCRUB QUAIL— THE
PAINTED QUAIL — THE NUTHATCH QUAIL — THE KING QUAIL — THE
SPUR-WING AND OTHER PLOVERS — A HINT TO BIRDCATCHERS.

THE Quail is the Australian partridge, and quail-shooting
is certainly the least laborious and pleasantest of all
field sports out here. It reminds the sportsman of Sep-
tember at home, for it is fair open sport, and a man can
have the pleasure of seeing his dogs work in the old
style. Moreover, they are generally pretty thickly dis-
persed over the whole country, and in a few hours'
shooting a tolerable shot can always make a nice little
bag.

We had six varieties of quail in our district, — three
common and three rare : the common quail, the scrub
or partridge quail, the painted quail, all common in their
peculiar localities ; and the nuthatch, the king, and the
silver quail, all rare and only occasional visitors.

The common quail comes down about the middle of
September, remains to breed, and early in February they
all appeared to leave the breeding-grounds, but not the
district, for they then packed, and in certain localities
large flocks might be seen late in March; but after
March we rarely saw a common quail in our parts. I
have observed that the quail leave the heather sooner

104 NATURAL HISTORY SKETCHES.

than the grass. "Where they winter nobody seemed to
know, but I fancy they go back into the large plains in
the interior, from whence they appeared to come to us ;
for if they had come over the sea, we should have always
found them on the coast first, and many would have been
picked up on the beach in a state of exhaustion, like
Woodcocks at home. I observed when they first came, a
few birds would arrive, as the pioneers, perhaps a week
before the great flock ; and one thing which surprised
me was, that you might beat the same ground day after
clay, and, however many you shot, the number of the
birds did not appear to diminish. When they first arrive,
they are generally to be found in the long grass on the
edges of the swamps, on the grassy plains, and in heather ;
and these are the general places to beat for the common
quail throughout the season ; but as the corn springs up,
they draw much into the cultivation paddocks, where
they breed in security ; and the quail is the only game
bird here that is likely to increase with population. In
the hot summer they are always to be found on moist
ground and in the neighbourhood of water-holes, espe-
cially at mid-day. They feed at morning and night, and
the best time of the day for quail-shooting is from three
in the afternoon till sunset. In the early morning, when
the dew is on the grass, they won't lie, and in the middle
of the day they lie too close ; and as there is then no
scent, the dogs are almost sure to pass over them ; more-
over, the dogs can't hunt here in the heat of the day.
It is next to impossible to rise quail without a dog ;

THE COMMON QUAIL. 105

three men in a line, beating the ground slowly, may get
up some, but they will walk over far more than they
spring. Quails squat very close and run A'ery quick.
A close-hunting, heavy retrieving spaniel would be the
best dog in quail-shooting here, for they require a good
deal of bustling to get them up, and this is not a country
for a fine-broken pointer ; for, owing to the running of all
the game birds, and the quantities of field-mice that
infest the plains and heather, I'll defy any dog, no matter
how well broken, to be stanch to his game out here.

The great drawback to shooting small game in this
country is the quantity that is spoiled by the heat. A
large fishing-creel is the best thing to carry small game
in, packing them carefully in on layers of grass or tea-
tree, as we serve the grouse on the moors at home. As
soon as you come home, wipe away all the blood and
loose feathers, and hang the birds in small wisps up in a
draught : the higher they are the more they will be out
of the way of the flies. An old friend of mine used to
adopt a capital plan with his snipe and quail. As soon as
he came home, he tied up each bird separately in a
cabbage-leaf, and laid them carefully in an iron camp-
oven, keeping on the top. No English sportsman can
form any idea how soon the game goes here. The flies
blow so quickly, that I have often taken a bird out of my
bag, killed but a few hours, a living mass of maggots. It
is a good plan, if your day's sport keeps you in one
spot, to hang the birds in small wisps as you kill them,
high up in tea-tree and other scrub, in the shade : they

10G NATUEAL HISTOET SKETCHES.

soon spoil if mashed about in a pocket or game-bag. A
little pepper in their mouths and vents freshens them.
It is not the man that shoots the most game out here
who makes the most by it, but he that takes the best
care of it.

The Common Quail is a pretty gamy little bird, very
much like the European quail in size, habits, and ap-
pearance ; but I fancied it was prettier. The call-note,
when on the ground, much resembles the native name
of the bird, " too-weep," often and loudly repeated,
especially when feeding: the cry when they rise is a
sharp chirp. Although a small object, the quail is
not a difficult bird to kill, on account of its straight
flight.

We used to kill a large variety of the common quail,
which we called the Stubble Quail. It was rarer than
the common bird, larger and thicker ; the breast of the
male, instead of being black, was plain-coloured, and
there was also a slight difference in the beaks.

Quail-shooting is not a bad game where a man has
regular customers. I used to consider from fifteen to
twenty couple a good day's work (I once killed thirty-
seven couple), and I rarely bagged more than fifteen out
of twenty, taking in misses and lost birds. A man soon
empties his flask in quail-shooting, and ammunition is no
slight item in the expenditure of the small-game shooter
out here : I reckoned every couple of birds cost me 3d.
to kill, and they averaged Is. per couple throughout the
year. Although always found in " bevies," quail gene-

THE SCRUB QUAIL. 107

rally rise singly, or quickly one after the other, and never,
like partridges at home, in coveys.

The best season's quail-shooting I ever knew was when
my old mate Kendall, or " the old boy," as we called him,
shot on the heather at Picnic Point, about twelve miles
south of Melbourne. He bagged 1,500 couple of quail
on one ground in the season ; but he had miles to shoot
over. Twenty-five couple per day was his general bag ;
he averaged eighteen birds out of twenty shots, and he
used to work at it day after day, like any other kind of
labour. But he certainly was the best shot I ever saw
take a gun in hand (and I have shot by the side of " the
Squire " and other good men), and there was scarcely
his equal in the colony in beating for game. He shot
to a couple of little mongrels, the smallest a bobtailed
terrier, about 5 Ibs. weight, and" Johnny " rarely passed
over a quail. I never used setters or pointers in quail-
shooting ; our dogs were up to every kind of bush-work,
from driving a kangaroo to hunting for quail. Of course
there are plenty of well-bred setters and pointers out
here, and we generally see the best dogs in the hands of
men who use them least ; but the Melbourne sportsmen
can now, as the advertisement runs, have " their dogs
broke as they ought to be, by a Leicestershire sportsman,"
at £5. 5s. per head.

The common quail is found on one of the New Zealand
islands, but I believe there is no snipe in that country.

The Scrub Quail, or, as we called it' in the bush, the
partridge quail, is the largest of all the species, with a

108 NATUEAL HISTOEY SKETCHES.

fine brown mottled and barred plumage, like the gray-
hen at home. We had two varieties, the one much larger
and darker in colour than the other. The scrub quail
rises like the partridge, flies strong and quick, and is de-
cidedly the most sporting bird of the lot. It is nowhere
very common, always in cover or small scrub, in pairs or
families, and in hot weather they lie much on the edges
of the tea-tree by the creeks ; and here it is quick work
shooting them, for they invariably rise towards the scrub,
and are out of sight in an instant : three or four couple
of scrub quail in the day was good work in these parts.
Unlike the common quail, they appeared to remain with
us throughout the winter. The common quail lays from
six to eight largish eggs on the ground, very deeply
blotched with reddish brown at the large end : both the
scrub and painted quail lay fewer, the eggs of the former
being white, those of the painted quail light speckled.

The Painted Quail, or Wanderer, is the handsomest
of the three, and, as its name imports, the plumage is
prettily variegated or painted with red, white, and black;
the legs are yellow, and it has but three toes. It is
intermediate in size between the two last, and the flesh
is whiter. Although you may occasionally kill an odd
one during the winter, the majority of them come in
September, and leave in March. The painted quail is
rarely found in the open, but generally in timber on
ferny or heathery rises. They run very much, have a pe-
culiar wavering flight ; and I consider the painted quail,
in timber, as difficult a bird to kill as any in the colony.

THE SILVER QUAIL. 109

They do not pack, like the common bird, but, like the
scrub quail, are always found in pairs or families. The
note of the male bird much resembles the cooing of a
pigeon, but is not so loud, and always repeated twice
quickly ; and this monotonous call may be heard in the
forest throughout the whole summer's night. It is more
common than the scrub quail, and when the young birds
are fliers, a man has no trouble to kill five or six couple ;
for when flushed, they soon drop again. The wings are
long and pointed, unlike the full round wing of the two
last species.

The Little Nuthatch Quail was a rare and uncertain
visitant to our district, but is, I believe, the common
quail on the Adelaide side. I always found them in the
heather with us, singly or in pairs, and I scarcely ever
killed more than a couple in the day. Like all other
partial migrants, they were much commoner with us in
some years than others ; but it certainly was a rare bird
in our district. It is not so large as the common quail,
of a uniform yellowish stone-colour, mottled with black
and white ; the beak large, and unlike any of the others
in shape ; the legs yellow, and the toes three in number ;
and, from the pointed wing, I consider it closely allied
to the painted quail. What few came into our parts
appeared to breed with us ; and if so, they left the earliest
of any.

The Silver Quail was very rare with us, and I only saw
two examples, both skins, and both killed on the plains
near Melbourne. It appears to be much like the painted

110 NATURAL HISTORY SKETCHES.

quail in size and form, — a long loose-feathered bird, with
pointed wings ; but it is much lighter in colour, and has
a kind of dark collar round the neck. Respecting this
bird, all I can say is, if it is a distinct species (which I
doubt), it must be very rare; for, during five years'
shootjng, I never met with a single specimen.

Last and least on our list is the little Chinese or King
Quail, which, although small in size, for beauty of plumage
stands unrivalled among the game birds of Australia.
Scarcely so large as the common sparrow, a perfect
partridge in miniature, I think we may reckon it as the
smallest game bird in the world. The male is of a deep
velvet-black colour, with rich red chestnut and white
markings, and a dark crescent on the breast ; the female
and young birds are deep brown mottled, like the Euro-
pean grouse. It was not common in our districts, and I
generally found them in pairs or families (for they bred
with us, and, if they did not remain all the winter, they
left for a very short time), in the long grass on the edges
of the swamps, often in the wet swamps themselves, and
I have occasionally raised them in the heather. In some
seasons they appeared to be more common than in others.
It is a very local bird ; and one thing always puzzled me
in beating for game out here : there are certain localities
where you are almost certain to find birds ; while in other
places, precisely similar to all appearance, and apparently
just as well adapted to their habits, you never see a
bird. All the game in Australia appears to pack very
much.

THE PLOTEB OF THE PLAINS. Ill

"We had two species of plover common with us through-
out the year, — the Spur-wing Plover, which is analogous
to the Jacana of South America, on the low swampy
grounds, and the Plover of the Plains, on the open stony
plains and high dry rises. The spur-wing is a fine bold-
looking bird, considerably larger than the British lapwing,
congregates in flocks, and is always to be found on wet
ground. It is a curious and handsome bird in appear-
ance ; the body quaker-brown, the breast white, the head
and points deep black. It has a large bright-yellow cere
or flap over the eye (which is also bright-yellow), cheeks,
and forehead, and a large sharp spur, like a cock's spur,
on the elbow-joint of each wing, which I fancy must be
used by the birds for some other purpose than that of
mere defence. The spur lengthens with the age of the
bird : I have seen them, in an old male, nearly an inch
long. They are a very shy, wary bird, difficult to get up
to. have a loud shrill call ; and many a shot at ducks have
I lost when, creeping up to a mole on the swamp, I have
chanced to disturb a spur-wing plover.

The Plover of the Plains is about one-third less than
the spur-wing, congregates in large flocks, and is, I
think, altogether a commoner bird in its peculiar locali-
ties. It is something like the spur-wing in general
appearance, but the colours are not so well marked ; the
colour of the body being shiny brown, the belly white,
and it has no spur on the wing. Moreover, it has no
flap over the cheek, but merely a red wart, or lobe over
each eye. The plover of the plains frequents the most

112 NATUEAL HISTOEY SKETCHES.

desolate open stony rises and plains so common to this
country ; is a noisy, restless bird, in habits much resem-
bling the British lapwing; and as they fly round the
shooter, they wake the echoes with unvarying cries ; and
their wild desultory call-note is peculiarly adapted to the
barren regions which they frequent. Neither of these
birds are strictly game, but we could often sell them at
Is. and 1*. Qd. per couple.

I have not the least doubt that the English partridge
would thrive well in the cultivated districts here; in
fact, I should think this was the very country for them,
and on account of the vast quantities of ants, they could
at all times obtain a good supply of food. I do not think
the quail eats the ant's eggs. The pheasant has been
imported from its native home ; but, I believe, has as yet
only been confined to aviaries. I do not consider this
country nearly so well adapted to the habits of this bird,
or any of the grouse tribe, as to those of the partridge.
The absence of the pine and larch in these forests would
be much against the habits of the pheasant in a wild
state, and I do not know what seeds or berries in these
forests would supply them with food; for we have no
acorn or beech mast here. That they can obtain food in
a wild state is, however, proved by the fact of a cock-
pheasant being shot within a few miles of Melbourne,
out of a patch of tea-tree, a few years ago. It has been
turned out loose in New Zealand, and, in one estate
I believe, they are fast increasing. As to the grouse,
although there are miles of barren moorlands in most

TUB NORFOLK PLOVER. 113

parts of this country, the Australian heath does not
appear to be at all the same as the bonny brown heather
of Scotland. There is a kind of disease peculiar to the
poultry out here, which sometimes sweeps off thou-
sands ; and I recollect one summer finding great quanti-
ties of the little green paroquets lying dead in the forests,
which had died from some epidemic.

The Golden Plover here is precisely the golden plover
of Europe, but much smaller. It was rare in our dis-
trict, and I never saw them in flocks, but generally in
small wisps of five or six. They did not breed with us,
but came only at uncertain periods.

The large Norfolk Plover, or Stone Curlew, was not at
all rare with us at certain seasons, in small flocks, but
they did not breed with us. They frequented the small
belts of timber on the edges of the plains, and I never
saw them in the open. They appeared exactly to resemble
the British bird. They seemed to be very nocturnal in
their habits, and the long melancholy whistle of the stone
curlew in the Australian forest at night, often strikes a
chill in the heart of the benighted traveller; for an imita-
tion of the call of this bird is a signal-whistle from the
bushranger here to his mates at night.

I know no country where a good birdcatcher could do
better than in this, and if I had a friend in the line, I
would advise him to pack up his traps and be off to Mel-
bourne at once. Quail, plover, and snipe might always
be caught for the market, during the season, by any one
who understood the business. All the ground paroquets

114 KATUBAL HISTORY SKETCHES.

and others could be easily taken in clap-nets, and would
have a ready sale for match-shooting. At the pigeon-
matches here, five shillings per couple is the usual price
for pigeons, and many more matches would be shot but
for the dearness and scarcity of the birds. On the Ade-
laide side the little shell or zebra paroquet is bought up
at sixpence each, and much used for trap-shooting. All
the handsome parrots, and every species of pretty small
bird could be sold in town for cage-birds. I scarcely ever
went up to Melbourne from the bush without being
asked for live birds or animals ; and if I had only under-
stood the trade as well as one of our " Whitechapel bird-
catchers," I would have cut the gun and stuck to the
net, and nothing else.

The wattle-bird, although not strictly game, will often
fetch five shillings per dozen in Melbourne. They come
in thickest just as the quail have left, and a man may
shoot two or three dozen in the day with ease, for they
fly in large flocks, like the fieldfare at home, about the
large honeysuckle and gum trees. Parrots can also at
times be sold, when game is scarce ; and let me say that
a parrot pie is no bad dish.

PORT PHILLIP. 115

CHAPTER IX.

A CHAPTER ON THE OKNITHOLOGY OF POET PHILLIP.

HAVING described those birds which, more particularly
belong to the sportsman, a slight glance at the other
species most commonly met with in the Melbourne dis-
trict will perhaps not be without interest to the general
reader. But I may as well at once state that I have
neither the intention nor ability of entering upon the
subject scientifically. The few remarks that I am about
to make are solely the result of my own observation, for
I had little or no assistance in my zoological researches
out here. I had no work on the ornithology of the
country to guide me, and no one who knew the birds to
help me. I know nothing of the Latin names of the
birds, nor to what class even many of them belong ; and
the English names which I use are those by which they
were known to us in the bush, and perhaps many of them
altogether wrong. My notices must necessarily be short
and very imperfect ; and, as I had not the slightest in-
tention of publishing when in the bush, I kept but few
notes, and nearly all that I have written is from memory.
I have, however, as far as I could, endeavoured to give
a description of such birds as I know ; and, short as they
are, I trust my notes will answer the purpose for which
i 2

116 NATUBAL HISTOEY SKETCHES.

they are intended. To enable the stranger to form some
slight idea of the ornithology of this country, and the
bushman, if he cares at all about it, to distinguish one
bird from another, I have noticed above 180 different
species which have passed through my hands, and, with
the exception of less than a dozen, I have shot specimens
of every one myself.

No one has better opportunities of studying nature
than the sportsman, whose life is spent in out-door pur-
suits ; and if such men would only pay a little attention
to the subject, and note down anything that struck them
as worthy of notice in the habits of the animals and
birds which are constantly before their eyes, what a fund
of useful information might be collected. But, unfor-
tunately, it rarely happens that either the sportsman or
gamekeeper cares anything except about those very birds
or animals which are the immediate objects of their pur-
suit, and scarcely even know the names, much more the
habits, of the commoner species, which are of no value
for the chase.

The study of ornithology has always been a favourite one
with me, and is perhaps the only one of the innocent plea-
sures of youth which follows a man into maturer years, and
upon which he can look back, in the decline of life, with feel-
ings of pure and unalloyed joy. The greatest charm at-
tendant upon this study is, that there is no monotony in its
pursuit, — no void or blank in the ornithologist's year. His
time is constantly occupied ; as soon as one class of birds
leaves, another arrives ; and these migrations are, without

POET PHILLIP. 117

doubt, the most wonderful of the many wonderful phe-
nomena in nature. Instinct here stands forth clear and
unguided, and the actions of the birds themselves arise
from causes over which they can have no control. So
beautifully and with such precision are they arranged,
that we can time the arrival and departure of our regular
summer and winter migrants almost to a day ; and each
particular class is the harbinger of a particular season.
All this is far more apparent in northern countries,
where the vicissitudes of climate are more sensibly felt
than in the warmer latitudes of the south. Let us turn
for awhile to England, and here we shall find that the
opening of the first violet in the sheltered bank of the
village lane welcomes the first spring migrant to our
shores ; and no sooner do the rude blasts of autumn
sweep through the forest glade, whirling the dead leaves
on high, and shaking the last tottering acorn from the
oak, than the chattering of the fieldfares high in air, and
the keeper's report that he has flushed the first woodcock
in some favourite spenny, warn us that winter is again
at hand. The very operations of the husbandman and
sportsman are in a great measure regulated by these
migrations. They form a useful and instructive guide to
the farmer, who will take the trouble to observe them,
and the appearance of the swallows on some favourite
stream, whither in early spring they dash backwards and
forwards over its margin after the " glad May-fly," just
awakening to its ephemeral life, or when, in the haze of
an autumn evening, they congregate in flocks on the

118 NATURAL HISTORY SKETCHES.

osiers that fringe its banks, is hailed with equal delight
both by the contemplative angler and more boisterous
huntsman ; for each hails it as a joyful omen that his
season has again come round.

All this is much more marked at home than in a
foreign land, where the birds are strangers to us, with
whose habits we have hardly had time to become ac-
quainted ; but the same remarks will apply with equal
accuracy both to England and Australia. It is true that
in this latter country, these migrations being more par-
tial, are far less observed, and are perhaps instigated in
some respects by different causes ; but the two principal
causes are doubtless the same here as elsewhere : search
after food, and suitable localities for the purposes of
breeding. The advent and departure of the quail, the
pigeon, the snipe, and the other regular summer migrants,
are conducted with the greatest regularity, and the partial
migrations of the large flocks of parrots, wattle-birds,
and others, which are constantly taking place, are no
doubt regulated by the state of the blossoms and seeds
upon which they feed. The more attention that we pay
to this subject, the more regular shall we find these
migrations, and many a useful lesson, both in the botany
as well as the rural economy of this land, might be
learned by observing the habits and noting the migra-
tions of the birds to and from each particular district.

Man's constant companions in every out-door occupa-
tion, cheering him with their plumage or their songs,
affording him often a principal means of subsistence, it

THE EAGLE-HAWK. 119

is little V, mder that the study of the habits and natural
instincts of birds should be a favourite one with all ; and
to that man whose time is happily and quietly spent in
the forests and the fields, it gives one of the truest zests
to rural life.

Victoria is very rich both in species and individuals
of the lawk ; and this is not to be wondered at, when
we consider the wild nature of the country, abounding
as it does '«. every kind of food peculiar to the birds of
prey.

The king rf birds here is certainly the Eagle-hawk, or
Wedge-tailed lagle, which, although inferior in size and
attributes to th> golden eagle of Europe, is nevertheless
a fine powerful tird, and the largest bird of prey in the
colony. The cage-hawk varies much in size and colour.
Whether this is oving to a difference in age or sex I am
iinable to say, but r. fancied we had two distinct species ;
the one very dark bown, nearly black at a distance, the
other much lighter i plumage (I have seen one as light
as the European kite ; and the two birds, in difference
of colour, resembled he golden and white-tailed eagles
of Europe, but the e^s of both were dark. The dark
variety of our eagle-htyk was the rarest with us, and
was a thicker and shortr bird than the other : the tail
of this bird is long, and i the form of a wedge, which is
very apparent when it is'n the air. They were by no
means uncommon in our Ustrict at all seasons, often in
pairs, both in the deep f*ests and on the plains, over
which they would soar aliost out of sight, round and

120 NATTTBAL HISTOET SKETCHES.

round in steady circles, without apparently moving their
wings. We had plenty of them on the kangaroo-ground,
and I procured above a dozen fine specimens m one
winter. They were often on the ground, and I fancy
were principally carrion-feeders ; they bred in our
forests ; the nest very large, invariably placed in the
fork of a large gum-tree; not always very hgh, but
generally inaccessible to any but a black. Several old
deserted nests stood in the forests, mementoes of by-
gone days, before the foot of the white inai trod these
wilds; and I recollect the eagle-hawk's n<st on an old
blasted gum was one of our favourite " trsting places "
when driving kangaroo ; this bird is not jearly so shy as
the European eagle, and when gorged w*h carrion by no
means difficult to approach.

The Large White Fishing Hawk tas by no means
rare on our coasts ; they were genejilly flying up and
down the beach, and I rarely saw theA far inland. It is
hardly so large as the wedge-tailed egle, but thicker and
more robust in appearance, and Bunder in the wing
when flying ; the tail is not so log, but also wedge-
shaped and rounded ; the body-tflour, and wings, are
slate-blue ; the neck, breast, and'elly, white ; the shaft
of each feather dark. It was nf a true osprey, but in
the shape of the head resemble/that bird ; the feathers
on the neck were shorter : it wa/oy no means so common
as the eagle-hawk. I once fou» the nest of this bird on
an old dead gum-tree, in a wrfl about half a mile from
the coast. We went several/inies by day to shoot the

THE SPAREOW-HAWK. 121

old birds without success; at length, one moonlight
night I found the tree, and sat under it till morning :
lust before daybreak the old bird came to the nest, and
I shot it. This is the plan I would always adopt if I
wanted to shoot an eagle at nest ; for it is almost impos-
sible to approach the nest by day without being seen by
the old birds. The cry of this bird is a loud hoarse
scream.

The Peregrine Falcon was common on our plains in
autumn, but I do not fancy they bred in our district ; it
exactly resembled the British peregrine in size, habits,
and appearance, and seemed to be precisely the same
bird : the eye was dark.

The Hobby was also common in the autumn ; I gene-
rally found it in thicker timber than the other hawks,
and I think its principal prey was pigeons ; it very much
resembled its British namesake in appearance, but seemed
to be a little larger : the eye was light hazel.

We had a smaller variety, which we called the Merlin,
but it was not much like the merlin of Europe ; it was
common on the plains and in the low scrub during the
small-game season.

The Australian Sparroio-hawJc is about as large as its
European namesake, which it much resembles : it was
common with us throughout the autumn: the eye was
light yellow.

"We had an elegant little falcon, not unlike the sparrow-
hawk in appearance, but nearly double the size, and much
prettier ; we called it the Slue Falcon : the head and

122 NATURAL HISTORY SKETCHES.

upper plumage light blue ; the under parts barred and
striped with a reddish tinge ; the eye bright yellow. It
was not very common ; was swifter on the wing than any
of the other hawks ; and I generally used to find them in
the end of summer, dashing down the creeks, I suppose
after the ducks.

The Australian Kestrel something resembled the female
kestrel at home, and the sexes did not differ in plumage ;
it was, however, rather smaller ; it was common with us
during the quail season, and generally to be seen in
pairs, beating or hovering over the plains, after the
manner of the British bird, or perched on a dead tree,
apparently watching the shooter.

"We had a very pretty variety of kestrel, which we
called the Little White Hawk, rather larger and thicker
than the common kestrel, which it much resembled in
habits ; it was, however, more common with us, and I
used always to find them beating over the swamps and
low marshy ground, and I fancy their principal food was
reptiles and snipe. The wings and back of this bird were
deep slate-blue ; the under parts pure white ; the eye
red ; cere and legs yellow. It was an elegant-looking
bird, and we generally saw two or three together. They
bred in our neighbourhood, the young birds of the year
prettily mottled, chestnut, red, and white. They left us
late in the autumn for a short period.

The White Goshawk is by far the chastest in appear-
ance of all the Australian hawks ; about the size of the
European goshawk, but more slender in shape; the

MAESH HAEEIEB. 123

•whole plumage pure white, with a bright yellow eye,
cere, and legs. I only killed one specimen in our district,
and this was by a water-hole ; but I have heard they are
common in many of the gullies where the native phea-
sant abounds.

"VVe used now and then to kill a beautiful little hawk, —
the Musquito Hawk, a perfect sparrow-hawk in minia-
ture, but little more than half its size. It was the
smallest hawk I ever saw. It was by no means common,
and, like all the smaller hawks, appeared to come into
our district with the small game, and leave in the winter.
I fancy the hawks here must breed early. Very few
bred with us, and many which we killed in October were
young birds of the year.

I twice saw a splendid hawk beating the heather for
quail late in the season, but I could not shoot it. It
seemed a species of harrier, as large as the common
buzzard, and was of a rich variegated colour, chestnut-
brown, black, and white.

One of the commonest of all the hawks with us was
the large Marsli Harrier, or, as we used to call it, the
Swamp HawJc. Throughout the whole time that the
ducks were on the swamps, this bird was beating over
the grass and reeds ; and we often saw as many as half
a dozen together flying over the same swamp. I used to
kill two species of large hawk on the swamps, the one
resembling the British rough-legged buzzard, the other
the marsh harrier : this latter bird was much lighter in
plumage, and altogether a larger, thicker bird than the

124 NATURAL HISTORY SKETCHES.

other, which was very dark-coloured, and in the head
and face resembled a harrier. The lighter bird was the
commonest with us. Both used to beat the swamps in
company, and we always shot them when we had a
chance, on account of their killing so many ducks ; and
we called both the swamp hawk. I am not, however,
certain that they did not do us often as much good as
harm, on account of driving the ducks up out of the
thick tea-tree and other places in the swamps which we
could not get at. The eye of the darker bird, unlike
that of the marsh, harrier, was deep brown.

The bird which we called the Australian Kite rather
resembled the British kite in shape and colour, but the
tail was quite square and the rump white. It princi-
pally frequented the swamps and low ground ; but we
sometimes found it in timber, where I never saw the
swamp hawk. It did not soar so high as the kite at
home ; nor do I believe that it was a true kite, although
we called it so. None of the hawks in this country ap-
pear to soar very high, except the eagle-hawk.

The Carrion Hawk, as we called it, was perhaps the
commonest of all, about half the size of the marsh har-
rier, of a dull brown colour, relieved with yellow, and a
dark eye. I generally found them in small timber all
over the bush, often in the small belts near the plains.
It appeared to be the most sluggish of all the species,
always gorged with carrion, and altogether the ugliest
hawk I know.

I once shot a hawk as it rose from the heather, when

THE WHITE OWL. 125

I was beating for quail, very much to my eye resembling
Montagu's harrier. I never killed more than one of
this species with us ; but I believe it is a common hawk
on the Sydney side. It was a true harrier.

Most of the hawks came into our district when the
quail set in, and left late in the season ; but we saw com-
paratively few in the winter.

"We had at least six species of owl more or less common
in our forests.

The largest, which was very rare (the only two ex-
amples I ever saw were both killed in the tea-tree scrub
by the Dandenong Creek, on two separate winters), was
nearly the size of the European eagle-owl, but without
horns. It was of a light gray colour, mottled black,
with a hawk-like beak and very sharp claws. I know
nothing of its habits, except that I have occasionally
seen a large owl (which I took to be this) flit by me at
night when flight-shooting. I do not think the large
owls in this country have any peculiar hoot or cry at
night ; certainly nothing like the eagle-owl or wood-owls
of Europe.

I have killed two species of White Owl here, both out
of honeysuckle-trees on the plains in the quail season.
Neither were common, and they appeared to be irregular
summer migrants to our parts. The largest variety was
pure white in colour, irregularly ticked and spotted with
brownish black ; the other was smaller, had a very yel-
low tinge, and much resembled the barn-owl of England.
Both had dark eyes. I never saw either in the winter.

126 NATUHAL HISTOET SKETCHES.

The Large Grey Owl was by no means rare, and
seemed to remain in our forests throughout the year.
It was larger than the wood-owl at home, of a light gray
ash-colour, with bright-yellow eye. I generally found it
in thick tea-tree scrub in the gullies. The two brown
owls were both much smaller, neither of them so large
as the common short-eared owl at home ; and one was
considerably larger than the other. They were both
deep cinnamon-brown, the smallest rather the darkest
in colour. Neither were rare in our forests, and both
remained with us throughout the year.

I never killed an eared owl out here, and the other
owls were not nearly so common as I should have
imagined, considering the wild wooded nature of the
country.

As soon as the shades of evening close in over the
Australian forest, the ear is startled by the cry of
"morepoke," clearly and loudly repeated, and a bird as
large as an owl flits by on noiseless wing, like the
goat-sucker at home. This is the Morepoke, a species of
large night-jar, all head and mouth, about the size of an
owl. It is a singular-looking but rather handsome bird,
of a deep slate-gray colour, ticked all over with black ;
the feathers long and pointed, an eye of the most bril-
liant yellow, and a long pointed tail. The beak and feet
resemble those of the European night-jar on a large scale,
and the gape is tremendous. It was by no means uncom-
mon in all the deep forests, generally single, and rarely
seen by day. They bred with us in the hole of a tree. Their

DIAMOND BIRD.

•See. p. 157

LITTLE MOREPOKE.

.See }). 12;.

THE NIGHT-JAB. 127

principal food appeared to be large night-moths, and in
habits they very much resembled the night-jar at home.

We had a smaller species, which we called the Little
Morepoke, a rare and pretty little bird ; the body not
much larger than a lark ; the plumage light gray, ticked
and barred with black ; the feathers soft, the head much
rounder than that of the large morepoke, and the tail
long and square. I don't believe it was so very rare
with us ; but on account of its size and habits, not often
seen ; and it appeared to be very little known among the
naturalists here. It was nocturnal in its habits, although
the few specimens I killed were by day, as they flew out
of a hole in a tree or log. They bred with us, and both
species were met with in our forests throughout the
year.

"We had also a real Night-jar, precisely similar to the
home bird, which I always used to kill as it rose from
the heather, or thick low scrub, in the quail season : it
was by no means common, and appeared to be a summer
migrant.

About an hour before sunrise the bushman is awakened
by the most discordanb sounds, as if a troop of fiends
were shouting, hooping, and laughing round him in one
wild chorus ; this is the morning song of the Laughing
Jackass, warning his feathered mates that daybreak is at
hand. At noon the same wild laugh is heard, and as the
sun sinks into the west, it again rings through the forest.
I shall never forget the first night I slept in the open
bush in this country : it was in the Black Forest. I

128 NATTTBAL HISTORY SKETCHES.

woke about daybreak, after a confused sleep, and for
some minutes I could not fancy where I was, such
were the extraordinary sounds that greeted my ears :
the fiendish laugh of the jackass ; the clear, flute-like note
of the magpie ; the hoarse cackle of the wattle-birds ;
the jargon of flocks of leatherheads ; and the screaming
of thousands of parrots, as they dashed through the
forest, all joining in chorus, formed one of the most
extraordinary concerts I ever heard, and seemed at the
moment to have been got up for the purpose of wel-
coming the stranger to this land of wonders on that
eventful morning. I have heard it hundreds of times
since, but never with the same feelings that I listened
to it then.

The laughing jackass is the bushman's clock, and
being by no means shy, of a companionable nature, a
constant attendant about the bush-tent, and a destroyer
of snakes, is regarded, like the robin at home, as a sacred
bird in the Australian forests. It is an uncouth-looking
bird, a huge species of land kingfisher, nearly the size of
a crow, of a rich chestnut-brown and dirty white colour,
the wings slightly chequered with light blue, after the
manner of the British jay ; the tail-feathers long, rather
pointed, and barred with brown. It has the foot of the
kingfisher, a very formidable, long, pointed beak, and a
large mouth ; it has also a kind of crest, which it erects
when angry or frightened ; and this gives it a very fero-
cious appearance. It is a common bird in all the forests
throughout the year ; bred in a hole in a tree, and the

THE SACKED KINGFISHEE. 129

eggs were white ; generally seen in pairs, and by no
means shy : their principal food appeared to be small
reptiles, grubs, and caterpillars. As I said before, it
destroys snakes. I never but once saw them at this
game : a pair of jackasses had disabled a carpet-snake
under an old gum-tree, and they sat on a dead branch
above it, every now and then darting down and peck-
ing it, and by their antics and chattering seemed to
consider it a capital joke. I can't say whether they ate
the snake, — I fancy not; at least, the only reptiles I
ever found in their stomachs have been small lizards.
The first sight that struck me on landing in London
was a poor old laughing jackass moped up in a cage, in
Katcliffe Highway : I never saw a more miserable, woe-
begone object ; I quite pitied my poor old friend, as he
sat dejected on his perch ; and the thought struck me at
the time that we were probably neither of us benefited
in changing the quiet freedom of the bush for the noise
and bustle of the modern Babylon.

There is a smaller species, the Sacred Kingfisher,
which we used to call the Van Diemen's Land jackass :
this is a real land kingfisher, nearly the size of a starling
at home ; bright blue above, light chestnut breast, which
is much deeper in the male than the female, and white
belly. This bird was sparingly dispersed over the bush,
always seen in pairs ; generally about the old gum-trees,
in moist situations, by creeks or swamps. It bred in the
hole of a gum-tree, and the old birds were always close
to the nest. It has a shrill call-note, not unlike that

130 NATURAL HISTOET SKETCHES.

of the European wryneck, and was a summer migrant
to our parts.

The real Australian Kingfisher is smaller than its
European namesake, which it resembles much in habits
and appearance ; it was, however, of a uniform purple-
blue colour, and the breast was deep orange ; it was a
summer migrant to us, and a pair or two might be then
seen on every creek : they bred in the hole of a bank,
and the eggs exactly resembled those of the British bird.

Iso bush-bird to my fancy had a clearer or richer note
than the Magpie : one of the earliest birds of morning,
it was also one of the latest at night ; and the deep, flute-
like evening song of the magpie was heard in the forest
long after all the other birds of day had retired to roost.
The Australian magpie is more like a rook in shape than
its British namesake, but not so large and clumsy, and
it wants the long bronze-tinted tail of the European
bird ; it is, however, a graceful, elegant bird, and the
rich black plumage of the breast and wings contrasts
finely with the pure white of the back. The females and
young birds are mottled grayish blue and white ; but I
always fancied we had two species, the one mottled, the
other black and white. The magpie is a very common
bird throughout the bush during the whole year, often
in small companies ; and in the autumn the old and young
birds congregate in flocks. It is by no means shy, and
one of the best cage-birds in the colony ; for they are
easily tamed, and soon learn to imitate any call or noise.
Unlike the magpie at home, it builds a careless shallow

THE BLUE JAY. 131

nest, and the female lays three greenish mottled eggs :
the young magpies are excellent eating: the eye is
brown-red.

I killed one single specimen of the Black-backed
Magpie here, which is, I believe, common on the
Sydney side, but had not been noticed before in this
district : it might, however, have been overlooked ; for it
exactly resembled the common magpie in every respect,
except that the back is black between the wings, instead
of white.

"We had another bird, which we called the Black
Magpie, but which was a species of chough ; about the
size of the common magpie, but more slender ; higher in
the leg and longer in the tail ; the whole colour sooty-
black, with white wing-feathers, a long tail, and long,
thin, dark, curved beak, like the British chough ; the
wing, when spread out, was very round, and the white
pinions gave the bird a pretty appearance when flying.
It was very common in our forests throughout the year,
principally frequenting the large gums ; was generally
seen in small flocks, chasing one another from branch to
branch : its call-note was a clear, soft, loud whistle.

The bird that we called the Blue Jay resembled its
British namesake in no one particular. As large as a
crow, very loose-feathered, the whole plumage one uni-
form dun-blue, with a yellow eye and large beak. It was
common in our forests throughout the year, and the call-
note was a loud whistle.

"We had a smaller species of this bird about one third
K 2

132 NATURAL HISTOEY SKETCHES.

less, exactly the same in habits as the other, but darker
in plumage and much rarer.

The Swamp Mac/pie, or mourning-bird, so called from
its black and white plumage, is an elegant little bird,
rather larger than the double thrush at home. It was a
winter migrant to us, and I generally found them in
small flocks in the belts of timber bordering the plains,
or on the edges of the swamps themselves, but scarcely
ever in the open, and almost always on the ground.
They were always shy and difficult to approach. The
plumage is rich glossy black and white, very strongly
marked, the beak and eye white. Their call-note was a
deep loud whistle, which I often used to hear long after
sundown.

The large Carrion Crow was common in our forests
throughout the year, but we saw most of them during
the autumn and winter. I think a few pairs bred with
us. It is larger than the British crow, being interme-
diate in size between that bird and the raven, which it
much resembled in appearance and habits. The whole
plumage glossy purple-black, the tail rather cuneiform. I
always fancied we had two varieties, the one smaller than
the other ; and this in habits more resembled the British
rook, seemed to go in larger flocks than the other, and
in autumn congregated much on the wet plains. I never
saw a real rook out here. Unlike its British namesake,
which leads a solitary and persecuted life, the Australian
crow is rather a companionable bird than otherwise ;
generally seen in small flocks, and often close to the

THE MOCKISG-BIBD. 133

Habitations of man. Its croak is loud but soft, and at
times prettily modulated. They were our constant com-
panions out kangarooing, and would follow us through
the forests like sutlers on the skirts of a pursuing army,
and at night, when skinning the dead kangaroo previous
to bringing them home, the old carrion crows would
perch themselves on a gum-tree above our heads and sit
watching us till their turn came. Like
" Eaven on the blasted oak,
Who waiting while the deer is broke,
His morsel claims with sullen croak."

We had another species, rather smaller than the carrion
crow, which it otherwise much resembled in shape, plu-
mage, and habits, but the eye was clear bluish-white.
We called it the White-eyed Crow. It was rather a local
bird, generally seen in pairs, occasionally joined the
other, but was nowhere very common with us.

One of the noisiest and most restless of all the bush-
birds is the Mocking-bird, as we called it, for what
reason I know not, as I never heard it utter any other
than one note, — a long continuous hoarse cackle ; and this
was never still. It was about the size of a thrush ; the
upper plumage chestnut-brown, the under parts dirty-
white, a bluish-white eye, and a long curved beak. They
were not very common ; generally in small flocks, in se-
cluded places among the honeysuckles and shey oaks ;
continually in motion, chasing one another from tree to
tree with a very sharp flight, all the while keeping up
their peculiar hoarse call-note. They bred with us, but

134 NATURAL HISTORY SKETCHES.

appeared far more common in the winter than at any
other time.

The Cuckoo was another summer migrant to us, and
of this we had three varieties, — the large gray cuckoo, the
common cuckoo, and the little bronze or zebra cuckoo ;
and of this last I fancy we had also two distinct varieties,
the one rather larger and much brighter in plumage
than the other. Neither of the three had the call-note
peculiar to the home bird. The large cuckoo was the
rarest with us, but seemed to come the earliest. An
odd pair or so (for all the species flew in pairs) were
generally to be seen in the forest on any summer's day,
flying about the tops of the high stringy-bark gums. All
the three species had the peculiarities of the British bird
in shape, beak, feet, and flight ; and any one at a glance
could tell to what class they belonged. The Large Cuclcoo
is half as large again as the common cuckoo, of a dull
ash-gray colour, with a long pointed barred tail. It had
a loud single call-note or whistle, often repeated when
flying from tree to tree. The Common Cuckoo rather
resembles its British namesake in colour, habits, and
appearance; but the sexes do not appear to differ in
plumage. The note was a simple call. It was more com-
mon than the last, and frequented smaller trees, such as
shey oak and honeysuckles, whereas the large bird was
always to be found among the high gums. The Bronze
Cuckoo was a beautiful little bird, scarcely so large as the
wryneck at home, the whole upper plumage and wings
green-bronze, breast dull white, striped or striated with

THE MINEB. 135

black ; the under tail-coverts orange, and the tail- and
wing-feathers barred with black. It has a very loud call-
note for the size of the bird, rather resembling that of
the wryneck ; was, I think, the commonest of the whole
species, and frequented small scrub, particularly small
honeysuckles. Early in the season I used to find them much
in the heather and low scrub ; and I fancy they breed in
the nests of the small brown wren ; at least I once shot a
female bronze cuckoo flying from such a nest, in which
was a large spotted egg ; and on dissecting the cuckoo, I
found a similar egg inside it, but unfortunately broken.
I can say nothing with certainty respecting the breeding
habits of the other two, except that you rarely see either
in small bushes, and during the breeding season I ob-
served that the large cuckoo used to keep always about
the same gum-trees.

Another summer migrant to our district was the
Summer-bird, about the size of the jay at home, but more
slender, of a slate-colour above, white under, with a
black moustache, large black bill and legs, and full black
eye. It was not a rare bird, always seen in pairs among
the large timber, continually on the wing ; and the call-
note was one long soft whistle, often repeated while in
the air. They flew with a slow dipping kind of flight,
and soared over the tree-tops.

By far the commonest and boldest bird in the Austra-
lian forests is the Miner, or Soldier-bird, which, like too
many of the human race, appeared to mind everybody's
business but its own. Like the common sparrow at

136 NATURAL HISTOIiY SKETCHES.

home, the miner was seen in all places and at ail seasons,
andj like that bird, was a "household word" with us.
Always bustling about, on the broad look-out, let a
strange bird but show itself, and a dozen miners, like so
many policemen, were round it in an instant to drire it
off. If the shooter is creeping quietly through the -wood
for a safe shot, it is ten chances to one that a miner spies
him, and warns the prey of his approach ; and if by
chance a snake or stump-lizard shows a head, a congre-
gation of miners will soon gather round it, and spread
the news through the whole neighbourhood. They cer-
tainly are the most pugnacious birds I ever saw ; and if
they can't find any stranger to have a turn-up with,
generally manage to get up an Irish row among them-
selves. The very snake-like head and well-guarded eye
of this bird, and sharp beak, have quite a pugilistic cut.
They are never still, — here, there, and everywhere, chat-
tering, whistling, and chasing each other about from tree
to tree. There was, however, something to my fancy
very jolly in the habits of this bold bustling bird, and I
used to fancy that those which frequented our tent knew
me, and welcomed me as an old friend whenever I came
home. The miner is about the size of the English black-
bird, of a uniform light ashen-gray colour, many of the
feathers edged with yellow, sharp beak and claws, bright
piercing eye, and a yellow cere between the eye and the
beak. They are common in all parts of the bush
throughout the year. The note is composed of whistling
and chattering, like a flock of starlings at home before

THE THRUSH. 137

going to roost. The flesh is bitter to the taste, like that
of the starling.

"We had three species of Thrush, two of them summer
migrants, — the Green Thrush and the Mountain Thrush,
and the common Gray Thrush, which remained with us
throughout the year.

One of the sweetest sounds in the Victorian forest, to
my ear, was the loud monotonous note of the green
thrush, from the topmost branch of a high gum-tree, on
one of those clear delicious mornings so peculiar to the
Australian spring. Although not to be compared to the
rich and varied song of the British thrush, there is a
gush of melody in the few notes of the Australian bird
equal to any of our finest songsters ; and as I have often
and often stood at my tent about sunrise and listened to
its wild desultory carol, borne upon the early breeze,
laden with the fragrance of many a thousand blossoms,
I have thought how dull and senseless must that block-
head have been who described Australia as a land where
the flowers have no scent and the birds no song. The
green thrush is a fine bold-looking bird, about the size
of the double-thrush at home, of a pale yellowish-greep
colour above, the under parts white, spotted with black,
and a reddish eye. It builds a very pretty pendent nest,
between two small twigs, and lays three large handsome
mottled eggs ; in fact, I think the nest and egg of the
green thrush prettier than any I ever took in this coun-
try. It was sparingly dispersed in pairs over the whole
bush, but nowhere very common. .

138 NATURAL HISTOEY SKETCHES,

The common Gray Thrush is a dull-looking bird, of a
uniform ash-gray colour, and in size and habits much
resembling the blackbird at home. It was shy, kept
as much out of sight as possible, and was generally
seen feeding on the ground. It appeared to be the com-
monest of the three, and remained with us throughout
the winter.

The Mountain Thrush, of Australia is identical with
" White's thrush " of Britain; and this thrush must have
as wide a geographical range as any bird in the world,
for specimens have been killed as far north as Sweden.
It was by no means rare with us in the breeding season,
being partially scattered in pairs over the tea-tree and
other thick scrub. It is one of the shiest birds I know,
and not often seen, for they frequent the thickest scrub,
are almost always running on the ground, and rarely
rise on the wing. I never heard it utter a single note.
"We saw them very rarely, and late in the season. I have
killed them in the beginning of April, and taken their
nest the first week in August, and I am not certain that
some of them did not stop in our thick scrub throughout
the year. The colour is uniform rich brown, the breast
and belly light, each feather tipped or spotted with
black in the shape of a crescent. It is about the size of
the redwing at home. The nest and eggs very much
resemble those of the British blackbird. The nest is
very large, lined with coarse grass and fibres, placed at
different heights in the tea-tree scrub, or on the large
limb of an old honeysuckle. The eggs are three in num-

THE ATTSTEALIAN BEDWING. 139

ber ; in fact, all the thrushes, and many of the common
bush-birds of Australia, lay but three eggs.

The Wattle-bird is a fine-looking bird, about the size
of the British fieldfare, but longer ; the general colour
ash-brown, marked with black, a long thin pointed tail, a
bright yellow tinge on the belly, and a red fleshy wart
or excrescence hanging down from each ear ; a powerful
long pointed beak, and long sharp claws. This is one of
the honey-eaters, which class of birds is characterized by
a long horny tongue, feathered and fringed towards the
end with fibres, for the purpose of gathering the honey
and pollen from the blossoms of the trees. The wattle-
bird remained in our forests throughout the year ; bred
in the small honeysuckles and shey oaks ; the nest like
that of the blackbird ; eggs large, three in number,
deeply spotted with red. It was found among the honey-
suckles and gum-trees, in those particular seasons when
the blossoms yielded the honey. In flight it much re-
sembled the fieldfare at home. It has a very loud
hoarse note or cackle, which we used to compare to the
words " up with the rag," often and quickly repeated.
In the end of autumn the old and young birds congregate
in large flocks. They are excellent eating.

The Australian Redwing, as we call it, is another of
the honey-eaters ; not so large as the wattle-bird, one
uniform greenish-brown colour marked with black, the
under parts of the wing chestnut-red, the eye bluish-
white. It was rather a shy bird, not so common as the
wattle-birds ; frequented the same localities, and bred in

140 NATURAL HISTORY SKETCHES.

company with them on the small shey oaks and honey-
suckles. The eggs were three, lightly spotted with red.
One of the bush wonders is the Leatlierliead, or bald-
headed friar, a curious-looking bird ; not so large as the
wattle-bird, of one uniform dun-blue colour, with black
pencillings, a dirty-white breast and belly, white under
the tail, which was long and square. The greatest pecu-
liarities in this bird, however, are the head and neck,
which, instead of being feathered, are covered with a thin
black skin. The beak is large, with a sharp curve ; and
a high ridge or comb runs along the top of the head. It
has a ruff or fringe of long pointed feathers, like a cock's
hackles, at the bottom of the neck ; the eye is reddish,
bright, and deeply shielded, and the head and neck give
the bird rather the appearance of a small vulture ; and
had it been larger, one might have supposed that it was
a snake-killer; but for what purpose the head of so
small a bird is so securely guarded I never could imagine.
It is not a carrion-feeder, for the long feathery tongue
proves it a honey-eater. They were very gregarious,
building in small colonies. Large flocks used to visit our
parts at irregular periods, and they then frequented the
high gum-trees. I generally saw them in the middle of
summer. They did not breed with us, but I remember
seeing their nests in the small shrubs in a paddock under
the Dandenong ranges. The leatherhead has the most
curious and varied call-notes, — they can hardly be called
a song, which it would be impossible to describe with
the pen ; a jargon of whistling, chattering, and cackling,

THE HONEY-BIBD. 141

which, can be heard nowhere but in an Australian
forest.

The Wood Swallow was another summer migrant to
us ; and of this bird we had two, if not three, distinct
species common in peculiar localities. Both varieties
used to associate, were gregarious in breeding, generally
frequented the small open honeysuckle and shey-oak
scrub on the edges of the swamps and plains, and I never
met with them in the deep forests. The wood swallow
is nearly as large as the British starling. The general
colour of the common variety is dun-blue, light under-
neath, with a white eyebrow ; the tail is fan-shaped, the
middle feathers pointed, longer than the others, which
is very apparent when the bird is on the wing. We used
sometimes to kill this bird without the white eyebrow,
and I fancied there were two species. The other variety
was finer-shaped, and the breast and belly were brick-
dust red. They were constantly on the wing, hovering
over and dipping down on to the old honeysuckles where
they bred. The nest and eggs resembled those of the
European shrike. In autumn they congregated like the
starlings at home, in great flocks on the low meadow-
land, previous to leaving. The note was a twittering
kind of call. I consider the wood swallow is very appro-
priately named.

One of the commonest of the small bush-birds through-
out the year was the Honey-bird, or Honey-eater, and
was met with all over the bush, among the honeysuckle-
trees and flowering scrub. "We had two species: the

142 TSATUEAL HISTOET SKETCHES.

largest, which was by far the commonest, was about the
size of the British yellowhammer, but longer, and not so
thick ; it was a bold-looking bird, the ground-plumage
black, brown, and white; a white moustache on each
cheek, a white eye, long curved beak, and feathery
tongue ; the wing-feathers edged with bright yellow.
This was a noisy, restless bird, had a shrill, loud call-note,
used to congregate in small flocks, and they often had a
battle-royal among themselves, which much reminded me
of many a similar scene with the old sparrows in the
hedge-rows of the stackyards at home. The other variety
was smaller, much duller in plumage, wanted the mous-
tache, and had a kind of dark brown crescent on the
breast : it was rarer, and frequented more secluded
localities, such as deep gullies and thick tea-tree scrub.

I have seen a species of Bee-eater, which was killed up
the Plenty, exactly resembling the British bee-eater in
shape, but not so large or pretty ; I never met with one
in our parts.

The Warty-faced Honey-eater is a very pretty bird,
nearly as large as the English starling, of a deep black
colour, spotted with bright yellow ; a pale red naked cere
round the eye, and beak covered with small warts : it was
a rare and uncertain visitant to our district ; generally
came in large flocks ; flew high over the tree-tops, into
which they would drop, after the manner of the waxwing
on the rowan trees of northern Europe : they were wild
and shy, and the call-note was a low soft whistle.

The thirsty traveller, when wandering over these

THE BELL-BIBD: 143

parched and arid plains in the summer, gladly hears
the " ching-ching " of the Bell-Urd from the tea-tree
scrub ; for this is a sure and welcome omen that water
is at hand. One of the greatest drawbacks from the
pleasure of travelling through this country in the hot
weather is the want of water. I have often walked for
hours under a burning summer's sun without coming to
a creek or water-hole ; and of all the pangs to endure,
those of thirst are the most intolerable. A man need
never starve in the bush, but I have no doubt many have
died for want of water here. Most of the creeks and
water-holes lie so hidden in scrub and timber, that they
are often passed by unnoticed ; and often when we do
come upon water, it is thick and muddy, and lukewarm
from the rays of the sun. " But those who are parched
with thirst do not stop to analyze the water. In tropical
countries there is always tropical zest as well as tropical
flavour." I always carried one of Hall's empty pound
powder-canisters in my pocket, which I filled when I
came to clear water ; and from their shape and size
these make the best water-flasks I know.

The bell-bird is about the size of the honey-eater, but
much stouter made ; the beak is very thick and power-
ful, and there is a red cere between it and the eye, which
is red : the whole plumage is uniform greenish yellow.
It is nowhere a very common bird, and is always met
with iu small colonies, in secluded places, by the side of
creeks or water-holes, where large gum-trees are growing,
from which they are continually flying up and down into

144 NATUBAL HISTOEY SKETCHES.

the tea-tree, all the while uttering their loud, monotonous
call-note. They breed in the tea-tree scrub, in company ;
the nest shallow, the eggs three, reddish white.

We had two species of Swift, which visited us at
irregular periods during the summer ; the one the large
spine-tailed swift, and the other a smaller variety, which
rather resembles the swift at home.

About Christmas, especially on a clear hot morning,
a large flock of the spine-tailed swift would pay us a
visit, stop for a day or two, disappear, and we, perhaps,
should not see them again for ten days. Always in motion,
hawking high in the air, screaming in wild joy, or dash-
ing by us on the plains with the speed of an arrow, this
is certainly one of the swiftest-flying birds in the world ;
about the size of a starling in the body, but in the shape
of a pear ; the wings very long and pointed, and the tail-
feathers have each a sharp spine or prickle protruding
from the end : the body-colour is sooty-black, the back
and rump brocoli-brown, white towards the tail. The
other species is much smaller, more resembling its British
namesake; but the tail is square (without spikes), and
the rump is white. The two species did not appear to
associate much, and generally came to us in flocks by
themselves on different days. "We rarely saw either
before the middle of December or after the end of March.
I have heard that the spine-tailed swift breeds on the
Heads and on some of the islands in Western-port Bay.

No two birds in Australia remind the emigrant of his
village home in the old country so much as the Swallow

.Sec ;> 114.

THE SWALLOW. 145

and the Martin. There is a marked resemblance between
many of the British species, and their namesakes in
this country ; but here we have the very birds themselves,
hawking over the creeks and plains, and forming their
clay nests under the shingles of the bush hut, just as we
were wont to see them skimming over the meadows and
rivers at home, " from morn till dewy eve," or building
under the eaves of the straw-thatched cottage in the vil-
lage streets. We miss, however, the pretty artless twitter
peculiar to the British bird, for the Australian swallow
has no song. Although the severity of the winter in
these climes is so little felt that we scarcely notice the
advent of the summer migrants with the same joyous
feelings that we did at home, still the first sight of this
elegant and cheerful little bird cannot fail to bring back
pleasing recollections to the minds of all, 'for of all
birds in every clime, the swallow is, perhaps, one of man's
most constant and faithful companions. In colour and
habits both birds in all respects resemble their namesakes
at home, but they appear to be a little smaller, and I
have often observed both building in large decayed trees
by the side of the swamps. The nest is formed of clay,
lined with feathers, often of the most gorgeous colours.
I never observed a Sand-marten out here.

Strange to say, I never met with a single "Woodpecker
in this country, which would appear so peculiarly adapted
to the habits of that class of birds, abounding as it does
with such extensive forests, the old dead trees of which
must afford shelter to millions of insects. We had two

L

146 KATTJEAL HISTOBY SKETCHES.

species of Creeper, the one much larger than the other.
The large variety was rather a pretty bird, with a spot of
chestnut-red upon each cheek. In habits they much re-
sembled the British creeper ; but the absence of the long
thin bill peculiar to that bird, led me to consider them
as more closely allied to the Nuthatch than the real Tree
Creeper.

There is no true Skylark indigenous to Australia, but
larks have been imported from England, and turned out
wild. It will be a cheering sound in the ear of that man
who has but lately left his English home, the clear shrill
note of the Skylark in this land, where no single bird has
any one long-continued song. And as cultivation in-
creases, the country will gradually become more adapted
to the habits of the lark. Nowhere are British cage-
birds more highly prized than in Australia, and the
simple carol of one of our commonest home songsters,
when heard in a foreign land, cannot fail to raise plea-
surable emotions even in the rudest and most untutored
mind, for it speaks a language of youth and home fami-
liar to all. "We had a large species of lark on the plains,
something between the bunting and the real lark, which
we called the Mounting Lark. It was a very fine bold-
looking bird, much larger than the common bunting,
with the long powerful legs and claws peculiar to that
bird ; but the beak was large, and in shape resembled that
of the lark. It was of a dark-brown colour, with black
cheeks and breast, frequented the dry open plains, would
run along the ground, rise high in air, drop and rise

THE BOB IK. 147

again, all the while uttering a loud wild carol, which,
without possessing the melody of the European skylark,
was a deep, rich, although monotonous, song. It was
known among the shooters by the significant name of
" Captain Flash ;" was a summer migrant to our parts,
as well as a smaller species of lark of a lighter brown
colour, which was also found on the plains, and appeared
to be a link between the lark and the piper.

The Piper was very common on all the dry plains
during the summer, and resembled the Meadow Piper at
home in appearance, habits, and call-note, but was
lighter in plumage. Used to kill a large variety on the
dead seaweed along the coast, which I considered the
Hock Piper.

Five species at Robin were more or less common to the
districts in which I have camped. The large black-and-
white robin, which we also called the Magpie Sparrow,
was the largest of all : a thick bird, larger than the Tel-
lowhammer at home, pied black and white ; a summer
migrant to us, and generally seen in pairs very sparingly
dispersed about the small belts of honeysuckle on the?
edges of the plains. I never fancied this a true robin.
The common Australian robin is smaller than its British
namesake. The body-colour deep black, with a white
forehead and dull-red breast. Of this bird we had three
other varieties, the one a little larger than the last, the
red on the breast much brighter and much more of it.
This was often on the plains, the other more in small
timber. "We had another variety with a red forehead,
L 2

148 NATITEAL HISTOET SKETCHES.

which was not common with us, and very local. But the
rarest of all was the purple-breasted robin, the smallest
of all, — sooty black, with no white on the forehead, and
a deep plum-coloured breast. This was a shy solitary
bird, and I always found it singly in the thickest scrub.
In habits the Australian robin resembles the home
bird, but it has no song.

"We had a curious little bird which we called the
Swallow diceum, in size and habits much resembling the
golden-crested wren of Europe. The body colour purple-
blue, like the swallow, with a red throat and under-tail
coverts. It was an irregular visitant to our parts, had
a deep loud call-note, and frequented the large gums,
being very partial to the bunches of mistletoe which grow
on those trees ; they are extremely difficult to see, on
account of their small size and habits.

Of the Wrens we had about four varieties. The Su-
perb Warbler, or blue wren, one of the most splendid
little birds in the colony. The Emu, or pheasant wren,
the smallest and most curious of all the bush birds ; and
two other species, but I am not certain whether these
were true wrens, although we called them so. These
latter we always found in small bushes by the edges of
the creeks or swamps ; they were both mottled, black, and
brown, and one had a faint but rather pretty whistle.

The Superb Warbler is certainly rightly named, for I
don't think there is a handsomer warbler in the world.
This is a small bird, with a jet-black body, long fan-
shaped tail ; the neck, shoulders, and part of the back

SWALLOW DICEUM.

fee p. 14S.

THE EMU. 149

being covered with a little cape of long feathers of the
most splendid bright ultra-marine colour. The blue wren
is common at all seasons throughout the whole bush,
frequenting small scrub and old honeysuckles, and is very
partial to tea-tree scrub by the side of creeks. The male
has a pretty little song, which he trills out when perched
upon an old dead log, with his family round him, — for we
rarely saw a blue bird without four or five brown-co-
loured birds in his company. The females and young
birds of the year are plain dull-brown, with a light-blue
tail, and some have a reddish throat. I do not think the
male birds come to their full plumage till after two or
three moults, and, like all the other handsome birds
here, they are in best and hardest feather in the winter.
The little Emu or Pheasant Wren was the smallest
bird in our parts, — scarcely larger in the body than a great
bumble-bee. The whole colour is light-brown, the fea-
thers loose and long, and the male has a pale-blue throat.
The tail is about three times as long as the body, com-
posed of six feathers (the middle ones much the longest)
all clothed with fibres, after the manner of the tail-feathers
of the native pheasant. It has very small wings, and
weak powers of flight, — in fact, when flying it appears to
have a difficulty in bearing its long tail. It is a busy
little bird, and I liked much to watch a family of them
creeping about the small scrub and heather like so many
little field-mice. "We generally found them in small
colonies or families, among heather, low scrub, or long
grass on the plains and swamps : they were very hard to

150 KATUEAL HISTORY SKETCHES.

rise, and when on the wing easily knocked down with a
small bush or cap. The male has a weak but pretty
little song.

I have seen two or three species of Sedge Warbler in
the reeds by the side of the creeks and swamps, and one
used to keep up a continuous little song throughout the
summer nights, not unlike that of the sedge bird at
home.

The Satin or Shiny Sower Bird was a rare and only
an occasional visitant to us, generally appearing in the
autumn and winter, and those which we saw in our
district were principally the yellowish-green birds, some-
times accompanied by an old black cock. The old male
satin bird is a splendid bird, nearly as large as the jay at
home ; the whole plumage a beautiful deep-purple glossy
black, the eye bright-blue, the beak, which is long, thick
white. The old males are very shy and very rare in pro-
portion to the yellow birds. Like many of the parrots,
the males do not come to their full purple plumage
until after about the fourth moult ; the standard colour
of the females and young birds being greenish-yellow,
mottled, which in the males becomes every year chequered
with black, till they attain their full plumage. The note
of the satin bird is a kind of loud guttural hiss. They
are very common in some parts on the ranges, and they
come down much into the bush gardens when the peach
is in bud, and when the grapes are ripe, and are at such
times very destructive. When they came into our parts
the yellow birds were by no means shy ; they frequented

THE FANTAIL. 151

the gum trees and tea-tree scrub. They breed in thick
tea-tree and other scrub, generally in gullies and near
the nest; the old birds form a sort of bower of dead
sticks, which they ornament with parrots' feathers, &c
If the old male is shot the female will soon find another
mate ; and I have shot three cock birds from one bower
up in the Dandanong ranges. The flesh is rather bitter,
like that of the starling at home, and they are not much
fancied for the table of the epicure, but often found
their way into our bush larder.

We had two species of Fantail, the largest, which we
called the Stock- Whip Bird, or shepherd's companion, had
rather the appearance of the pied wagtail at home, but
was much larger and thicker, of a sooty black-and-white
colour, with a long spreading fan-shaped tail. It is a very
lively bird, always in motion, and its attitudes are very
elegant as it flits from tree to tree, or runs along the
ground with outspread tail, uttering a grating call-note,
something similar to the springing of an old watchman's
rattle, but of course not so loud, ending with a sharp
smack. It is common on the plains during the summer,
often among sheep, upon whose backs I have seen them
perched like the starling at home. They were generally
in pairs, bred in the belts of honeysuckle and shey-oak
on the edges of the plains, and the nest is very curiously
formed, — a small round cup stuck upon the bare surface
of a large limb, without any shelter, looking just like a
nob or wart growing to the bark. The other variety
was much more elegantly formed, also with a spreading

152 NATUBAL HISTOET SKETCHES.

tail, shiny black-and-white in colour, and the throat and
chest were faintly tinged with salmon-red. This was
hardly so common a bird as the other, but frequented
much the same localities. The great difference between
the two birds lay in the shape of the beak and gape —
the beak of the larger species resembling that of the
swallow ; the other was more like the night-jar. They
were both fly-catchers, but I do not think they were the
same species.

We had no real wagtails in this country, but I ob-
served our common little pied wagtail very common in
South Africa, in the months of January and February.

The bird which we used to call the Fly-catcher was
much smaller and more common than either of the fan-
tails, which it, however, resembled in shape and habits,
and was pretty generally dispersed over the whole bush
throughout the year. It was of a light variegated brown
black-and-white colour, with a long spreading tail, and
principally frequented the honeysuckle scrub. Its note
was a kind of grating chatter, — loud for the size of the
bird. We had another variety, light chestnut-brown,
but this was very rare with us, and I once saw a speci-
men of this bird, pure white, but whether it was a dis-
tinct species I am unable to say.

Another little bird, which we called the Pretty Fly-
catcher, very much resembled the salmon-throated fantail,
but was much smaller, and the colour was more glossy.
It was a rare and solitary bird, and I generally used to
kill single examples in the thick scrub.

THE CRESTED SHRIKE. 153

The Great Shrike, or cobbler's bird, as we called it,
was rather a common bird in our forests throughout the
year. It is a real shrike, as large as a thrush, of a dirty-
white and blackish-brown colour, very bold, and gene- f
rally seen singly or in pairs. It is very bold, and one or
two were always about the bodies of the kangaroo which
hung near the tent. It has a loud clear whistle, and is,
I believe, an excellent cage bird. "We had a smaller
species which we called the Stringy-bark Shrike, of a
chestnut-and-white colour, which generally frequented
the tea-tree scrub, and seemed more to resemble the
thick-heads than the true shrikes : this was a summer
migrant to us.

The Thick-Head is a species of oriole, peculiar to thick
scrub ; and of this we had at least two varieties. The
one large as the bunting at home, of a uniform greyish-
brown colour, the other much smaller, lighter in plu-
mage, with a gray chin. The larger variety was rare with
us. This bird derives its name, I suppose, from its thick
chubby head.

"We had two species of Oriole, as we called them — the
one a little larger than the British yellowhammer, of a
bright yellow-and-black colour, rare, and principally
found in the tea-tree scrub. The other smaller and more
common, of a dull yellow-and-gray colour.

There was a bird on the ranges which we called the
Crested Shrike, in size and shape resembling the cross-
bill at home, and the beak was as large and powerful,
but not crossed. The body colour was yellowish-green,

154 NATUEAL HISTOBY SKETCHES.

with fine black and white markings, and a large black crest
on the head. In the male the throat is deep black, in
the female dull. It was not a very common bird ; gene-
rally seen in pairs high up in the gum or stringy-bark
trees, and the call-note rather resembled the mewing of
a cat.

We had no real titmice in our districts.

The Collier's Awl bird was a pretty little bird of a
chestnut-brown colour, with white belly and a black
crescent round the breast. The beak was long, thin, and
curved, and the bird bore some slight resemblance to the
humming-bird, of which class we had no real varieties
here, the range of these little birds being confined to
within 40 degrees north and south of the equator. It
was common throughout the year in the small honey-
suckle and other scrub, but was rather local.

Whilst watching in the thick tea-tree scrub by the
side of a creek for ducks, the ear is often startled by a
loud whistle ending in a sharp smack like the loud crack
of a whip, something like that of the stock-whip bird,
but a great deal louder. This is the call-note of the
Coach-Whip Bird, a large species of fly-catcher, nearly
the size of a thrush, of a uniform light cinnamon-brown
colour, with a long wedge-pointed tail and small round
wings. I do not believe the bird is so very rare in
favourite localities, but as it always keeps in the
thickest tea-tree scrub it is oftener heard than seen.
There was a smaller species, something resembling this
bird, but which had not the same loud note, and which

THE LITTLE WAX-BILL. 155

I generally found in low scrub, on the edges of the
tea-tree.

"We come now to the finches, and the members of this
class are small in proportion to the soft-billed and honey-
eating birds.

"We had three varieties of the wax-billed finch, or
blood-bird, as they are wrongly called in the bush, on
account of their blood-red rumps, the real blood-bird
being of a bright-red colour, and not met with in this
district. The Little Wax-Bill, which was the smallest
and commonest of all, being no larger than the liskin at
home, of a deep-brown colour, a pointed black tail, a
thick beak, red cere round the eye, a bright-scarlet rump,
and a red mark over each eye. This was a gregarious
bird, and generally met with feeding in flocks, on the
ground, among the honeysuckles. The Guinea-Hen
Finch was larger than the last, but hardly so large as
the linnet at home : of a dark-gray colour, striped and
marked with black, a bright-red rump, a short dark tail,
the feathers barred, like that of the British wren. This
bird was usually seen in pairs, among the small shey-
oaks and tea-tree scrub. These two species remained
with us throughout the year. But by far the most
elegant, and in our district the rarest of all, was the
Spotted-sided Finch, a summer migrant to our parts, very
similar in shape and size to the last, but of a pure white
colour, with gray-and-black markings, six or eight deep-
black spots on each side, a bright scarlet rump, and pale-
red bill. This little bird was sparingly dispersed in pairs

156 TS'ATUEAL HISTOBY SKETCHES.

throughout the summer, over the honeysuckle and shey-
oak scrub, where they bred, and in the autumn they
congregated previous to leaving. The beak of all these
birds is thick, of a reddish colour, having the appearance
of being moulded in wax, whence their name. None of
them had any song, but merely a call-note, or chirp.

We had also another little Black-and-White FincTi,
something in appearance resembling the last bird, but
of a much duller colour ; with no red on the rump or
spots on the side, and the beak was dark. It was a very
common little bird with us, used to congregate in large
flocks on the plains and open meadow-land, flew in jerks,
like the wagtail at home, and appeared to remain with us
throughout the year.

However monotonous the call of the Diamond Sparrow
may sound in the ears of that man who has always been
accustomed to the rich melody of the various warblers
that frequent the groves and thickets of Europe during
the summer season, it brings with it a cheery welcome
to the bushman, as the first notice of the arrival of the
birds of summer into this part of Australia, — one of our
earliest spring migrants. This elegant little bird fre-
quents the large gums and honeysuckles ; generally in
open situations, rarely in the depths of the forest, among
the branches and leaves of which it runs after the
manner of the British titmouse, continually uttering its
monotonous call-note, " Twit, twit, twit," loudly and
quickly repeated. It is a pretty little bird, about the
size of the guinea-hen finch; the upper plumage ash-

THE PAREOT. 157

gray and white, barred with black and yellow, and three
or four small red spots on each wing. They bred in the
holes of the trees, and the eggs were small and white.
Some of our spring migrants appeared to come very
early, and I have noticed the swallow, the marten, and
the diamond sparrow the first week in August, but the
majority of them came to us early in September.

The last on our list of the small bush birds, and cer-
tainly one of the handsomest little birds in the colony, is
the Diamond Bird, which rather resembled the last in
shape, habits, and appearance, but was much smaller
and prettier. It would be in vain to attempt to do
justice, in a written description, to the varied and beau-
tiful plumage of this handsome little bird. The general
colour, ash-grey and white, but spotted and spangled all
over with red, yellow, orange, and black, and the tail
coverts rich dark-red. It was very common in some
places among the large gums in the deep forests, and we
rarely found this bird and the diamond sparrow in the
same localities. The habits of the two are similar, and
the call-note of the diamond bird, although not so loud
and pretty as that of the diamond sparrow, is very loud
for the size of the bird. It bred in old logs, and some-
times in a hole in the ground. It was a summer migrant
to us, but I once saw a small flock in the winter.

Many of the birds above described bear a strong re-
semblance to their European namesakes, so much so, in
fact, that we can class them by their peculiarities in
shape and general appearance But we now come to a

158 KATUBAL HISTOEY SKETCHES.

class only found in southern climates, and which for
beauty of plumage, have no rivals in the old world — the
Parrots, and I do not believe any country can be richer
than this, certainly not in individuals, whatever it may
be in varieties of this tribe of birds. At particular sea-
sons they swarm over the whole bush. I do not know
how many different species are met with throughout this
country. We had about twenty kinds, more or less,
common in our forests, and I have seen many other
species, among them the cockatoo parrots, from other
parts, which were strangers to us.

The cockatoos, on account of their size, stand first on
the list.

The Blade CocTcatoo, or black toucan — for it has not
the crest of the cockatoo, — is the largest of all this spe-
cies. It is a fine bold-looking, but by no means hand-
some bird ; the body full and round, larger than a crow ;
the tail long and spreading; the wings round when
extended ; the head large, the beak very powerful ; and
the old bird has a kind of crest which it can erect when
angry or frightened, and which gives it a very ferocious
appearance. The ground colour over all is deep-black,
the feathers edged with yellow, which, as well as the
spots on the tail, is much brighter in the young than in
the old birds : the cheeks sulphur-yellow, and the tail-
feathers spotted with the same colour. An old bird will
measure about two foot from the beak to the end of the
tail. The black cockatoo was common in our forests from
about December, when the old and young birds came

THE WHITE COCKATOO. 159

down from their breeding-places, and remained with us
during the winter. They did not breed in our neigh-
bourhood, but I think they went to nest very early, for I
once shot a female in May with a large egg in her. They
principally frequent the honeysuckles, but are often in
the large gums. The old birds are very shy, and have a
loud hoarse call-note or cackle. "When they first come
they are in large flocks, and they then always frequented
the large honeysuckles, over the tops of which they would
fly, or rather float through the air, with a wavering kind
of flight, toying and playing with each other, after the
manner of the rook at home. As the winter advanced
they appeared to separate, and, although you hardly
ever see a single bird, they disperse themselves much
more generally over the forests. The young binds are
excellent eating. Their principal food appeared to be
large seeds and grubs, and they score the young honey-
suckles round with their powerful beaks in search for
these latter as if cut with a knife.

There is another variety of this bird, the tail-feather
spotted with red. I only knew of two specimens being
killed in our district, but I believe it is not uncommon
near the Head.

I believe there is a third variety, the tail barred with
red, which is very rare. This I -never saw.

The White Cockatoo is very common in many parts,
where they congregate in immense flocks ; and I have
seen a large patch of meadow ground covered with them
like a sheet of snow. They were comparatively rare ia

160 NATURAL HISTOET SKETCHES.

our districts, and I never saw them in large flocks ; but
an odd pair or two used yearly to breed in our forests.
The white cockatoo is a handsome bird, as large in the
body as the last, but the tail is very short, and it has,
consequently, a much rounder and thicker appearance,
especially when on the wing. The whole body is pure
white, and the crest, which is very long, sulphur-yellow,
and the wings are tinged with yellow underneath. It is
a very wary shy bird, and the call-note nothing more
than a loud hoarse scream. Although apparently wilder
in the bush than the black cockatoo, it is much oftener
seen as a cage bird. They are excellent eating, and
when stuffed and roasted in the same way, can hardly
be known from a duck. I recollect we used to cook
wood-pigeons at home so, and, when eaten with the fen-
man's duck sauce, a little port wine, cayenne pepper,
and a slice of lemon, we could not tell them from
widgeon.

There is a variety of the white cockatoo with rose-
coloured crest, but this I never saw here.

The most curious looking of all the species is the
Tan Kate, a bird nearly as large as the white cockatoo,
of a dirty- white colour, the shafts and under parts of the
feathers, and the down rose-coloured. It had no crest,
and the beak was not like that of the other cockatoos,
for the upper mandible projected with a kind of thin
hook, more than an inch long, over the under one, which,
with the large bare cere round the eye, gives the bird a
most grotesque old-fashioned appearance. It was not

THE SCAE1ET LOWEY. 161

very common, and I generally used to find them in pairs
among the stringy-bark trees, but I have occasionally
seen them in small flocks. They are very shy, and it is
difficult to get within gunshot of them. When disturbed,
they would take a long flight round and round, making
the forest re-echo with their loud call-note, " kakadua,
kakadua," often and quickly repeated.

We had a species of small cockatoo, which we called
the Corella ; the body was grey, tinted with yellowish
green, and the male had a long, thin, crimson crest. In
the female, the crest is yellow. It was not quite so large
as the African grey parrot, which it much resembled in
shape. They were only occasional visitants to our parts,
and I always saw them in pairs.

By far the finest parrot that I have seen in Australia,
is the King Parrot, which was, however, very rare in
our forests, and what few I killed were principally im-
mature birds, for the king parrot, like the satin-bird and
the scarlet lowry, does not attain its full plumage until
after the third or fourth moult. Although rare with us
in certain places they are as common as the red lowry,
which bird it seemed, as far as I could see, to resemble
much in habit, and I think they are of the same species.
The king parrot is not much less than the magpie at
home. The plumage of an old male is a dark green
body, with flaming red breast. The females and young
birds are much duller in plumage.

Although not so largo a bird, I think an old male

Scarlet Lowry quite as splendid in plumage as the king

ii

162 XATUKAL HISTORY SKETCHES.

parrot. It is next in size to this bird ; the -whole colour
of a gorgeous deep red, the feathers edged with black,
and the wing-feathers and tail have a dark purple shade.
It is a magnificent parrot, and, as they float through the
forest, they strike the eye like a flame of fire. The
male and female are alike in plumage, but the female is
smaller, and the tints much duller. For the first two or
three seasons, the immature birds are greenish yellow,
and they then go in flocks, and feed much upon the
ground about the homestead, in company with the
rosella. These are called the " green lowry," and they
were the tamest of all the parrots. The red lowry was by
no means rare in our forests, pretty generally dispersed
over all, and they much frequented the gum-trees and
scrub near water. All the parrots draw much down to
the creeks and water-holes, where they are very fond of
washing. Sometimes the scarlet lowry are seen in small
flocks ; sometimes, but rarely, they associate with the
green, but we generally see them in pairs, male and
female, by themselves. It is by no means a shy bird, and
feeds principally on seeds.

The Sosella, when full plumaged, is a handsome bird,
and is known in England better than any of the others,
as the common cage-parrot from this country. The
ground-colour is green, prettily variegated with red,
yellow, and white ; the head and throat crimson, and it is
nearly as large as the lowry. It was very common
throughout the whole bush, in particular localities. Unlike
the other parrots, I do not think the rosellas migrate

See p. 162.

THE BLUE MOUNTAINEEE. 163

much, but keep about the localities where they are bred.
"We generally saw them in small flocks, and they were
sure to be about the little bush-farms. It much re-
sembles the lowry in shape, habits, and flight ; but, un-
like that bird, is often seen feeding on the ground ; and
it is altogether a tamer and more domestic kind of bird.
The male and female are alike in plumage, but the male
is much the handsomest.

One of the most dashing of all the parrots is the Slue
Mountaineer, which, unlike the three last, is a honey-eater.
On this account, the blue mountain parrots are certain
migrants to and from different districts, and their migra-
tions are regulated by the state of the blossoms of the
gum and honeysuckles, upon which they feed ; not that
they ever entirely left our forests, for I rarely went out
at any time without seeing a pair or so. But the large
flocks of them only come at such times as the trees are
full of honey, and depart as suddenly as they come.
The blue mountaineer is a splendid parrot : body sea-
green, head lavender-blue, the breast beautifully mottled
and watered with red, yellow, and orange ; the tail green
and sharp pointed, the middle feathers longest, but
altogether much shorter than in the other species ; the
wing-feathers with each a large spot of yellow, and the
under-wing coverts flaming red, which gives the birds a
splendid appearance as they dash through the forests, like
lightning, screaming as they go in all the wild joy of their
native freedom. They are always in larger or smaller
flocks, do not associate with the other parrots, and are never

M2

104 TTATTJIIAL HISTOEY SKETCHES.

seen feeding on the ground. Although each one is dif-
ferent after its kind, it would be hard to say which was
the handsomest bird, if an old fuli-plumaged male of each
of these four parrots were laid before one on a table. They
are capital eating, and, as they come in good flocks, are
much sought after " for the pot." They have a loud,
grating, hoarse scream when flying ; and during their
migrations I often used to see immense flocks pass over
high in air ; in fact, this and the little green paroqueet
seem to fly higher than any other birds in the colony.

We had a curious ground parrot, common in the long
grass in the plains, on the heather, and often in low
tea-tree scrub (sometimes up to the knees in water)
called the Swamp Parrot. I have heard some very
learned ornithologists call it the Pheasant Cuckoo, which
I consider a very far-fetched name. The tail certainly is
shaped like that of the common pheasant, and it is
barred, and here the resemblance ends ; but in what
respect this bird resembles the cuckoo, I never could
make out, seeing that it lives on the ground, has the
beak of the tree-parrot, and the call-note is nothing
more than a faint twitter. The swamp-parrot is au
elegant bird, both in shape and plumage ; nearly as large
as the rosella. but not so plump. The ground colour,
light sea-green ; every feather of three colours, green,
black, and yellow ; a long pointed tail, the feathers
barred with black and yellow, and a red forehead. The
shape of the beak, head, and body, is that of the parrot.
"But the legs are long and bare ; the claws long, straight,

THE GREEN PAEOQUEET. 165

and pointed. In fact, it is a tree-parrot with the foot of
the lark. It lives on the ground (but I have seen them
perch on the tea- tree scrub), runs much and quickly, is
hard to rise, flies in jerks, goes away very sharp before
a wind, and is very pretty shooting, rising from the grass
and heather. "We used to find them during the whole
year, frequenting different localities at different times ;
and although they could scarcely be said to flock, I
generally- rose three or four on the same spot. Dogs
will set them like quail.

Another splendid parrot is the Green Leek, and this
was by far the rarest of all the species with us ; for I
only knew of one example being killed, and this was an
old bird, on a dry sandy rise near a swamp. It is about
the size of the last, which it rather resembled in shape ;
but the beak is larger, and the tail not so long. The
body colour is dark leek-green, the head yellow, the
throat and breast orange and yellow. I know very little
of its habits, but I believe it is common on the stringy
and iron bark ranges.

The commonest of all the paroqueets is the common
Green JParoqueet, which in shape and habits rather
resembled the blue mountaineer, with which bird they
much associated. They were both honey- eaters, and
their migrations were regulated by the same causes.
Although in general much commoner than the blue
mountaineer, at certain times they would disappear
altogether from the forest, and then again come " not
as single spies, but in battalions." This bird is about

166 KATUBAL HISTOEY SKETCHES.

half the size of the mountain parrot, of a bright green
colour, the back light brown, yellow shoulders, and red
under the tail, which is short and pointed. These and
the blue mountaineers were the only two species that
seemed to associate in flocks. It is a sharp-flying little
bird, has a shrill scream ; generally frequented the
gums ; and it was pretty to watch them, creeping like
mice among the bunches of blossoms, when feeding.
They were very rarely on the ground under the trees.
They are very plump, and excellent eating.

"We had a smaller species of this paroqueet which
resembled it in all respects, but it was only half as large,
and much rarer. They used to associate.

All the parrots come into their best plumage about
May, remain so till December, when they begin to get
dull and ragged. The birds in this country appear to
moult but once in the year, just after the breeding
season, and are a long time before they come into good
plumage. No birds here are of much value to the
collector, from the beginning of December till the end of
April.

Owing to the dense foliage of the trees, the brilliant
plumage of the birds in the Australian forests does not
strike the eye, as might at first be supposed ; and as is
the case with the small flowers, it is not until they are
collected and closely examined that one sees how beau-
tiful they are.

The swift Mying Loriqueet was by far the handsomest
of our common paroqueets, and stands in the same rela-

THE SHELL PAEOQUEET. 167

tion to them as the blue mountaineer does to the parrots.
In fact, there is a resemblance between the two birds in
shape, flight, and habits. The loriqueet is smaller than
the green paroqueet, but much finer made ; and the two
middle feathers of the tail are long and pointed, project-
ing beyond the others, which gives the bird a very sharp
appearance. The plumage is green, prettily marked with
blue and red ; the shoulders are crimson, and the tail
faint rose coloured. It was an uncertain visitant to our
forests ; seemed to be the most common in the beginning
of winter ; but at irregular periods all through the year,
except in the very heart of the breeding season, large
flocks would come down into the timber. This bird is
rightly named ; for, as they dash through the forest, they
fly almost with the speed of the spine-tailed swift. Both
this and the green paroqueet are honey-eaters.

Very few of the parrots breed with us. I have taken
the nest of the rosella out of a hollow tree ; eggs three,
and white. I found the eggs of the swamp parrot, four,
white, and more oblong than those of the other species,
which are generally round, on the ground, among the
heather ; and I took the eggs of one of the ground paro-
queets out of a hollow tree ; but I do not think any of the
others breed in our forests, except perhaps an odd pair or
so of mountaineers. I do not fancy any of the parrots
are gregarious in breeding, but that they breed in odd
pairs, generally dispersed over the forests.

Occasionally, but very rarely, a flock of the Budgere
Oar, or Shell Paroqueet, would pay us a visit; and I

168 NATURAL HISTORY SKETCHES.

recollect, in tbe middle of the summer 1854, our guin-
trees swarmed with them. They stayed about a month,
•when they suddenly disappeared, and only an odd strag-
gier or so has been since seen in our district. I should
say that this is the handsomest paroqueet in the colony,
and is well known at home, as a cage-bird, by the name
of the zebra paroqueet. It is smaller than the loriqueet,
which it rather resembles in shape. The ground colour is
light sea-green, prettily striped, and variegated with yellow
and black ; a light yellow forehead, and three or four
deep purple spots on each cheek. But it is impossible
to do justice to the beauties of this class of birds in
a pen-and-ink sketch. The shell paroqueet is very
common on the Adelaide side.

"We now come to the Ground Paroqucets, and these
can be easily distinguished from the others by their long
thin legs, straighter claws, and smaller beaks ; and they
can all run well upon the ground, which the other species
cannot. We had, I think, two varieties of common
ground paroqueets, which were always in flocks on the
plains or in the heather, often under the large honey-
suckles, and they appeared to remain with us throughout
the year. Unlike the swamp parrot, these little birds
fly much into the trees, although they always feed upon
the ground. They are smaller than the loriqueet, of a
light green above and bright yellow below ; the tail long
and pointed, yellow underneath. One variety had blue
on the forehead. The other was a duller and plainer bird.

But the Red-shouldered Ground Paroqueet was by far

THE CEAKE. 1G9

the prettiest of all, and this was a regular summer
migrant to our parts, and generally seen in pairs or sirmll
flocks, of four to six in the forest, feeding ou the ground,
on dry sandy rises, under cherry-trees or small gums.
The general plumage of this paroqueet is green and
yellow, and it has a dark red spot upon each shoulder.

The lowan, the emu, the wild turkey, and the native
pheasant have already been described.

My list of game birds includes the six species of
quail, the pigeons, the snipe, plovers, native com-
panion, coot, moorhen, dabchick, bittern, herons, white
cranes, egret, nankeen crane, spoonbill, and ibis.

I have already described the large crake peculiar to
Port Philip ; but we had two smaller varieties, which,
although they in habits much resembled the water-rail,
were, in my opinion, true crakes, and I considered them
identical with the spotted and lesser crakes of Europe.
They both frequented the long grass by the edges of the
lagoons and swamps, were local, but by no means rare ;
I think the lesser crake was the most common, and I
rarely met with both in the same localities.

The dark variety much resembled the spotted crake of
Europe in shape and plumage. It was larger than the
other, the beak longer, and dark green, the eye vermillion,
eye-lids and legs red ; the head was chesnut red. I used
to kill two varieties ; in one the head was dark, but as it
resembled the other in every respect otherwise, I fancied
it was the same bird in a different state of plumage.

The lesser variety was lighter in plumage and smaller

170 NATURAL HISTORY SKETCHES.

than the lesser crake of Europe, and I should fancy must
be the smallest wader in the world ; the beak was Jight
green, red at the root ; the legs green, the eye reddish,
the eyelid dark. I rarely saw either on the wing ; they
would run among the tussocks of swamp-grass like mice,
and the dogs often chopped them.

I cannot say that I ever identified a true water-rail
out here.

A species of dunlin, or small stint, came in the autumn
on to our plains in large flocks, but I never saw them in
the breeding season. It much resembled the British
dunlin, and I fancy we had two if not three varieties j
at any rate, the specimens I killed used to differ very
much in size and plumage.

Occasionally, but rarely, I have killed a bird in every
respect resembling the European long-legged stilt, with
a beautiful red eye. I always found solitary examples,
generally standing in the shallow water at the edges of
the lagoons.

"We had a species of large wader, which I fancied
rather resembled our bar-tailed godivit. It was known
among the shooters by the name of the sea-snipe ; light
grey and mottled. I generally found them singly or
in pairs, both along the coast and in the marshes ; it had a
loud, long, single call-note, which I often used to hear
after dark.

The smallest of all the stints with us was a little light-
plumaged bird, with a chestnut head ; it was not nearly
so large as the English Kentish plover, and used to

THE CEAKE. 171

congregate in the autumn in flocks, often on the sea-
beach, and on the sandy shores of those lagoons that lay
near the sea.

I now and then killed a large grey sandpiper, by itself,
on the coast, nearly as large as the dotterel; I never
saw them in flocks, and with us they were wild and shy,
and always singly on the beach.

A small species of plover frequented the sandy margins
of certain lagoons, and although I generally found single
birds, I have met with them in small flocks. "We called
it the bull-eyed plover ; it was a true plover, rather
larger than the ring dotterel, which it resembled in call-
notes and habits, and had a red arc round the eye.

I did not consider this district nearly so rich in num-
bers or varieties of the smaller waders as the wild marshy
nature of the country would lead us to expect ; nor were
the coasts at all rich in sea-fowl ; it is true I paid but
little attention to the smaller water-birds, for when
beating the swamps or up and down the sea-coast I was
after larger game ; but I generally noted every bird that
I saw, and certainly here I met with much fewer birds
than I used to fall in with when coast-shooting in Eng-
land; doubtless there are many other species which I
overlooked, and I should certainly recommend the
Australian naturalist to pay attention to this class of
birds; for no country in the world is more fitted to
their habits, and both the crakes and some others of the
smaller species which I killed appeared to be but little
known here.

172 NATURAL HISTOttY SKETCHES.

We had two species of avocet, as we used to call
both ; but one was not a true avocet, for though it
resembled the real avocet in shape and in the peculiar
formation of the feet, the bill was straight, and the body
mantle was light red instead of black ; the real avocet
exactly resembled its British namesake in colour, but
had not the large white spot on the wings peculiar to
that bird. Both species used to come on to our coasts at
uncertain times ; used occasionally to associate ; but I
think the real avocet was the most common.

Of the Greles, besides the dabchick, we now and then
killed a large crested grebe in the bay, but this I never
saw inland. I never myself saw the snake-necked grebe
here, although I have seen a specimen in Melbourne,
said to have been killed in the neighbourhood.

"We had neither the merganser or goosander here that
I know of.

The black swan, the two wild geese, and nine species of
wild duck, have already been described in my list of
game birds.

We now come to the gulls and terns, and of these
birds again our coasts were rich neither in numbers nor
varieties.

Of the gulls, I could only identify three species in our
district : the great black-backed gull, the lesser black-
backed gull, and the common, or, as we called it, the
pigeon-gull, with a white eye ; all these resembled their
British namesakes in habits and appearance, and perhaps
the pigeon-gull was the commonest. We had, however,

THE OYSTEB CATCHES. 173

a large, dark-grey mottled bird on our coast, which I
used to take for the young of the great black-backed
gull; this and the young of the common gull were
excellent eating.

I am only certain about three terns : the large Cas-
pian, the common, and the black terns; and thes*e all
appeared exactly like the European birds. I have killed
another specie?, something like the roseate tern, and I
have heard of a smaller tern, about half the size of the
common tern, which I never killed. Both the common
and Caspian tern used to frequent our coasts, and the
large Caspian tern was by no means rare; I used to
shoot the black tern on the swamps and plains, where
they would come occasionally in large flocks, especially
in the autumn ; but I never saw them hero in the
summer, and our coasts afforded no suitable breeding
places for the other species.

The Oyster- catcher, or Sea Magpie, as we called it, was
by no means rare on these coasts. It was just as noisy
and restless a bird as its British namesake, which it
appeared to resemble in all respects.

At times, when a large shoal of small fry set into the
bay, hundreds of Gannet would follow them, dashing
down headlong into the water, exactly as we used to see
them on the north coasts of Britain. The gannets here
appeared to resemble the British bird in all respects,
but I fancy the chestnut on the head was darker, and
did not extend so far. The young birds of the year
are mottled, after the manner of the young gannets at

174 KATTTBAI/ niSTOET SKETCHES.

home. The eye of the mature bird is transparent yellow
white. Once while walking along this beach, an im-
mense bird, as large as an albatross, flew by me. I could
not get a shot at it, and I never before or since saw so
large a sea-bird on these coasts.

"We had two species of Cormorant, — the large one more
like the shag than the cormorant at home ; but it had no
crest, and the colour was not bright. The smaller species,
which we called the diver, had a white breast, and fre-
quented creeks and inland lagoons, often very far away
from the sea-coast.

The Curlew was at times common on our coasts,
generally in small flocks, but I never, in the breeding or
at any other season, met with them inland in our district.
Although there were many miles of barren moorlands in
the neighbourhood of the beach, they had not the cha-
racter of those wild moors on which I have seen this bird
breeding at home. The Australian curlew is very like
its European namesake. The call-note is exactly the
same. And when the sea was going down after a heavy
autumnal gale, which had driven the birds on shore, I
used to enjoy a walk by the sea-side ; for at such a time
the long melancholy wail of the curlew, the shrill cry of
the oyster-catcher, the loud hoarse bark of the large gull,
all blending with the wild whistle of the wind, and the
regular unbroken roll of the surf as it set in upon the
shingly beach, would strike the ear like rich and varied
music, although played upon nature's rudest and wildest
chords.

THE MUTTON PETBEL. 175

I cannot say that ever I saw a true whimbrel out
here.

The Pelican was not rare on the mud flats of either of
these bays, but I never saw them on the sandy beach.
It is the largest sea-bird on these coasts ; the body colour
pure white, the pinion feathers deep black ; the beak long
and broad, and the pouch large enough to hold a man's
head. They are easily crept up to when sitting half
asleep on a sea-bank, but they are of little value to the
gunner, and it is therefore a pity to shoot them ; for they
give an interesting wildness to the scenery on these
coasts, whether when passing at evening with motionless
and expansive flight over the mud flats to their feeding-
grounds, or when far out at sea they float buoyantly on
the surface of the water, rising and falling with every
billow.

"We had a small species of penguin in our bays, which,
although rarely to be seen on the water, was often washed
up dead on the beach ; it was not more than half the
size of the king penguin, so common on the coast of
Africa, which it exactly resembled in shape and texture
of plumage ; but the body colour was shiny blue above,
white underneath.

The Petrels close my list ; and of this bird we had, as
far as I could see, three varieties. The Mutton-bird,
which was the largest of all, nearly the size of a pigeon,
of an uniform dark dun colour ; a smaller variety as to
blue and white ; and the common little storm petrel,
smallest of all. Strange to say, I never myself killed a

]76 JfATUfiAL HISTOEY SKETCHES.

single variety of either on these coasts ; and all the
specimens I found were washed up on the beach dead.
Often after a heavy westerly gale, I have picked up a
dozen of the small birds on the coast, and I never could
make out what killed them, unless they were beaten
down by the violence of the storm. The blue-winged
variety was rare, and I only met with two specimens of
the mutton-bird in our bay. But there are islands some-
where off the Heads where both these birds must breed
in immense quantities, for boat loads of the eggs of the
mutton-bird are brought sometimes in the season up to
Melbourne for sale, and dried mutton-birds are a staple
article of commerce on some of these coasts. I have seen
more than a hundred dozen of the blue variety brought
in dead by one fishing boat.

So much for the different birds that I met with out
here, and I do not believe many more species are to be
found in this district, although I have, no doubt, omitted
some. My list will give a pretty good general idea of
the ornithology of Port Phillip, and this is all that it pro-
fesses to do. This part of the country is certainly not a
first-rate station for a collection, as most of the prettiest
and rarest Australian birds, such as some of the parrots,
the rifleman, the regent-bird, and many others, are
strangers here. But the only way to obtain a knowledge
of the natural history of any country is to compare the
notes of naturalists kept in different districts, good or
bad ; and when one looks upon the map, and sees wnat
a mere speck the district which I have been describing

SNAKES AND EEPTILES. 177

appears upon the face of such a laud as Australia, it will
be easily seen that no one man, by his own unaided re-
search, could ever obtain a knowledge of the ornithology
of this country. Small as was my limit, and barren as
it might have been when compared with other districts,
I was always finding something new ; and I have no
doubt, were I to go over the same ground again, I
should fall in with very many things that I had over-
looked ; for as one of our best field naturalists — White,
of Selborne — well observes, " It is with zoology as in
botany ; all nature is so full, that that district produces
the greatest variety which is most examined."

I have hereafter noticed the snakes and the principal
reptiles here. Thousands of small frogs inhabit the
swamps, and afford an unlimited supply of food to the
different aquatic birds. "We had three or four different
species ; none, however, large. The commonest of all
was a very little frog, bright green, which used to sit
upon the caudock leaves and rushes, uttering a most
melancholy croak. But the deep regular clock of the
bull-frog, as we used to call it — which, by the way, is
a very small fellow for the noise he makes— is the
deepest and loudest of all. The frogs appear to come
into the swamps as soon as they fill ; and I recollect one
year, when the swamps filled early, they first croaked
about April, which is the autumn here ; and at the same
time I observed the fry of some small fish in one of the
lagoons. We had a curious-looking tree-frog, light yellow
"brown, with very long legs, which lived in the bark of the

K

178 NATURAL HISTOEY SKETCHES.

dead trees : the note resembled the setting of a saw,,
and we called it the carpenter-frog. I never recollect
seeing a toad out here ; nor did I ever notice a water-
newt in any of our swamps or water-holes. Leeches
abound in the streams and swamps : we used to catch
them by throwing a sheep-skin into the water, and
upon taking it up it was covered. We could sell them
for a shilling a dozen.

I am nothing of an entomologist ; but I was surprised
that we saw so very few pretty butterflies out here. I
only knew three or four species, and these were nothing
extraordinary. The prettiest variety was one white, red,
and yellow, which flew about the gum-trees. At times,
a great cloud of moths, as large as small birds, would
invade our tent in the evening, attracted by the light ;
they were remarkable, however, for nothing but their
size. In the early summer, swarms of locusts, resem-
bling a handsome beetle more than the locust of Egypt,
settled on the gum-trees; and the whole forest w:ould
ring with their loud monotonous drone. Grasshoppers
of different species cover the ground in the dry summer
weather ; and thousands of mole-crickets live in holes oil
the plains. The most curious insect here is the praying
mantis, a species of grasshopper, with wings like leaves,
about six inches long. There is a very handsome species
of wasp, which used to come into our forests in the early
spring, and burrow into the sand. I do not believe there
is any native honey-bee in Australia ; but swarms of the
common domestic bees yearly leave their hives and fly

SNAKES AND EEPTILES. 179

into the forests, and there is now plenty of honey to be
found in the old hollow gum trees. These forests abound
in beetles, of various species and colours ; and I have no
doubt a man might soon get a fine collection of the
coleoptera, by poking about the old rotten trees and dead
wood which strew the ground.

I have often regretted that I knew nothing of botany.
Although the wild-flowers here are not so large and
gaudy as we generally see them in a southern land, it is
when collected in a nosegay that their beauties strike
the eye ; and it is only then that we can form any idea
of the delicate and varied tints of the little wild flowers
which we pass by unheeded when growing on the plains
and in the forests here. Some of the heaths and grasses
are very fine ; but there is a great absence of large wild-
flowers in Australia.

Of course, such a country as Australia must present
a wide field to the naturalist, let his particular taste be
what it may ; and the further we go back from the
peopled districts, the more rare and, as yet, undis-
covered species, especially of plants and insects, will
be brought to light. These two branches of the natural
history of such a country as this, must be only in their
infancy ; and it was always a matter of surprise to me
that so much is already known of the general Fauna of
this land ; and I cannot close my slight sketch of th&
ornithology of this country, without paying a compli-
ment to the perseverance and research of Mr. Gould,
•whose splendid work, which is, unfortunately, beyond
K 2

180 KATTJRAL HISTOEY SKETCHES.

the reach of the field naturalist, is a pretty good proof
of the attention he must have bestowed upon the sub-
ject. During the last three years, I believe only about
two birds unnoticed by him have been discovered. As
to myself, I was never lucky enough to fall in with a
single new bird ; and often have I been disappointed, in
my early days of collecting here, when I have taken up
a specimen which was new to me, and showed it to an
old collector, by his quiet remark, " Oh, yes ; I know this
bird well : it is very common in such a district."

The collector here has many difficulties to contend
with : he will be able to procure very little assistance ;
must depend almost entirely upon his own exertions ;
and unless he has some small capital, will not be able to
give his sole attention to a pursuit which yields but little
present emolument. I had to procure my daily bread by
my gun ; collecting was with me only a secondary con-
sideration ; and I was always obliged to be camped in
the settled districts, within reach of a market for my
game.

Collecting is not a profitable occupation ; and this
is hardly yet a country where men care to give up
their time solely for the sake of benefiting science. But
there are now many able and zealous naturalists at work,
and Melbourne can boast of a museum, raised within the
last three years, that is a credit to the curators. Yery
few bushmen or settlers care anything about the natural
history of the country. A mob of cattle or a flock of
sheep are naturally of more interest to the squatter or

LIST OF ANIMALS AND BIEDS.

181

stock-rider than any rare animal or bird that he may
chance to fall in with during his daily rides ; and the
only specimen that possesses much value in the eyes of
most of the colonists at the present day, is a lump of
quartz well inlaid with gold.

List of the ANIMALS, BIEDS, EEPTILES, and FISH,
noticed in these pages.

ANIMALS.

Kangaroo.

Native Cat.

Wallaby.

Flying Mouse.

Wild Dog.

Kangaroo Eat.

Native Bear.

Bandicote.

Wombat.

Bush Eat.

Opossum.

Beaver Eat.

Eing-tail.

Platypus.

Large Flying Squirrel.

Spiny Ant-eater.

Little Sugar Squirrel.

Bats (3 species).

Tiger-Cat.

Fur Seal.

BIEDS.

Eagle Hawk.

Marsh Harrier.

White Fishing Hawk.

Swamp Hawk.

Peregrine.

Kite.

Hobby.

Carrion Hawk.

Merlin.

Large Owl.

Blue Falcon.

White Owl.

Kestrel.

Yellow Owl.

White Kestrel.

Grey Owl.

White Goshawk.

Brown Owl.

Sparrow Hawk.

Little Brown Owl.

Musquito Hawk.

Morepoke.

Harrier.

Little Morepoke.

182

NATURAL HISTOBY SKETCHES.

Night-jar.

Brown Wren (2 species).

Laughing Jackass.

Sedge Warbler (2 species)

Sacred Kingfisher.

Satin-bird.

Kingfisher.

Stockwhip-bird.

Magpie.

Fantail.

Black-backed Magpie.

Fly-catcher (2 species).

Blue Jay (2 species).

Great Shrike.

Swamp Magpie.

Stringy-bark Shrike.

Carrion Crow (2 species).

Thickhead (2 species).

Blue-eyed Crow.

Oceole (2 species).

Mocking-bird.

Crested Shrike.

Large Grey Cuckoo.

Cobbler's-awl Bird.

Common Cuckoo.

Coachwhip-bird (2 species).

Bronze Cuckoo.

Wax-billed Finch (4 species).

Summer-bird.

Diamond Sparrow.

Miner.

Diamond-bird.

Green Thrush.

Black Cockatoo (2 species).

Grey Thrash.

White Cockatoo.

Mountain Thrush.

Yan Kate.

Wattle-bird.

Corella.

Kedwing.

King Parrot.

Leatherhead.

Lowry (2 species).

Wood Swallow (2 species).

Rosella.

Honey-bird (3 species).

Blue Mountaineer.

Bell-bird.

Green Leek.

Spine-tailed Swift.

Swamp Parrot.

Common Swift.

Ground Paroqueet (2 species).

Swallow.

Ked-shouldered Paroqueet.

Marten.

Swift-flying Paroqueet.

Mounting Lark.

Common Green Paroqueet

Small Lark.

(2 species).

Meadow Pepit.

Zebra Paroqueet.

Eock Pepit.

Eobin (5 species).

GAME BIRDS.

Swallow Diceum.

Emu.

Blue Wren.

Wild Turkey.

Emu Wren.

Lowan.

LIST OF BIRDS, ETC.

183

Native Pheasant.

Painted Quail.

Black Swan.

Nuthatch Quail.

Magpie Goose.

King Quail.

Cape Barren Goose.

Silver Quail.

Mountain Duck.

Spur-wing Plover.

Black Duck.

Plover of the Plains.

Wood Duck.

Golden Plover.

Pochard.

Stone Curlew.

Whistle-wing.

Spotted Crake.

Shoveller.

Lesser Crake.

Teal.

Dunlin.

Musk Duck.

Black and White Stilt.

Coot.

Small Stint.

Dabchick.

Sea Snipe.

Water-hen.

Large Sandpipers.

Bittern (2 species).

Bull-eyed Plover.

Heron.

Curlew.

Purple Heron.

Avocet (2 species).

White Crane (2 species).

Crested Grebe.

Little Egret.

Great black-backed Gull.

Spoonbill.

Lesser black-backed Gull.

Straw-necked Ibis.

Common Gull.

Nankeen Crane.

Caspian Tern.

Spotted Bittern.

Common Tern.

Native Companion.

Black Tern.

Bronze-wing Pigeon.

Oyster-catcher.

Scrub Pigeon.

Gannet.

Ground Dove.

Cormorant.

Crowned Pigeon.

Diver.

Snipe.

Pelican.

Landrail.

Penguin.

Painted Snipe.

Mutton-bird.

Common Quail (2 species).

Petrel.

Scrub Quail.

Little Stormy Petrel.

184

2TATUBAL HISTORY SKETCHES.

REPTILES AND INSECTS.

Black Snake.

Tarantula.

Carpet Snake.

Leech.

Whip Snake.

Blowflies.

Deaf Adder.

Ants.

Guana.

Musquito.

Sleeping Lizard.

Sand-fly.

Bloodsucker.

Locust.

Common Lizard.

Mole-cricket.

Bull-frog.

Wasp.

Green Frog.

Butterflies.

Carpenter-frog.

Moths.

Centipede.

Praying Mantis.

Scorpion.

Grasshoppers.

Eel.
Brim.
Black-fish.
Trout.

Snapper.

Flat-head.

Sea Pike.

Garfish.

Salmon.

Salmon Trout.

Cray-fish.

Oyster.

Shrimp.

Dog-fish.

Shark.

Benito.

Stingoree.

FISHES.

Herring.

Mullet.
Murray Cod.
Fresh-water Cray-fish,

SEA

FISH.

Fiddler.

Flounders.

Butter-fish.

Jelly-fish.

Cuttle-fish.

Star-fish.

Crabs.

Toad-fish.

Porcupine-fish*

Mutton-fish.

Limpets.

Saw-fish.

Shells.

NOTICES ON SHOOTIKQ. 1S5-

CHAPTEE X.

NOTICES ON SHOOTING — SUGGESTIONS TOR THE PRESERVATION OP
THE GAME— THE DOGS OF THE NATIVES AND BUSH DOGS.

NOWHEEE do we see better guns out in the field than
here, and a man is not known among the shooters by his-
personal description, but by his gun : " Used to shoot
with an old double Joe Manton ;" " Had a long single
Rigby;" or, "Shot with my Purday gun;" was the
manner of speech by which a stranger was recognized
among our mob. Any one who keeps his eyes open ha&
every chance of picking up a good gun here cheap, for
nearly every emigrant brings one out with him, often a
first-class gun, perhaps an old family relic, or the parting-
gift of some old sporting friend ; .and this is generally
the first thing that goes when he becomes hard up on
landing. I suppose it is owing to a different class of
men coming out, but I have remarked that we do not
see so many first-rate guns brought into the colony now
as formerly.

There arc several good gunmakers in Melbourne, but
all colonial work, especially little jobs, are dear.
The best powder costs 5s. per Ib. ; shot Gd., caps Is.
per 1,000. Some wretched rubbish is sent out here
in the shape of powder, and if the shooter happen*

186 NATUBAL HISTOBT SKETCHES.

to run out in the bush, he will most likely have to put
up with the common treble P., at 5s. per Ib. There is
no saving in shooting with cheap powder, for, indepen-
dent of the foul "state in which it keeps your gun, and
the wounded birds that go away, a pound of Hall's best
No. 2 grain will go as far again as the weaker powder.
A man who shoots for his living cannot be too particular
in the choice of his ammunition, for in duck-shooting he
can easily lose more by wounded birds in the day than
will keep him in ammunition for a week, and no one but
he who has experienced them can judge of the duck-
shooter's feelings when his cap misses fire, after having
crept on his hands and knees up to a flock of black duck,
for perhaps half a mile, through a wet swamp. Pigou
and Wilks's No. 2 grain was my favourite powder when-
ever I could get it ; but all the good brands are pretty
much alike, if you are only certain that it is tire genuine
article, and the canister fresh. The best plan is to stick
to one gunmaker, and he will generally use you well.

It cannot be denied that the game is rapidly dis-
appearing in all the settled districts, especially near town,
and if steps are not speedily taken to prevent the whole-
sale destruction of the birds in the breeding season which,
is now carried on, in a few years the shooter's occupation
in Victoria will be gone. Much as we may all object to
the principle and working of the British game-laws, it is
quite certain that, until the law interferes and makes it an
act illegal for all, there can be no preventing it. For,
however well one man may be disposed, and wish to

PBESEBYATICS" OF GAME. 187

shoot fairly, it is hardly likely that he will care to spare
the breeding-birds, when he knows that they are pretty
certain to be shot by some one or other less scrupulous
than himself.

The inhabitants of any wild country, who depend upon
the chase as a subsistence, have, as it were, a primd facie
right to the game of that country, and are, perhaps,
justified in taking it at any season, as they best can.
They wander about from spot to spot, and are not con-
tinually disturbing one district; they have different
hunting-grounds for different seasons ; their implements
of chase are rude, in comparison with those used by
the civilized man ; and they never care to take more
than just enough to satisfy their wants, and there would
be little fear of the game being ever entirely killed out
if they were the only persons who followed the chase.
But the case is far different when thousands of strangers
flock to a new country, and wage an indiscriminate war
at all seasons against the wild game peculiar to that land.
It is then time that some measures should be taken to
preserve the game, and if the shooters themselves are
too blind to their own interests to do so, the law should
interfere. But let me not be misunderstood. I am not
here advocating any system of game-laws that will cramp
the sportsman in this free country as the Legislature
has already done at home ; all I wish to see is a stop
put to the ruthless slaughter of the old birds in the
breeding season, and I am sure every fair sportsman will
join in my views. Let us have no license. Let a man

188 NATURAL HISTOET SKETCHES.

still be free to wander where he will on land that is not
purchased, but let us have proper seasons fixed for
killing the game. What is sauce for the goose would
then be sauce for the gander — it would be as fair for
one as another — and all who take a pleasure or feel an
interest in field-sports out here would be equally bene-
fited. When the game of any country becomes a
marketable article, and of sufficient value to induce men
to devote their whole time to its pursuit as a means of
gaining a livelihood, it should in some measure be pro-
tected, especially as it is not private property. One
might imagine that it would at least be the interest
of the shooters themselves to do so — at all events
to spare the goose that lays the golden egg ; but, un-
fortunately, what is everybody's business is nobody's ;
and, although they are the first to complain when they
find the game decreasing, not one will give himself the
sligi .test trouble to keep up the breed. It matters little
to me — I never expect to have another head of game out
of Victoria — but I have seen enough in five years'
shooting to prove that, unless some steps are speedily
taken to preserve the breeding-birds, in a few years none
will be left to protect.

The game list of Victoria should include those birds
that are bought up as game, such as the turkey, the
ducks, the pigeon, the quail, the snipe, and the rail.
There are several other species quite as good for the
table as these, but which are hardly considered game,
viz., the bittern, the coot, the heron, nankeen crane,

PRESEEVATION OF GAME. 189

plovers, and wattle-birds. It is a matter of doubt
whether the kangaroo will ever be deemed worth pre-
serving, but I have already touched upon this subject.

Some of the game birds, such as the quail, pigeon, and
rail, only come into this part of Port Phillip to breed,
and I know the shooters here will say, that as soon as
they have done breeding they all leave with their young,
and unless shot just at the times when they come down
none would be got at all. This may be partly true, but,
in my opinion, we never gave the birds a fair chance to
see how long they would stay on the breeding-grounds
with their families after the breeding season. I fancy,
if allowed to breed in peace, they would remain till the
end of autumn, perhaps well into winter. As to snipe,
they might be killed at any time when they can be found
here, for I fancy they breed up in the ranges early, in
places little trod by the foot of the white man, and those
which do come down into the peopled districts are the old
birds and birds of the year. The ducks pair off to breed
about the end of September (I once took a nest as early
as August), and the flappers come down to the creeks in.
January. The pigeons breed in December, and the
young birds are flyers by the end of January. The
heart of the quail breeding season is early in December,
and in January we kill strong flyers. My opinion is,
therefore, that the safest way to preserve the game here,
would be to make November, December, and January
"fence months," for every species of game excepting
snipe, in the settled districts. The shooters would then

190 NATUEAL HISTOEY SKETCHES.

have a little good quail-shooting when they first came,
and before they settled down to their breeding haunts.
February and March would be the best months for
general shooting ; duck and kangaroo would keep them
employed during the winter, and it is, indeed, hard if
they could not afford to give the birds a three months'
rest out of twelve, especially as they would reap the
benefit of it themselves, and as during the hot summer
season shooting is far more a toil than a pleasure, and
half the game is spoilt by the heat.

I am not here alluding to the professional shooter alone.
It would be far more satisfactory to those sportsmen who
merely follow the chase as an amusement, for they might
then be always certain of a good day's sport within an
easy distance from town, which is very doubtful now,
when men are roaming over the country with guns, dis-
turbing the birds during the whole of the breeding

I suppose there is already some law of trespass out
here, but I don't know how it stands. This, however,
I do know, that there is always bother enough if by
chance the shooter enters a private paddock, especially
near town. For my part, I hated the very sight of a
three-rail fence; and half the pleasure of shooting in
this wild country was taken away whenever I had to
enter an enclosure, or ask leave to beat for my game.

It is very properly prohibited to shoot the ducks
which resort to the Botanical Gardens in Melbourne
within a certain distance of the enclosure, in fact, to

NATIVE SHOOTING. 191

shoot at all within the boundaries of the town ; and
there is a fine for shooting on a Sunday, which is
strictly enforced in the neighbourhood of town, but has
hardly found its way yet far into the bush.

I should much like to know whether the aborigines of
this country originally possessed any particular breed of
dog for the chase before the stranger landed on these
shores, or whether the domestic dog was introduced into
this country by the white man. Unlike other savages,
I do not believe that the Australian natives depended at
all upon the dog for their success in the chase. Their
original methods of hunting prove this ; for although
they certainly now do prefer a gun to a spear when
they can get it, and their dogs assist them much in
killing kangaroo and opossum, they still stick to their
primitive habits of the chase, especially in the wild dis-
tricts. For instance, they will encircle a mob of kan-
garoo, and kill them with a spear or a waddy ; they will
stalk the wild turkeys on the plains under cover of a
bush, which they carry before them, and snare them with
a noose on the end of a long pole ; they will watch a
creek for hours, hidden in the rushes, and when a mob
of ducks pass by, will knock down two or three with a
waddy or bomerang ; and they can also spear the ducks ;
they will sit by a water-hole on a summer evening as
motionless as statues, and snare the pigeons that come
down to drink. They have peculiar methods of catching
quail. They can tell, by examining a tree, whether an
opossum is at home ; and they soon run up, by cutting

192 NATUEAL HISTOBY SKETCHES.

nicks in the bark, as a purchase for their fingers and
toes, with a tomahawk (which, before the white man
settled here, was made of stone, and answered every
purpose), and drag him from his hole. Of course, no
white man can ever equal them in stealthily creeping
on to their game; and I have often remarked that
neither the kangaroo in the forest nor the wild turkey
on the plains take half the notice of a black that they
do of a white man. As all the species of birds and
animals above mentioned, and fish, formed their prin-
cipal subsistence in the way of the chase, they could get
along very well without dogs ; and as they had nothing
to fear from the attacks of any wild animal, and no
property to protect, I think it most probable that the
domestic dog was introduced into this country by the
white man, and that before he landed the blacks did
without their assistance ; for. I cannot believe that the
wild dog could ever have been broken from a state of
nature to become of any service to man, more than the wolf
of Europe. Still the oldest settlers seem to have no recol-
lection of seeing the blacks without dogs. That they are
very fond of them, is evident from the pack which accom-
panies every tribe — hungry, mangy, sneaking-looking
curs, of no particular breed ; most likely a cross of every
blood known in the colony. I have seen a Lubra, or
native woman, suckling two puppies ; and, like monkeys,
these ladies have a particular fancy for fleaing their dogs.
Next in relation to the bushman's mate stands his
dog ; and I should almost feel myself wanting in grati-

BUSH-DOGS. 193

tude were I to pass over these faithful companions
without a slight notice.

It is difficult to say what is the most general breed of
dog we meet with in the bush : in fact, we rarely see a
true-bred one at all. Every bushman probably brings a
clog or two into the bush with him, of such breed as he
fancies best ; and as there is no restraint and no care
bestowed in crossing them, they breed indiscriminately,
and it would puzzle a good dog-fancier to distinguish one
breed from another. But mongrels as they are, these
bush dogs are not to be despised. Although self-taught,
nature supplies the place of education ; and their
natural instinct seems to be much more highly deve-
loped than among the fuller broken and truer bred dogs
of the old country. Every bush dog is a sporting dog
after his own fashion ; and as there was no tax, and their
keep in the forest cost nothing, they must have been the
veriest curs that were turned out of our kennels. Our
dogs were used for every purpose ; and as they were
treated more like companions than servants, they
appeared to identify themselves with us in every
transaction, and seemed to fancy a day's shooting was
got up as much for their pleasure as our own. It is
little wonder that they were keen after kangaroo and
opossum : we never gave them any meat except what
they helped to kill themselves, nor did they seem to
expect it. They knew where the offal of the kangaroo
we had killed in the day lay in the forest, and regularly
every evening went off to feed ; and if there was no
o

194 NATURAL HISTOBY SKETCHES.

kangaroo handy, they would stroll away from the tent at
night, run an old " 'possum up a tree," and stand barking
under it till they brought one of us out to shoot it. No
kennels for them ; each had its own little den under
some old tree-root close to the tent, and we always
slept in perfect security.

It is dangerous to go up to a bush tent or hut after
dark, on account of the dogs ; and the best plan, as soon
as one sees the camp-fire, is to " Coo e, e," to warn the
inmates of one's approach.

I can often fancy a shooter at home seeing the turn-
out for a day's sport here. In my shirt-sleeves, with a
game-bag on my back, and my pack of mongrels at my
heels (for no matter, whatever was the sport all the dogs
were sure to follow us), one a half-bred bull and terrier,
a large half-bred mastiff and hound, a fine-bred grey-
hound terrier, and a long-backed spaniel, worth, in the
eyes of an English sportsman, to use an old phrase of
the road, " about ninepence a side, pick 'em all the way
round," I looked far more like a rat-catcher than any-
thing else. Yet these were the dogs upon whom we
depended, not only for our personal safety, but our daily
bread. Little fear of any one molesting us at night with
these protectors round us ; and as for sporting, they were
ail close-hunting dogs for quail and snipe — would retrieve
a black duck from the thickest rushes ; and, in " fur,"
scarcely anything, from a kangaroo or opossum down to
a bandicote or bush-rat, escaped them.

There is a small tax now of Is. Gd. per year laid upon

DISEASES OF THE DOGS. 195

every dog kept in and about Melbourne — a kind of
douceur, I fancy, to the police ; and each dog must be
registered and wear a collar. Although fewer diseases
prevail among the dogs out here than at home, I have
heard it remarked, that they are far more difficult to
cure. Hydrophobia is unknown. The worst and most
common sickness is a species of distemper, not at all like
the distemper at home, but a kind of spasmodic affection
in the loins, which comes on at all ages. It is to be
cured ; but I never knew a dog worth much after it.
The receipt which I got from a sporting " Vet " was to
cut the roof of the mouth across, from gum to gum, so
that it may bleed freely, and give a dose of garlic every
morning for four days. I do not know what it is owing
to, but dogs either get very soon worn out in this
country, or very cunning ; for a sporting dog is worth
little or nothing after about his fourth season.

How imperceptibly and closely does a man become
attached to old localities, and old companions, even if
they are but dumb animals ; for, childish as it may
appear, it was with feelings of deeper emotion than any
one can imagine who has not, like myself, spent year after
year in the solitude of the bush, that I parted from my
mates and the old bush-tent, and for the first time in my
life drove my dogs back, who followed me when I left
with half-imploring, half-incredulous looks. As I turned
my back upon the forest, I felt that my sporting career
in Australia had ended ; that I was parting with friends
whom in all probability I should never see again ; that I
o 2

196 NATTIBAL HISTOKT SKETCHES.

was leaving a home at least, even if it was a humble one,
with no consolation in the reflection that I had to seek
another home and new friends in whatever strange land
the wanderer's lot might cast me.

SNAKES AND EEPTILES. 197

CHAPTER XI.

THE SNAKES AND REPTILES PECULIAR TO POET PHILLIP, AND OTHER
BUSH ANNOYANCES.

ALTHOUGH the bushman has nothing to fear out here
from the attacks of any wild animals, he has still his secret
enemies, which in many cases are as dangerous as the open,
foe ; and what he has most to dread in the Australian bush
are the snakes. I do not believe any part of the world
can be more infested with these reptiles in the summer
season. Let him walk where he -will — in the depths of
.the forest, in the thick heather, on the open swamps and
plains, by the edges of creeks or water-holes — the shooter
is sure to meet with his enemy, the black-snake. It
enters his very tent or hut, and coils itself in his
blankets. In fact, nowhere is he safe ; and if he did
not altogether banish the thought of them from his
mind, he could never have a moment's peace. It does,
indeed, appear as if the eye of a watchful Providence
peculiarly guarded the traveller in these wilds ; for at
any moment he is liable to tread upon a deadly snake,
coiled up in his very path, which does not always get
out of the way, but lies watching him with his basilisk
eye, ready in a moment to make the fatal spring if
touched, and very, often the snake is not seen till the

198 NATURAL HISTOEY SKETCHES.

danger is past. Much as I was accustomed to the sight
of them, and the hundreds that I have killed, I never
saw one without a cold chill running through my blood ;
and it is often with a shudder that I look back upon the
many narrow escapes I have had from snakes. How
I avoided being bitten is a mystery to me. I once
threw myself on my blankets for a rest, during a hot
windy day, in my shirt-sleeves, and a large carpet-snake
lay curled up within three inches of me ! Twice have I
taken up the little whip-snake in a bundle of dry grass ;
and twice have I had a large snake twist itself round my
leg ; and in one instance my leggings saved me, for the
snake struck me below the knee. I have picked up
a dead quail in long grass, which had fallen close to
a snake ; and scores of times have I all but trod on them
in thick grass. I always wore long boots, or game-
keeper's leather leggings in the bush during the
summer ; and I should recommend every one to do
the same. I consider the greatest danger we ran was
if we chanced to pick up an old log at night for the
bush-fire in which might be a snake ; a man cannot be
too careful in handling dead logs and sticks in the
forest ; for, independent of snakes, this dead-wood is
infested with centipedes and other insects, the bite of
which is dangerous. One thing is fortunate, by constant
practice the eye becomes so accustomed to range over
the ground that, in most instances, I could see a snake
before I reached it, unless it was coiled up very snugly.
I could never identify more than three distinct species

THE BLACK SNAKE. 199

of snake out here : the black-snake, the diamond or
carpet snake, and the little whip-snake; all, I believe,
equally poisonous in their bite. "We had many varieties
in colour, but I think these were the only three distinct
species.

A small kind of boa is met with up the country,
according to the Blacks, which is harmless ; but I never
saw it.

There is another species in some parts of the country
which they call the deaf or death adder, but it is never
met with in the districts where I have been. It is
described as a short, blunt snake, with legs, and as
being able to sting or bite at each end : and it is said to
be the most deadly of all the snakes. That such a reptile
as this exists, I never can believe ; although there is a
species of short, thick snake, unknown in these parts,
found on some of the dry stony rises, and this is pro-
bably the one meant. I have heard the most extra-
ordinary stories respecting the size and quantities of
snakes met with in some parts of the colony ; and this,
and the wonderful escapes they have had, is a prolific
subject with some old bushmen, but I always received
such "yarns" with the greatest of caution.

The black-snake is the handsomest, but certainly the
most venomous and spiteful, in appearance of the whole
lot. It is of a rich black colour, above the belly-plates
light. "We had a variety in which the belly-plates were
copper-red, which we called the copper-snake. It was
always smaller and thinner than the common black-

200 NATURAL HISTORY SKETCHES.

snake, and might have been the young. None of the
snakes here run to a very large size : — five feet will
perhaps be about the average length. The largest I
ever saw was a black-snake, killed by my mate in a thick
scrub on the beach, near Mordialloc, which we called the
two-mile scrub, certainly the worst place for snakes that
I knew. It was six feet five inches long, and very
thick. On showing it to a Black, he observed, " Ah !
me know that fellow long time." I think both the
black and the carpet snake were equally common with
us. We generally used to find the black snake more
among the timber and thick scrub than the other; but
in the dry season we were sure to find both near water.
There is a strong scent peculiar to the Australian snake,
and I have often smelt one long before I saw it.

The carpet-snake runs much about the same length as
the black-snake, but is rather thinner. I generally
found them in more open places ; and often on the plains
in dry weather, they would lie coiled up in a crab-hole,
or print of a bullock's hoof. The carpet-snake is of a
brown colour, with a yellowish tinge and light belly, the
shades varying much, according to age and season. It
is a dangerous plan to let heaps of glass bottles accu-
mulate near a bush-tent, for they attract snakes much in
hot weather.

The little whip-snake is the smallest of all, being
hardly thicker than one's finger, and rarely over a foot in
length. It rather resembles the blind- worm at home in
colour and appearance, but it is longer, and the tail

THE SNAKES. 201

more pointed. They frequented the dry plains, were local,
and I often used to find them under heaps of dry cow-
dung.

The snakes here lay up during the winter in old logs,
dead-log fences, and holes in the earth. They dis-
appear about the end of March, and come out again iu
September. They say here, that in the end of February
is the pairing season, and then they travel by night. I
cannot say if this is correct, as I never killed one at night,
except in a log. At all other times they retire as soon
as the sun goes down. They are the most dangerous
when they first come out, for then they lie in a half-torpid
state, and don't care to get out of the way. One thing
is certain, that the snake will rarely if ever molest a
man, unless trod upon, or so hard pressed that it cannot
get away. They generally glide off out of sight, or if
they do lie still it is in hopes of not being perceived. They
can hear the approach of a footstep a long way off; it is
wonderful how quickly they disappear. I have seen a
snake lying in a bush, and have only taken my eye off
it for an instant, to see if my cap was all right before I
fired, and it has vanished as by magic. I have seen
some persons kill them with a stick ; I always fancied a
charge of shot was the safest, and I rarely went out in
any day in summer without killing two or three. It is
best to approach a snake sideways, for they say here
that they can cast themselves backwards as well as
forwards. I never but once saw one make a spring, and
that was at a dog. The snake was in a half-erect posi-

202 NATURAL HISTORY SKETCHES,

tion, and shot out its full length like lightning. Many
dogs are very quick at killing snakes, and will seize and
throw them up like a rat, but sooner or later they pay
the penalty of their rashness. An old bush-dog generally
stands over a snake, at a respectful distance, and barks
till the shooter comes up.

The laughing-jackass and stump-lizard both destroy
snakes ; and they say that Underwood, in Van Diemen's
Land, who cured the bite of snakes, discovered the
secret of his elixir by watching a battle between a snake
and a stump-lizard. After the lizard had killed the
snake, he saw it eat the leaves of a small plant. He
gathered some, made a docoction of it, and this was the
secret of Underwood's mixture. "Whether this was the
case or not I am unable to say, but I believe his remedy
is very efficacious; and he has himself acknowledged
that the principal ingredient is a plant on which we
tread in this country every day of our lives.

It is singular, considering how much I was always
about the bush, and the number of snakes that I killed,
not a single instance of a snake-bite ever came under
my actual observation; so it appears that these snakes
are less to be feared than might at first be imagined. I
have known men who have been bitten and recovered, so
that the bite is not always fatal. Much, I think,
depends upon the state of the blood, and the season of the
year. One man I knew was bitten in the finger by a
whip-snake, when putting up a fence. He coolly laid his
finger on a post, and chopped it off with his axe, and

THE SIfAKE. 203

thus probably saved his life. My remedy, if I had been
bitten, would have been to cut the wound till it bled
well, and put on it a charge of powder, and flash it off.
I thiuk this might have stayed the poison until I could
have reached medical assistance. Many carry a piece of
caustic; but the new remedy, I believe from India,
where it has been tried and found most efficacious, is
ipecacuanha. If bitten, score the wound with a penknife
till it bleeds, make a paste with a little ipecacuanha and
spittle, and bind it round the wound. Of course these
are only temporary remedies till medical assistance can
be obtained; but when we consider how liable any one
is to be bitten out here, it certainly would be prudent
for every one to carry a little ipecacuanha in his pocket,
even if he never wanted it. The Blacks have a remedy,
and no doubt it is herbal.

The snakes here live always on and in the ground,
and not in trees, which, however, they can climb, for
they are not unfrequently found in a magpie's nest. I
was once standing quietly by a creek, watching for ducks,
on a summer's evening, when I heard a rustling in the
scrub, on the other side, and I saw a large carpet-snake,
swarming up a tea-tree pole, and presently another and
another, till I am certain there were at least a dozen
crawling up and down the poles at various heights. I
did not stop to see what they were about ; as the Yankees
say, I soon " made tracks back," for I fancied I must
have come upon a snake settlement. I believe there are
such places, where hundreds congregate in long grass

204 NATUEAL HISTOEY SKETCHES.

or thick scrub. I think a great many of the bullocks
that lie dead along the plains in the summer are killed
by the snakes. The sheep often kill them by jumping
with all four feet upon the snake.

The Blacks are very timid about snakes; yet, although
they travel bare-legged and bare-footed through the bu'dh
at all seasons, they never tread on one ; in fact, their
eyes are like an eagle's, and they can see anything on
the ground in an instant. They are very careful, how-
ever, in getting over a log, rarely treading on it. They
will eat snakes, which they kill themselves, when they
are certain the snake has not bitten itself, which it often
does in its dying agonies. I have eaten the black-snake,
and had it been a little fatter should not have known it
from eel.

The principal food of the snake is small animals,
birds'-eggs, and frogs. I once saw a large carpet-snake
charming a lot of birds. It was under an old honey-
suckle, which had been blown down, and a congregation
of small bush-birds were gathered round it, hopping,
chattering, and fluttering about the dead branches of
the tree. The motions of the snake were the most
graceful I ever saw: it was half-erect, moving its
head backwards and forwards, shooting out its tongue,
evidently endeavouring to decoy a victim within reach,
which it would soon have done, but it caught sight of
me, and glided away, and the performance stopped.

There is no real water-snake in this country, but all
the snakes can swim, and in summer are always on the

THE SNAKE. 205

edges of wet swamps, creeks, &c. I have often seen a
snake drinking, when I have been watching by the side
of a water hole. I once shot a pair of ducks in a creek,
and they fell in the rushes on the opposite side. As I had
no retriever, I stripped and swam in ; and while I was
swimming across, I saw what I took to be a black piece
of stick, lying on the top of the water ; when I came up
to it it proved to be a large black-snake, lying, perfectly
motionless, at full length on the water. I passed within
a foot of it, but it never moved. I often wondered since
whether it was after the ducks.

The bush-fires must destroy thousands of snakes
annually, and wherever the country becomes cleared
they will, of course, in a great measure disappear. But
they can never entirely be rooted out of this land, where
so many miles of swamp, scrub, and heather must for
ever remain, in their original wild state, a harbour for
the snake and other vermin. But I think Government
should offer some slight reward, say sixpence or a shilling,
for every snake's head that was brought in.

It is strange that this country should be so prolific in
snakes, while in New Zealand, only about a thousand
miles distant, not a reptile is, I believe, to be found.

The guano is a large species of tree-lizard, and
frequents gullies and ranges where the timber is high,
and the localities wild and unfrequented. It was very
rare in our district ; in fact, it is found only in the most
solitary places. The guano runs from all sizes, up to
ten feet, and I have heard of them even longer. The

206 NATUBAL HISTORY SKETCHES.

body is thick, covered with a close scaly hide, of a dark
brown colour ; the head is large, and the tail long and
thin, like a whip-thong. It is a repulsive-looking reptile,
and I must say I never liked the sight of them. A
friend of mine once met a large guano, in a narrow bush-
track, marching along with a great piece of beef in its
mouth, which it had stolen from a tent. It carried the
beef with its head in the air, like a retriever carrying a
pheasant. It dropped the beef when he fired, and dis-
appeared into the bush ; so, after all, he got the best of
the bargain. The guano is not venomous, but can bite
severely, as the scars on the faces of those dogs that
hunt them will testify. It is very nimble, and can run
up a tree like a cat, keeping its body out of sight
behind the trunk, or a large limb, peering down, with its
hideous countenance, on the shooter below. It is almost
impossible to shoot them unless there are two guns, one
on each side of the tree. The guano is eatable, and the
tail a bush delicacy. I have seen them in the Dande-
nong ranges, and I believe they are very common in the
high timber on the Gripps Land Boad.

The Sleeping or Stump-lizard is another repulsive-
looking but inoffensive reptile. It runs to about one foot
in length, is very thick in proportion, and the tail is
short and blunt. It is of a variegated brown colour, the
belly livid blue, the inside of the mouth and tongue black,
and the belly is not covered with plates, as in the Euro-
pean lizard, but the skin is continuous. They are com-
mon all over the bush during the summer, frequenting

THE LIZABD. 207

generally moist situations, — such as tea-trees and damp
grass ; sometimes, however, in dry heather. The sleeping
lizard well deserves its name. It is the very counterpart
of its relative, the guano, being sluggish and lazy, always
lying apparently half asleep, did not the bright little eye
prove that they are " wide awake." They never try to
escape bv flight when a dog attacks them ; all they do is
to turn their head towards it with open mouth, and I
fancy their repulsive look often protects them. Dogs
will set them like quail. Their principal food appears to
be grubs and caterpillars ; and as these insects require
very little catching, I should say the life of the stump-
lizard is about as lazy a one as any in the colony. They
can bite severely for their size.

There are several other species of small lizard in the
bush, all harmless ; but one they call the bloodsucker — a
perfect guano in miniature — they say, is poisonous. I
fancy not. But a stranger in a foreign land should
always be careful in handling reptiles, unless he well
knows their habits.

It was curious that we had no alligators in this part
of the country. Many of the creeks would be the very-
places for them, and I am sure some of the swamps are
wild and dismal enough to hold any kind of uncouth
reptile. I believe the Blacks fancy that some species of
large reptiles or amphibious animal do inhabit the large
swamps, and I have often had the same opinion myself,
when camped on the edge of one of these dreary, im-
penetrable marshes. I have listened to the extraordinary

203 •N-ATUHAL IIISTOEY SKETCHES.

noises that issue from the reeds and scrubs at night.
Surely, I have thought, there must be some reptiles in
these wilds unknown to us, and perhaps, after all, the
bunyip may be no fable.

Besides the snakes, we had many other little annoy-
ances during the summer months in the bush, which it
was not always easy to avoid. Centipedes, six inches long,
are to be found in every old log, and under stones.
Small scorpions abound on every stony rise ; and taran-
tulas, or large spiders (as the bushmen call them, trian-
tulopes), as big as penny pieces, with a dozen great hairy
legs, come crawling down the sides of the tent in wet
weather ; and the bushman should always well examine
his blankets before he turns in. The cruellest practical
joke I ever heard of was played in a bush-tent, when
one of the party laid a dead black-snake in the bed of his
mate. The man upon whom the trick was played did
not die from the fright, but his intellects received such
a shock, that in all probability he would remain a lunatic
for the rest of his life. The swamps are full of leeches,
and very pleasant it is if one finds its way into your shoe
when up to your knees in a swamp, crawling on to a mob
of black-duck. The forests literally swarmed with great
blue and yellow blowflies, which shoot out living maggots,
and " Catch-'em-alive-oh" would drive a roaring trade
among the clouds of little black flies that infest the
bush during the summer. Ants of every variety and
size, from the little sugar-ant up to the great red soldier-
ant, ply their busy trade in the summer all over the

THE MOSQUITO. 209

forests. There is no keeping these little busybodies out
of the tent, and it is no joke if a great bull-dog, or soldier-
ant, about an inch long, finds its way up the leg of your
trousers. Swarms of mosquitos hover over every marsh
and water-hole in the evening, and myriads of sand-flies,
hardly perceptible to the naked eye, are sure to attack
the back of your neck and ears when seated by a water-
hole, quietly watching for a duck or pigeon at evening.
These are the only insects I really cared for. I could
generally keep the mosquitos off by the smoke of my
pipe, but with the sand-flies I could do nothing. The
Australian bug is harmless, luckily, for it is about the
size and shape of an almond ; and as for fleas, they breed
in the sand, so that it is easy to guess their name is
legion. The blight in the eye, -which is so common here
during the summer, especially on the diggings, is brought
on, I believe, by a small fly. The sting of the scorpion
and centipede are not only very painful, but very danger-
ous. A little sweet oil promptly applied soon cures the
bites of the others.

210 NATUBAI/ HISTOHY SKETCHES.

CHAPTEE XII.

MANY persons consider the shooter's life a lazy one,,
and are too apt to set down the whole of our " respectable
corps" as a body of " loafers." Don't you believe it.
No man can be idle who has to earn his bread first, and
then cook it, before he eats it ; and if any one doubts my
word, he had better go and try it.

There are three or four classes of shooters out here.
The " swell," who now and then comes out from town
for a day's sport, and obtains the services of some pro-
fessional shot, who knows the ground, to help to fill his
bag. Money is no object with him, his sole aim being to
take home a good lot of game, which he does not forget
to show to his friends as his own killing.

There is a second class, who are very good at " shoot-
ing over the pitcher." These are, for the most part, old
hands, men of sporting habits, who are generally to be
found at the bar of a sporting public-house, where they
" pitch," to any one who will stand nobblers, about the
lots of game they used to kill, and wind up by abusing
the new chum shooters, and the sporting prospects of
the colony at the present time, as compared to their day.
These men deal much in mysteries, and almost every one

BUSH LIFE. 211

claims the honour of being the oldest duck-shooter in the
colony, as I have heard at least a dozen diggers affirm
that they sunk the first hole on Bendigo.

Then there are others, genuine sportsmen at heart, who
know how to find game, and what's more, kill it when
found ; but being tied much by their business in town,
have little time to devote to field sports, but who enjoy
a day when they do have it, doubly, on account of its
rarity, and it is a pleasure to go out with them ; and
besides them, there are others who, although settled, and
following their regular trades, occasionally take a tui'n
with the gun when business is slack, thus combining
pleasure and profit. They never go out except when game
is well in, and one night from home is about their limit ;
and these are the men who really enjoy the pleasure of
sporting, without the hardships which fall to the lot of
the regular shooters.

But the men whom I consider the real shooters are
those who stick to it year after year, rough weather and
smooth, no matter whether game is plentiful or scarce,
trusting solely to their guns and their own exertions for
a living ; and, depend upon it, these must be anything
but idle men.

It is astonishing how soon a man, who is made of the
right stuff, can settle down to the rough usages of a bush
life, and quite forget the domestic comforts he has left
behind him in the Old World ; and I have remarked that
those men who grumble least — in fact, make the best
bushmen — are often they who have moved in a better
p 2

212 "NATURAL HISTORY SKETCHES.

sphere of life at home. "With a good mate, as long as
his health stands, I do consider the shooter's life one of
the happiest and most independent in the colony. A
good waterproof tent properly put up, with a fly on the
roof, and a turf chimney, is by no means a bad residence,
and quite as warm and comfortable as half the weather-
boarded houses that are knocked up here. The shooter
is generally camped amidst the most beautiful scenery,
close to some good water-hole or creek, with plenty of
wood at hand. He has few artificial wants, and the real
necessities of life are easily and cheaply obtained. His
meat, of course, he procures by his own gun ; and a bag
of flour, a little tea, sugar, and tobacco, fill his larder.
His cooking is simple, his furniture home-made. His
time is fully occupied, and not an hour hangs heavy on
his hands. His method of life is laid down by no rule.
He eats when he is hungry, sleeps when he is tired, and
works just when he pleases. The laughing-jackass calls
him up in the morning, and the flute-like note of the
magpie is his vesper bell. His very occupation preserves
his health. Content and • health go hand in hand ; and
although, he has his share of the world's troubles — and
what class is exempt from them ? — he has also the inward
satisfaction of feeling that he is leading a happy, in-
dependent life, and has no one to thank but himself for
bis daily bread.

I have lived at times by myself in the bush, and it was
then a lonely, laborious life. Often have I toiled from
Bunrise to sunset, come home dead beat to my lonely

BUSH LIFE. 213

tent, and, after ten hours' fasting, had to light my firo
and cook my solitary supper ; and often have I turned
in fairly " baked," and put my supper off till morning.
But with a good mate, the case is different. It is true I
have spent many a rough day in the forest ; and many a
night, when lost, I have lit my pipe, and thrown myself
down to sleep before a log fire : no companions but my
dogs, no covering but the sky, and no supper but ant
opossum or bandicote thrown upon the ashes. And the
shooter should never leave his tent without a few matches
and a little salt, for he never knows where he may sleep
at night, or of what his supper may consist. But I can
also truly say that some of the happiest hours in a life
which certainly has had its bright as well as gloomy pas-
sages, have been passed in my bush-tent, when, after a
good day's sport, supper finished, and pipe lit, I have
thrown myself on my opossum rug, and the toils of the
day fairly over, have spent the hour before turning in
yarning with my mate over " the days past, the present,
and the future." At such a moment I would not ex-
change the rough freedom of the shooter's life for the
best situation in the colony.

The only thing he has really to fear is illness ; but,
happily, few disorders prevail in this favoured land, and
these are chiefly confined to the towns and diggings, and
two-thirds of them the result of intemperance and a
reckless habit of life. Except in cases of accident, we
rarely hear of a bushman being laid up. Sickness will,
however, at times, enter the bush-tent, and on such occa-

Wl4 NATTJBAL HISTOIIT SKETCHES.

sions a general gloom overspreads the whole of the little
community. 3?ar away from medical aid, the sufferer has
to trust to such simple remedies as are at hand, and
patiently await the issue. It is now that the rough
sympathies of his mates are fairly awakened, and each
one vies with the other in assisting and consoling the
sick man. A hardy constitution generally " pulls him
through ; " but when his complaint is beyond the help
of man, he calmly resigns himself to his fate, and dies
" unhonoured and " in many instances " unknown ; " for
very often a man in this country knows very little more
of his mate than his name. If visions of youth and
home do flit across the mind of the dying man, it too
often happens that there is not one among the strangers
who stand around his death-bed with whom he can in-
trust a last message to his relatives and friends in the
old country, who will probably wait month after month
with " the sickening anxiety of hope deferred" for
tidings of the absentee, which will now, perhaps, never
reach them. This is one of the darkest pictures in bush
life, but it is one which, in the early days of the dig-
gings, was too true. I have seen death in more shapes
than one in the bush, and it is then, and then only, that
a true sense of the loneliness of his life breaks fully upon
the wanderer's mind ; and as he misses his old comrade
from the evening bivouac around the camp-fire, he smokes
his pipe in silence, thoughts of his own happy home in
early days will pass, like bright but transient gleams of
sunshine across the field of memory, and for a while his

BUSH T/IFE. 215

reckless spirit is subdued by feelings of a deeper and
more serious caste.

It is strange that the man who lives by his gun rarely
saves any money ; and this is the reason (whatever may
be my own inclinations) why I should scarcely be justi-
fied in recommending any one to follow this life who
comes out here with the hope — too often a delusive one —
of making a rapid fortune. There is very little fore-
thought with the shooter ; and I suppose that the old
law of the rolling-stone gathering no moss holds good in
his case as well as any other. If he makes his daily
bread he is content, for he seems to think with Burns,

But cheerful still, we are as well as monarch in a

palace, 0 ;
Though Fortune's frown still hunts us down, with all

her wonted malice, 0 ;
We make, indeed, our daily bread, but ne'er can

make it farther, 0 ;
But, as daily bread is all we need, we do not much

regard her, O.

Xowhere do we meet with more real friendship and
genuine kindness of heart than in the bush. Bough in
aspect, careless in dress, off-hand in his manners,
there is a vein of simple and warm-hearted kindness
running through the character of the real bushman,
which we rarely, if ever, find among men whose better
feelings have become insensibly deadened by a continual
intercourse with the world. Isolated, as it were, from
his fellow-men, solely dependent upon his own exertions
for his daily bread, he feels himself under no obligation

216 NATUBAL HISTOET SKETCHES.

to any one, cares little to form new acquaintances, and
always appears reserved and shy before strangers, espe-
cially "new chums;" but let him fall in with an old
mate, or man of his own stamp, and the meeting is often
of a boisterous character. No one more readily sym-
pathizes with the reverses of a mate ; and so little selfish-
ness is there in his nature, that he willingly shares his all
with him, whether it be his last shilling or his last fig of
tobacco. His rude hospitality is proverbial ; and the
benighted traveller always finds food and shelter at the
bushman's tent, as a matter of course ; and, unlike the-
way of the world in general, the more "hard up" the
stranger is, the more he is welcome. This is all done
without ostentation, as a duty he owes to his fellow-man,
and upon the principle that any day or night he may
require the same assistance himself. I am here alluding
to those men who knock about the bush on their own
resources, living by wood-splitting, shooting, &c., and
not to the regular settlers on stations ; although, for my
part, I can say that there were but few stations which I
called at where I was not welcome to such accommoda-
tion as the " men's hut " afforded.

GENERAL EEMABKS. 217

CHAPTER XIII.

GE.VSK^l LEX'AKKS ON THE SCENERY, CLIMATE, AND THE SEASONS
OF PORT PHILLIP.

THERE is a monotony in the scenery of this part of
Australia which is very wearying to the eye ; and
although at times the traveller suddenly comes upon
a break in the landscape, the beauty of which no pen
or pencil can portray, yet the thick forests and the low
swamps and plains are of such vast extent, that the
wayfarer in Victoria may plod on for many a weary mile-
with one unvarying landscape continually before his eyes.
Deep forests of gum and stringy-bark, evergreen both
in summer and winter ; flats of stunted honeysuckle,
bearing no resemblance but in name to the sweet wood-
bine at home ; parched and barren plains, miles in extent,
without a green blade of grass in the summer, and not a
drop of water for miles ; immense swamps and morasses,
impenetrable even to the foot of the native, interspersed
with open lagoons and creeks, and water-holes, hidden
from the view by dense masses of tea-tree scrub ; sandy
moors, clothed with coarse stunted heather ; the distant
horizon, bounded by heavily-timbered ranges, extending
throughout the country, form the principal features of
the Australian landscape on the shores of Port Phillip,

218 NATUBAL HISTORY SKETCHES.

where nature still reigns paramount in her sternest and
wildest mood.

Scarcely a wild-flower of any size delights the eye,
except the pink and white heather, which certainly do
present a splendid appearance when a large patch in full
blossom bursts suddenly upon the view; and some creepers,
which, beautiful as they are when examined closely, are
too small to attract the notice of the casual passer-by.
The wild orchis and the geranium are everywhere com-
mon : many of the smaller species appear to be identical
with their namesakes at home ; and I have plucked more
than one little wild mountain-flower on the ranges here,
which has brought back to my mind scenes many thou-
sand miles distant. The flowering shrubs are some of
them most beautiful ; and many a rare exotic, which
would be highly prized in the greenhouses at home,
blooms unnoticed in all the wild luxuriance of untamed
nature, in the deep gullies here. The only two large
wild-flowers that I ever saw, were the large white lotus,
common in the water-holes and creeks, and a large white
star-flower, which grew in rich profusion by many of the
mountain streams. As for wild fruits, I never could fall
Lr_ vitjj a~y wortli gathering, except the wild cherry,
which is a little brger than an apple-pip, and grows
with the stone outside ; the native grape, of a transpa-
rent greenish-yellow hue, as large as a black currant,
which clusters on a creeper thickly interlaced among the
tea-tree scrub ; the cranberry, which here grows on a flat
creeping bush, on and sometimes in the sand ; and a few

FOREST SCE^EEY. 219

other berries no larger than currants. The Australian
cranberry, which is described as growing on a bush ten
to fifteen feet high, and the berries of which resemble the
Siberian crab, does not grow here. There is a fine fruit
peculiar to the "mallee" scrub, of a bright red colour,
called the " quontong," about the size of a greengage,
which grows on a shrub something like a small shey-oak ;
it is bitter to the taste, makes excellent preserves, and
the emus eat them greedily. I have tasted a kind of
fruit they call the native pear, not half so good to eat as
a raw Swedish turnip. Whatever others maybe found in
the interior I do not know ; but, as far as regards hand-
some or remarkable species, both in botany as well as
ornithology, this district must be about the worst in
Australia. Melons and pumpkins will grow anywhere, if
planted, wild ; and a delicious fruit is the little water-
melon in hot weather.

There is a savage grandeur in the scenery of the
Victorian forests, unsoftened by the lighter foliage of
those beautiful shrubs which we generally look for in
a southern land. The principal features of the woodland
landscape here are old gum and huge iron or stringy
baric trees, which have braved the storms of centuries,
and stand out in bold relief from the deep evergreen of
the cherry, the light foliage of the wattle or black-
wood trees, and the " mournful weird-like appendages "
of the shey-oak. The gullies are choked with shrubs,
many of them very beautiful ; but we see little variety
among the forest trees ; and we look in vain for the

220 NATTTEAL HISTOKY SKETCHES.

graceful pine and silvery birch, which add so much to
the beauty of tbe northern forests. The ash, the beech,
and the elm, which give so softened an appearance to the
woodlands of England, and the leafy palm, the stately
date, and other light feathery trees that grace the
tropical landscape, are strangers here.

As Prichard observes, " Here we do not find in the
great masses of vegetation either the majesty of the
virgin forests of America, the variety and elegance of
those of Asia, or the delicacy and freshness of the woods
of our temperate climate of Europe."

The vegetation is gloomy and sad. It has the aspect
of our evergreens or heathers. The plants are for the
most part woody; the leaves of nearly all are linear,
lanceolated, small, coriaceous, and spinescent. The
grasses, which elsewhere are generally soft and flexible,
participate in the stiffness of the other vegetables. The
greater part of the plants of New Holland belong to new
genera, and those included in the genera already known
are of new species. The native families which prevail
are those of the heaths, the protso composite, leguminosae,
and rnyrthidese ; the larger trees all belong to the last
family.

Some of the trees, however, are very pretty, especially
the cherry, the box, and the wattle. The cherry rather
reminded me of the yew at home, with its dark sombre
foliage ; and I have at times fancied a resemblance
between some of the old gum-trees, with their gnarled
and twisted branches, and the brave old oak of happy

rOREST TEEES. 221

England. The forests here are open, and there is little
undergrowth in many places. But the ground is every-
where covered with dead logs and branches, which lie
rotting in the wind and sun — a sure sign that the hand
of man has as yet but little interfered with the works of
nature. It is curious that most of the trees here are
rotten at the core ; the wood of many is very brittle, and
huge limbs are continually splitting and falling from the
trees without any apparent cause, and with but little
warning to the passer below. The wood of all is heavy,
sinks in water, and splinters much ; and although, when
polished, the grain of many of the trees is beautiful, the
wood is in general too hard and stringy to be used much
for domestic purposes. Posts and rails, and large slabs
for building bush-huts, are about the only uses to which
the Australian timber can be put. If this country had
only the pine forests and rivers of northern Europe, it
would be perfect. But Nature divides her gifts, and
what she denies to one land, she bestows on another.
If the pine and fir could be introduced into these forests,
what a boon would be conferred upon the inhabitants of
Australia in the next century ! The kauri pine of New
Zealand might surely be grown here. All British trees
and shrubs thrive in Australia, and in many a settler's
garden we see standard-peaches, nectarines, and .rose-
trees nourishing, without any artificial aid, in a climate
that here renders those trees and shrubs common to all,
which at home are but the property of few.

I have seen some fine gun-stocks made both of cherry

222 IfATUBAL HISTORY SKETCHES.

and light wood, but although they may be prized as
curiosities, for use they are not to be compared to a good
bit of walnut. As a hint, however, I may here add, that
if a man fancies a tree for a gun-stock — and many of the
cherries and light-wood trees, which are the best for this
purpose, have a capital curve — he should cut down a
tree, not too large, hack it roughly into shape, and bury
it in the ground for some time to season, and it will not
split.

About thirty-five different species of trees, whose wood
can be put to useful purposes, are, I believe, known to
grow in Victoria.

The gum is certainly the Australian oak, and monarch
of the forests here ; but although it often grows to an
immense size, and is a handsome wide-spreading tree, it
has not the majestic or durable appearance of the British
oak : moreover, the wood is worth nothing in comparison ;
the butt is very short, for the branches begin to spring
out afc a short distance up, and the wood is hard and
splintery, and little good, except for firing. The branches
are more crooked and twisted than in any tree I ever
saw. The trees soon rot; and an old gum-tree shows
more signs of premature decay, than as being fairly worn
out by old age. The bark is as smooth as glass, and the
trees very difficult to climb. The leaves are long, and
ttipse grow in drooping clusters, of a pale-green colour,
white under. The blossom is pretty, of a pale-yellow
colour, in thick bunches, and the pollen and honey from
afford a rich treat to the honey-eating birds of

OCMS. BARKS, ETC. 223

these forests. There are many varieties of gum ; the
leaves of one of which — the peppermint — have a strong
peppermint flavour, to which the opossums are very
partial.

The stringy and iron bark trees also — I believe, species
of gum — are commoner than the gum in certain places.
In fact, each tree seems to fancy a peculiar locality, and
rarely grow together. I remarked that the gum-trees
grow in much moister situations than the others. These
trees grow much straighter, cut out into greater lengths,
and the timber of these and the " messmet," as we called
it — a species of bastard gum — were much more used in
our forest than the gum, especially for posts and rails.

The bark, when properly stripped off, is very useful
for thatching bush-huts, flooring tents, &c. ; and tne
coat of inner fibres inside the bark might be put to-
many useful purposes. The Blacks also make canoes of
it ; but the only native canoes that I have seen have
been "dug-outs," similar to those used by the JSorth
American Indians; but the Blacks in our district re-
quired no canoes.

Splitting posts and rails is a good bush trade, when
men understand which trees split well, and pick a
country where good trees stand thick. About 25s. is
the general price per 100 on the ground : and two men
will knock out more than that in a day. All the capital
required to start this trade is a crown license, lent,
tools, and rations, and a strong arm. And very ditibrt^t
is the life of the Australian wood-splitter to thai ot tie

224 NATURAL HISTORY SKETCHES.

North American lumberer. Here the •wood-cutter is
always dry, and his life is a healthy one ; whereas pre-
mature old age and shortness of days are the inevitable
fate of the timber-lumberer on the banks of the American
rivers. Cutting firewood along the coast used to give
employment to many. But, I believe, no timber must
now be cut writhin a mile of the beach ; and it won't pay
for cutting at any distance, unless there is water carriage
to Melbourne. The wood must soon become very scarce
around the towns.

The wattle is a pretty, light-looking, flowering shrub,
in some places growing to good-sized trees, but generally
tall shrubs ; and the wattle-poles are used for a variety
of purposes. The bark is much sought after for tanning ;
and gathering -wattle-bark, in places where the trees
stood thick, paid well at one time. As the tree dies
directly the bark is stripped, we rarely now see a wattle-
tree of any size in the forests where the bark-peelers
haye been at work.

The honeysuckle is certainly the most worthless tree
in the forest, and I think one of the ugliest. The wood
is spongy and soon rots ; there is nothing handsome
either in the shape or foliage of the tree, the branches
being crooked and ragged, and one half of them generally
rotten. The wood is no good, even for burning, as it
holds no heat. In autumn the trees are covered with
Jarge cones, which, when flowering, are clothed with a
yeUow down, filled with sweet pollen, and on this account
tljs honey-eating birds much frequent the honeysuckles.

TILE SWAMP-OAK. 225

Here and there they grow to an immense size, but you
generally see them ten to twelve feet high, growing
together in patches in the gullies and damp ground.
Inside the dead cone is a kind of pith, which makes
a famous wick for a " slush-lamp." It often happened
that we were out of candles in the bush, and we could
not run into the grocer's over the way, and buy a pound
just when we wanted; so we filled an old pauildn half
full of sand, stuck in one of these small honeysuckle
cones, melted a little fat, poured it on to the sand to fill
the pauikin ; lit the cone when it was hard, and this we
called a slush-lamp.

The shey-oak is a prettier tree, but never grows to
any great size, has a wide-spreading top, and the leaves
are peculiar, being nothing more than long drooping
fibres. The shey-oak apple is a pretty kind of fruit,
resembling the cone of some of the species of pine,
but small and round ; it is bitter to the taste, and used
in flavouring the colonial beer. The wood is hard, makes
capital fires, and the root of the shey-oak is much used
by the Blacks in making their weapons, such as bome-
rangs, liangels, &c.

The light or black wood tree is another pretty tree,
rarely grows to any large size, and the wood, for beauty
of grain and general utility, beats any in these forests.
The blossom is pale yellow, and has a beautiful scent,
much like that of the lilac.

The swamp-oak is an elegant shrub, and put me much
in mind of the broom at home. The flower is yellow, and
Q

226 "NATURAL HISTOBT SKETCHES.

when in full bloom it has a very pretty appearance, waving
in thelight summer breeze. They generally grow in patches,
on moist ground, and in the old country would be the
very cover to hold a spring fox or an outlying pheasant.

The tea-tree is the common scrub here, and grows
universally throughout the country, in dense patches in
all moist situations, and by the side of creeks and water-
holes ; and it is to the cover of this shrub that the
Australian shooter owes many a pair of ducks. It is a
kind of high bush, grows on a long pole up to twelve to
fifteen feet; the branches are bushy, shoot up always per-
pendicularly, and the leaves are something like the spines
on a fir. It has a very pretty yellow blossom. The tea-
tree grows of all heights ; is of a dark-green colour :
the scrub is very thick, and almost impenetrable, except
down a cattle track. The wood is hard ; the poles are
straight, and valuable for many bush purposes.

A species of mistletoe grows as a parasite on some of
the old gums. It strongly reminds one of the mistletoe
at home.

Immense pieces of swamp, or fungus, are found in the
forest, and, when duy, used to make an excellent tinder
for lighting our pipes. I have seen the Blacks eating a
kind of fungus ; and there are several edible roots here
which we know not, but which they grub up and eat.

In the summer, a kind of white secretion gathers on
the leaves of some of the gum trees, and falls to the
ground. It is here called manna. It is sweet, and not
unlike coarse pounded sugar. I never saw it in such

PEBENNIAL GBEENNESS OP THE TOEESTS. 227

quantities as would pay for gathering, unless it was very
clear.

The general scrub or underwood of these forests is
" myall ;" some species of coarse heather and low shrubs.
I do not know of any thorn in this country except the
box.

I have above slightly noticed the common trees and
bushes peculiar to this district. Of course, there are
others which I do not know, but these are the most
striking ones. The fern tree is met with in the Dan-
denong ranges ; but many handsome and curious species,
such as the cedar, the pine, the cabbage-palm, and the
grass-tree, peculiar to other parts of Australia, are
strangers here.

Nothing, perhaps, in this country, strikes the English
emigrant so much as the perennial greenness of the
forests, and the slight difference there is in Australia
between the summer and winter landscape. It is true
that, in the winter, the leaves want the green freshness
of spring, but they still cling to the branches ; and at
this season the trees shed their bark, which hangs down
in long strips, waving to and fro as the wintry wind
whistles through the forests with a low mournful wail.
The seasons, moreover, so imperceptibly glide into each
other, that the change is scarcely noticed. Magnificent
as are the Australian forests, he cannot help at times
comparing the monotony of the woodland landscape here,
with the varied changes of scene which the different
seasons present in his northern home ; and at no season
Q 2

228 NATUBAL HISTOKT SKETCHES.

is the contrast so apparent as in the winter. " Enter a
forest," as Inglis prettily observes, " when the sun breaks
from the mists of morning upon the dews of the past
night. Beautiful as is a forest in the spring, when the
trees unfold their virgin blossoms ; beautiful as it is in
the summer, when the wandering sunbeams, falling
through the foliage, chequer the mossy carpet beneath ;
beautiful as it is in autumn, when the painted leaves
hang frail ; it is more beautiful still when the tall pines
and gnarled oaks stand in the deep silence of a wintry
noon, their long arms and fantastic branches heaped
with the feathery burden which has never caught one
stain of earth." Such is a true picture of a northern
forest, which the Australian native has never witnessed ;
and although probably out of place here, it may serve to
remind more than one reader of many a distant scene,
which, however rude in comparison to the soft and sunny
landscape of the south, can never be fairly obliterated
from the mind of that man who, let him wander where
he will, still looks upon the land of his birth as his own
peculiar home.

Notwithstanding its changeability, the climate of
Victoria must be as salubrious as in any part of the
world, or we could never lead the gipsy out-door life
we do here: in fact, as a modern writer truly says,
" the heat brings no fevers, the rain no agues, the cold
no consumptions : the rivers are not bordered by
miasma; the plains are bracing; the air pure; the
sky open, blue, and bright. The bush itself is freo

OUT-OF-DOOR LIFE. 229

from forest poison. The settler can range the land
day and night, over hills, downs, prairies, and bush,
sleeping in waggons or on the sward, without any
fear of malaria to blight the healthy, or insidious fogs
to undermine the delicate."

As to sleeping in the open air, except just in the rainy
season, the bushman thinks nothing about it, if he has
but a few matches and tobacco (and what bushman is
without these) ? But lighting a roaring fire, he throws
himself down before it, with a saddle or game-bag for
his pillow, and tumbles off to sleep as sound as in a
favourite "four-poster." Night after night have I come
in wet through from flight-shooting, and thrown myself
down in my wet clothes on the tent floor for a few hours'
nap till it was time to start for the morning's shot ; and
as for my old mate, he was a perfect water-dog, and when
he came in wet I never knew him change his clothes,
but he just sat before the fire till he was dry. All con-
stitutions are certainly not alike ; but I can only say that
I never had a day's illness in the colony except it was
brought on by my own imprudence, and I am certain no
one led a harder or more exposed life.

The real Australian summer and winter are of short
duration ; the spring and autumn long, and the pleasantest
seasons of the year. There is little or no twilight in the
evening, and night sets in as soon as the sun sinks into
the west — one deep crimson streak

Of intense glory in the horizon's brim,
"\Yhile night o'er .all around hangs dark and dim.

230 3TATUEAL HISTOET SKETCHES.

On June 21, which is the shortest day here, the sun
rises about 7, and sets a little after 5 P.M.; and on
December 21, the longest day, it rises a little after
4> A.M., and goes down about half-past 8 P.M. The sun-
sets are sometimes magnificent. The moonlight nights
are very beautiful ; and at times the heavens present a
splendid appearance, spangled with myriads of stars,
many of them strangers to our northern hemisphere.
My favourite constellations were Orion's Belt and the
Southern Cross, for they have been my guiding stars on
many a night when the shades of evening closed in over
the forest, and found me miles away from my bush-tent.
A man soon becomes accustomed to find his way about
the bush. A little knowledge of the proper position of
the sun, moon, and stars, and a small pocket-compass,
the bushman's surest friend, will guide him day or night
through the most trackless forests. If ever the night
comes on thick, the best plan is to " camp up" at once,
for when the track is fairly lost, the more a man wanders
about to find it, the more confused will he become. I
never needed a watch in the bush. The sun is always
due north at twelve, and the reflection of its rays on a
compass will show the time within about a quarter of an
hour. The hottest months in the year are January and
February, and then at times the heat is intense. The
greatest curse to this country are the hot winds and bush-
fires. In the summer evenings the sun sets fiery red,
and the bushman well knows what this betokens. Next
morning the burning north wind comes sweeping over

BUSH FIEES. 231

the deserts of the interior like a furnace blast, and both
man and beast feel its effects. All bush-work is sus-
pended during the heat of the day. The cattle seek the
nearest water-holes, the dogs lie panting in the shade,
and the birds sit listless on the branches with open
mouths and drooping wings. The hot wind generally
commences about nine, and in the afternoon it suddenly
chops round to the south, and a sea-breeze sets in. The
hot winds are most prevalent in January and February ;
they sometimes last three days, and come on perhaps
every ten days. In Melbourne a hot-wind day is called
a " brick-fielder," on account of the dust, which darkens
the sky. On these days dense volumes of smoke rising
in different directions warn the settler that bush-fires
are raging, and the whole country will be in a blaze per-
haps for miles. The fire comes rolling on, devouring
everything in its progress, sweeping through forest and
over plain, and nothing stops it except a bare place that
has been previously burnt. Such a day was Black
Thursday some few years since, when bush-fires raged
throughout the country, and the loss of life and destruc-
tion of property was so immense, that it has ever since
been a "black-letter day" in the bushman's calendar.
In my opinion these fires are in a great measure pro-
duced by the heat of the sun and atmosphere. They are
sure to rage on a hot-wind day, and I have seen a fire
break out in different places on the plains a mile apart
at the same time. Glass- bottles and pieces of tin lying
about act, I fancy, as burning glasses to the sun's rays,

232 NATUEAL HISTOEY SKETCHES.

and there are plenty of these all over the bush ; for
wherever the white man camps, he is sure to leave behind
him an empty bottle or sardine case. The shooter should
be very careful about his wadding in the dry summer-
season. The law is stringent with regard to camp-fires
in the bush during the summer. In pitching a tent in
the forest, it is best to pick an open place in the timber,
burn away the long grass all round, and clear up the dry
logs. "We were once burnt out, " lock, stock, and barrel,"
and lost all our little property.

Nothing can exceed the pure salubrity of the climate
here in the spring and autumn, and there is a freshness
in the early summer morning's breeze, laden with the
perfume of the gum, lightwood, and other blossoms,
which I never felt elsewhere. The nights are coldish
throughout the year, and a heavy dew often falls in the
end of summer. I never saw snow in Victoria, although
I believe the snowy ranges and Australian alps are often
covered. I only once saw ice about the thickness of a
sixpence. Hailstorms are prevalent in the summer, often
accompanied with thunder, and the hail-stones are about
the size of marbles. The rainy season is very irregular.
In some years the swamps and water-holes are well filled
by July ; in others the heavy rains do not fall until the
end of winter. May, June, July, and August, are generally
the rainy months. The drought is most felt in January
and February. In most of the other months we have
occasionally a rainy night or two. The principal weight
of rain falls at night ; and when it does rain, it comes

A TUTJ^DEE-STOEIT. 233

down in earnest. It, however, soon runs off the dry
rises, and sinks into the light sandy soil ; and we suffered
little or no inconvenience in the forests from the rain,
even in the most rainy seasons.

I only saw three or four regular thunder-storms in this
country ; but these were storms, and one of them I shall
recollect to the day of my death, for I was lost in the
forest that night, and the storm raged with unabated
violence from ten at night to three in the morning. The
night was pitchy dark, except just when a flash of bright
lightning lighted up the gloom of the forest, and then for
some seconds 1 was fairly blinded. The rain came down
in torrents ; and as the blue lightning hissed through the
sky, every flash seemed pointed where I stood, and a
large shey-oak was struck, and shivered into a thousand
pieces within a few yards of me. I never expected to
leave the forest alive, and I think I never spent so long
and dreary a night as this. I have looked death in the
face more than once, but it has always been in moments
of excitement. In this instance I stood helpless as a
child, without any power to avert or even avoid the
danger. Never does man feel his own insignificance so
much as when the elements are at war around him.
There is often a great deal of beautiful sheet lightning
at night, especially in the northern sky, with distant
rolls of thunder ; but heavy thunder-storms are of very
rare occurrence. I once felt a slight shock of an earth-
quake here.

I have perhaps already dwelt too long upon this

234 IfATUBAL HISTOET SKETCHES.

subject, but I must beg of the reader to bear with, me a
little longer, and read a few lines which. I have copied
out of Melbourne Punch, and which, although apparently
the offspring of a discontented mind, convey a true and
not very exaggerated idea of the natural history of this
land of contrarieties. If intended as a sarcasm, they
certainly contain more truth than bitterness.

Know ye the land where the shey-oak and gum-trees,
In shapeless deformity darken the wold ;
Where the blast of the north, where the chill of the sea breeze,
Now scorches to fever, now pierces with cold ?

Know ye the land contrariety sways,
Perverting the laws common nature obeys ;
Where black swans and magpies in whitened array,
And water-rats duck-billed, come forth to the day,
Where trees shed their barks as the serpents their skin,
And the stones of the cherries are outside, not in ;
Where the crowing of cocks at the midnight is heard,
And beasts breed their young in a manner absurd ;
Where enjoyment a fiction is, comfort a myth,
And the heart of an esculent hardens to pith ;
Where a wooden pear offers the toughest of fruit,
And the laugh of the bush jackass never is mute ;
Where the dust of the earth, and the glare of the sky,
Are a plague to the breath, to the skin, and the eye,
Where waters are brackish, and rivers are dry :
Where the load-star of life is the gold in the mine,
And the spirit supreme is the spirit of wine ?

235

CHAPTEE XIV.

GENERAL SPORTING OF VICTORIA — THE TURF — THE CHASE— THE
RING, AND CRICKET.

ALTHOUGH the auri sacra fames is the ruling passion
of the colonist, there is a decided taste for field-sports,
in fact, for manly sports of every description, among all
classes out here. No one enjoys a race, or a good day's
shooting, more than the Melbourne citizen ; and a man
of business is far more independent here than at home,
for he can have an occasional run in the bush, and
return again to his office, or counting-house, after having
blown the Melbourne dust off him, without being
" spotted " as a sporting-doctor, or lawyer, as the case
may be. I certainly never, even among the game-
keepers of the old country — and I had some expe-
rience with these gentlemen in my early days — have met
with better field-shots, take them as a class, than the
shooters out here ; and as for riding, half the bushmen
live in the saddle ; and it would puzzle some of our best
cross-country jocks to stay a couple of miles with three
or four stock-riders, cutting out a wild bullock from a
mob in the bush.

It is not astonishing that the turf is rapidly rising in
Victoria, where horses are in such general request, and

236 NATURAL HISTORY SKETCHES.

\vliere the encouragement of a good breed is a matter of
such vitality. A better and different breed of horses is
gradually creeping into the country. Importations of
thorough-breds from England yearly take place; more
attention is paid to breeding and training ; race meetings
are springing up in every district ; lads from most of the
English stables find their way over here ; the stakes are
well worth winning ; and now the impetus has once fairly
been given, we may expect to see Victoria soon rank
second only to England in the noble sport of horse-racing.
There is no want of either money or pluck among the
Victorian turfites ; and when men of judgment are
tacked by men of money things are sure to go on right.
I believe there are now more races in Victoria through-
out the year than in any other country out of England.
It is true there is a good deal of " leather-plating," and
many of the colonial cracks have more the appearance of
good English cocktails than " Derby winners ;" but
Rome was not built in a day, and if old Frank Buckle
could rise from his grave, he would see many an altera-
tion and improvement in turf matters at home which in
his time were never dreamt of. Melbourne Course lies
perhaps three miles out of town, and is as nice a country
race-course as a man would wish to see. There are two
separate clubs in Melbourne, — the Melbourne Jockey-
Club and the Melbourne Turf-Club. Each has its
separate meetings. The spring Jockey-Club meeting
of 1858 lasted four days, during which twenty-one races
were run. The public money given amounted to about

THE TUEF. 237

£2,000, and the gate-money came to near £1,000.
There is also a " convincing " ground on Emerald Hill,
near Melbourne, where private matches and steeple-
chases come off, and where many an owner is convinced,
to his cost, that his nag is not the flyer he took him to
bo. A very fair new Government race-course has been
lately laid out, at Dandenong, about twenty miles from
Melbourne, where the managers get up two days' sport.
These races are principally supported by settlers in the
neighbourhood, and will see a better day. Independent
of the local interest they possess, they will afford a kind
of " hay and straw " meeting to the Melbourne trainers,
and occasionally put an odd £50 into the pockets of
those men whose stud is limited, and these hardly able
to run in the best company. Within the last two years
a new era has opened upon the Victorian turf, by the
establishment of Mr. Anthony Green's training-stables,
on Emerald Hill. He certainly led off the ball well, for in
the year 1857, his first year of public training, his stable
won sixty-one races ; A'alue of the stakes, £8,693. JSTo bad
work this for a young colony. If a knowledge of his
profession and experience are worth anything, he ought
to get on. One of the oldest and best friends I ever
had in the colony, he has my sincere wishes for his
success. I trust he may long keep up the position he
now holds, as the " John Scott " of Victoria ; and may
" Green's lot " prove a terror to the Victorian turf for
many a year to come !

A small but remarkably neat pack of hounds is kept

238 NATTTEAL HISTOET SKETCHES.

in Melbourne, hunted by Mr. George "Watson, of steeple-
chase celebrity. Their meets are advertised, and their
doings duly chronicled in Sell's Life in Victoria, by
"Nirnrod's Ghost." As they rarely meet more than ten
or twelve miles from the kennel, and the wild-dog and
kangaroo are now rare in this district, a " bagman " is
generally the order of the day ; and I rather fancy that
the meets of the Melbourne hunt bring out men more
to try the merits of rival nags and riders among the
stiff three-rail enclosures of this country, than to show
the real science of hunting.

It is little wonder that steeple-chasing should be a
favourite amusement in this land of " posts and rails ;"
and Abbott and Walkover will long live in the recol-
lection of all who have seen this game little nag and
rider leading the van in a good field of Victorian
steeple-chase cracks. Trotting-matches and foot-races
are constantly taking place. Regattas are often got
up in the bay. There are some excellent wrestlers on
the diggings. Border gatherings, periodically held in
different districts, recall the memory of the Scot to the
games of "Auld Lang Syne;" and every Christmas
some sporting and eccentric " Pub." advertises amuse-
ment for the million, in the shape of sack-races,
climbing the greasy-pole, and other good old English
sports.

Pigeon-shooting from the trap seems to be on the
rise, and every season has a champion. Just as I was
leaving, two or three heavy matches were on the carpet.

THE KING. 239

My old friend, Goldstone, was at the top of the tree ;
and although, no doubt, there are as good fish in the sea
as ever came out of it, yet when he walks up to the trap,
I should consider it a safe investment to " put a fiver "
on him.

" The ring " is not forgotten in Victoria ; and in
a new country like this, where men of all nations are
thrown together, where the bowie-knife and the revolver
are weapons familiar to all, where two out of every three
men we meet are in the prime of youth and strength,
where a sort of Jack's-as-good-as-his-master feeling is
predominant among all classes, where in a hasty dispute
a blow quickly follows a word — the encouragement of
fair British boxing is of far greater moment than might
at first be supposed. For of all modes of settling
a dispute, the naked fist must be the best, so long as
the rules of the British P.E. are fairly acted up to. One
thing is certain, that although we occasionally do hear of
'the most dastardly crimes being committed, the general
feeling of man towards man in this country is good ; and
if his quarrel is but just, a man may generally reckon on
having fair play. There are several professors of the
" manly art of self-defence," men or stars of the London
ring, both in Melbourne and on the diggings, and plenty
of the right stuff to make good boxers. Bell's Life in
Victoria is the oracle of the Victorian P.JEt., and when a
" tournament " does come off, all things are conducted
with as much order and regularity as if the veteran
commissary were there with his staff, and the veritable

240 FATUEAL HISTORY SKETCHES.

" Nunquam Dorraio " watching the proceedings with his
eagle eye.

Bell's Life in Victoria, a new periodical, devoted to
" the turf, the chase, and the ring," is published weekly,
and in addition to all the sporting news of the colony,
generally copies from its London namesake a verbatim
account of any good fight or race. The time for news
to travel between home and here is short, and when any
great sporting event is about to come off in the old
country, it is looked forward to with as much interest
here as at home. Sell's Life in Victoria appears to be
ably conducted, free from all party spirit, and such an
organ must be of the greatest service to the sporting
interests of the colony.

Of all out-door manly sports, however, cricket has
gone ahead more in a short time than any game in the
colony, and Victoria can now pick an eleven which will
be soon hard to beat by any club in the world. It is
plain there must be some very good professionals out
here as tutors, for I have watched practice on the
Melbourne ground which would not disgrace Lord's,
and the club is but yet in its infancy. But the Victorian
cricketers seem to enter heart and soul into their fa-
vourite game, and stick at nothing to render their club
perfect. This is as it should be, and it is gratifying to
see that those manly old English games, which were the
pride of our forefathers, and have rendered England
famous throughout the world, are not forgotten when
her sons leave their native shores, but meet in friendly

EETTING-EOOMS, HOESE-BAZAAES, ETC. 241

rivalry in foreign climes. Matches are played between
the Victorians and the Sydney club ; and although I
believe at present the old colony has the pull, we may
expect, as practice makes perfect, to see the tables
turned, and " the old man beaten by the boy."

I have seen some capital black-breasted Eeds out
here ; but if any cock-fighting is carried on, it is done
" under the rose." And although there are some most
"varmint" looking "tykes," both in Melbourne and on
the diggings, they appear to be kept for their legitimate
purpose — that of guarding the house or tent.

There is a Tattersall's-yard in Melbourne, with an
hotel attached, where turf business is transacted. There
is the Turf-Club Hotel, several private clubs, and a
public betting-room in Bourke Street, where a man can
" get pepper " to any amount about what horses he
fancies best. Business is also done here on the home
events. Several horse-bazaars are held in the town every
morning, where the "horsey" gentlemen of the neigh-
bourhood are wont to congregate and compare notes;
and if a sporting man is wanted, he is generally to be
found in Row's Bazaar, or Watson's Sale-yard. There
are public billiard-rooms for the nobs, skittle-alleys for
the mob, and chess divans for the sober cofiee-drinkers ;
and each class is ably represented. Much to the credit
of the town, there are no public gaming-houses, although
I have not the least doubt that, if a man fancies himself,
he can anywhere, " on the quiet," find his match at
a hand of crib or blind all-fours.

242 NATTJEAL HISTOET SKETCHES.

Take it all in all, Melbourne bids fair soon to become
one of the most sporting towns out of England. There
is nothing strait-laced about the colonist. If he
wishes for a day's sport, he has it; and he backs his
opinion in a race, fight, or steeple-chase without caring
who knows it ; and is thought none the worse of for it.
Moreover, the tastes of most men out here are this way
inclined ; and as long as this is the case the good cause
must nourish. Eational and manly amusements will
always create a good feeling among the inhabitants of
any land, and nothing shows the character of a people
more than the choice of their sports and pastimes. The
encouragement of field sports gives a healthy tone and
manly bias to all classes, which will, I trust, long con-
tinue in Port Phillip ; although I myself have ceased to
bo personally interested in the doings of the colony.

243

CHAPTEE XV.

EIVEB FISH AND ANGLING.

VEEY little can be said respecting the angling, or
river-fishing, in Victoria. Coming, as I did, into this
country with the magnificent rivers and lakes of Sweden
fresh in my mind, nothing struck me more than the
insignificance of the rivers in this part of the colony;
they are, in fact, little more than creeks — many of them
merely a succession of water-holes, during the summer
choked with high reeds and bulrushes ; the banks of others
stony, steep, and rugged, or grown up with small trees,
which overhang the stream and nearly meet at the top.
I brought all my salmon-tackle out with me from the
north : the only use I made of my rod was to cut it up
for cleaning and ramrods. My trplling and fly-lines
came in handy for tying up wisps of game ; and my
salmon and trout flies soon became the prey of the moth,
instead of the fish. A man requires very little fishing-
tackle out here, and whatever he wants he can buy in
Melbourne. Most of the creeks and water-holes, how-
ever, do abound with fish, such as they are; but the
only fresh-water species I ever met with were eel, bream,
trout, black-fish, mullet, and herring ; and most of these-
can live in salt as well as in fresh water.
E 2

244 NATURAL HISTOEY SKETCHES.

The Australian eel runs to a large size, is blacker in
colour than the British eel, and fatter and richer to the
taste. They abound in all the swamps when they are
full of water, and as the water runs off they get into the
creeks and water-holes, where they remain during the
summer, and early in autumn they draw down to the
sea. I cannot say whether they go there for the pur-
pose of spawning, but I know these migrations are very
regular, and thousands are caught about the end of
March and beginning of April, at the mouths of the
creeks, as they travel out. When they come back I
don't know, but they do not appear to remain long in the
sea, for I used to see the Blacks spearing them on the
swamps as soon as ever they filled and the creeks began
to run fresh-water. During the winter all the creeks
that have outlets to the sea are fresh, and the water in
the bay at their mouths is only brackish for a long way
out to sea ; whereas, in the summer, the water in these
creeks is salt for a long way up. In many places the
eels here don't care.to take a bait, but where they do a
large worm on a night line always answers. It is a
singular fact that earth-worms are very rare in Australia.
The Blacks are very expert at spearing eels on the
swamps with a single long-pointed spear ; I have known
two of them to catch 1 cwt. in a day, and sell them for
a bottle of grog. The wholesale price here is generally
3d. per Ib. I never saw a real good eel-gleave out here —
the very thing for these swamps and creeks.

The black-fish is found in most creeks, and appears to be

FEESH-WATEE FISH. 245

about the only fresh-water fish, except perhaps the eel and
the trout, indigenous to the inland creeks, which have no
direct communication with the sea. The black-fish runs
to no great size, at least with us — I never saw one weigh
1 Ib. In appearance and habits it rather resembles the
tench at home, and is a nice-eating fish.

The Australian bream, or brim, was certainly the best
of all our fresh-water species ; but I am not certain whether
it can be strictly called a fresh-water fish, for I have
only seen them in the creeks during the summer, when
the water was brackish. It is something like the Euro-
pean bream in appearance, but not so coarse, and more
silvery to look at. "With us they rarely exceeded 1 Ib.
in weight, and were very much like the small snapper.
Its habits much resemble those of the carp — very shy,
frequenting deep clear holes ; and were I to angle for
them I should fish early and late, and use the same bait
and tackle as for that fish.

The Australian river trout is a very poor apology for
the trout at home, and looks more like a cross between
the roach and the miller's-thumb than anything else.
I rarely saw one longer than my finger. It seems to be
a grovelling fish, does not rise to the fly, and I fancy we
were wrong in calling it the trout, which fish it resem-
bles neither in shape, habits, or appearance. They were
common in most creeks and water-holes.

At certain seasons the herring and mullet come up
from the salt water into the creeks and rivers that run
direct into the sea, and they appear to live as well in.

246 TS-ATTJEAL HISTOBY SKETCHES.

fresh as salt water. They are the only fish that will
rise to the fly here, and catching them is about on a par
with whipping for dace and roach at home. For fly-
fishing the Tarra and the Barwen are the Coquet and
the Dove of Victoria. I believe the general fly in use
out here is red body and white wings ; but the Victorian
fly-fisher requires no very varied assortment of flies in
his book. Both the herring and mullet are bright, clean-
looking fish, but they run to no great size.

I believe the Murray cod is a fine fish; so large,
according to the accounts I have heard, that I fear my
readers would never be able to swallow them. I have,
however, seen one over 201bs., and it resembled its
European namesake in no one point that I could per-
ceive. Cod-fishing in the Murray, however, is now
becoming a lucrative trade. In the large rivers up the
country, such as the Murray and Darling, there may be
other fish and better fishing than on the coast, but my
remarks apply only to the Melbourne district.

Small crayfish abound in all the swamps ; and a small
species of turtle is taken on the banks of some of the
inland rivers, the eggs of which are considered a delicacy.
There are no species of pike or perch in these lakes and
rivers, and none of those soft fish, such as the roach,
chub, or carp, peculiar to Britain. The flesh of Vic-
torian fresh- water fish is certainly very meagre.

One thing is quite clear — that Victoria is no country
for the angler. I hardly ever saw a stream on this side
adapted to throwing the fly. Even if the fish were

ANGLING. 247

worth killing, and if you hooked a good fish, the chances
would be very much against your landing it, owing to
the steepness and rottenness of the banks, and the heaps
of moss and rubbish with which every river is filled.
Moreover, angling is never likely to become a favourite
amusement with the present race of Victorians. Unless
he can make good wages at it, neither the regular colo-
nial shooter, nor fisherman, deems the sport worth follow-
ing ; and angling in this country hardly affords excite-
ment enough for the amateur sportsman. Of all field-
sports angling is, without doubt, the least mercenary,
peculiarly the sport of youth and declining years, and a
happy and contented mind. As long as the gold-fever
rages there is not likely to be much quiet or content out
here ; no one in this country, as long as he can earn a
shilling, is considered old enough to knock off work ; and,
as for the young " currency lads," they are more pre-
cocious than the youth at home, and cracking a stock-
whip is more to their taste than throwing the fly.

248 NATURAL HISTOET SKETCHES.

CHAPTER XVI.

SEA-FISH AND SEA-FISHING.

BUT these coasts abound in sea-fish of many species;
and sea-fishing, although, like many other things in the
colony, now overdone, is still a paying game, when men
are steady and stick to their work. Since the great
influx of " Celestials," salt fish has risen in value ; and if
John Chinaman has benefited no one else in the colony,
he has at least done some good to the fishermen ; for
instead of being obliged now, as formerly, to run the fish
up to Melbourne themselves, or sell them to the hawkers
at their own prices, on every fishing station along the
coast Chinamen are camped, who buy the fish from the
boat, and salt them on the spot. Tons of salt fish are
yearly sent up to the diggings for consumption by the
Chinamen.

There is always a ready sale for fresh fish in Mel-
bourne, and often at exorbitant prices. A good fish-
market is much wanted here. The Melbourne Billings-
gate is held on Prince's Bridge, at daylight, where the
hawkers from the country sell their fish to the street
hawkers, and any one who wishes to hear a little chaff or
colonial slang can enjoy a rich treat by paying a visit

SEA-SISH, OYSTE1JS, ETC. 240

to the bridge-end any morning, -when the fish-carts
come up.

The principal sea-fish here are snapper, flathead, sea-
pike, salmon, salmon-trout, mullet, herring, and gar-fish.
There are doubtless other species, unknown to me, but
these were the common market fish on our coasts. The
snapper and flathead are about the only ones taken by
the hook. There are some famous oyster-beds in
Western Port Bay, and there must also be oysters in
Port Phillip Bay, only no beds have yet been found, for
I have often picked up capital oysters on this beach,
washed ashore after a heavy gale. The wholesale price
for oysters in "Western Port Bay is 3d. per dozen. The
oyster, peculiar to our bays, was large, and resembled
the coarse British oyster in appearance and flavour ; but
there is a very pretty little shell-fish, which they call the
Sydney oyster; this is not the shape of the common
oyster, being long and deep, and the shell ridged. The
pearl oyster, which is found on some of these coasts, is.
not met with in these bays. Some very large cray-fish
are taken at the Heads. Shrimps used to abound in Port
Phillip Bay ; and when they sold at 3s. per quart, and a
man could catch some gallons in the day, shrimping was
as good as gold digging. An old friend of mine made a
little fortune at it when thirsty gold diggers swarmed in
the Melbourne public-houses. Strange to say, all the
shrimps have now disappeared from this bay.

The snapper season is the fisherman's harvest here -T
they come on to these coasts about September (I recollect

250 NATUEAL HISTOET SKETCHES.

we used generally to kill our first snipe about the time
the first snapper was caught), and are taken up to
Christmas. They then leave the ground, travel up the
bay by the G-eelong line, and out to sea at the Heads.
The snapper is a flat, coarse-looking fish, something
similar to a large bream, but with a large prickly dorsal
fin like the perch. They are a very gregarious, bold
biting fish, have their particular feeding-grounds, and I
have known six or eight dozen big snapper taken by one
boat's crew in the day. They are worth about £1 to
£1. 10s. per dozen, are a very good eating fish, and take
salt well. The large snapper run from 12 to 20 Ibs., and
I have seen them larger. As soon as the big snapper
begin to leave, the second-sized ones come on to the
feeding-grounds, and last of all, about Christmas, the
small ones.

The flathead is a curious-looking fish, and, like the
morepoke among birds, seems all head. They generally
run from half a pound up to two pounds, but I have seen
them larger. They have a sharp prickle on the edge of
each gill cover, the wound of which is dangerous. I have
seen some very ugly wounds inflicted both by this and
the prickly back fin of the snapper, and it is dangerous
work standing in a crowded boat with the big snapper
floundering about the bottom, unless a man has on good
sea-boots. I suppose it is owing to the quantity of animal
food men eat, and to the heat of the blood ; but a small
flesh wound, which at home would be treated as nothing,
is often out here attended with serious consequences.

THE SALMOIT. 251

A poultice made of the leaves and stalk of the marsh
mallow, which in many places here grows wild, and is the
most valuable plant in the bushman's herbal, is an excel-
lent remedy for cuts, bruises, swellings, &c.

The flat-fish come into the bay with the small snapper,
when the large fish have left, and are caught up so late
in autumn, principally with lines, while the boat is drift-
ing. The small snapper are caught with bait on the same
ground as the large ones ; twenty to thirty dozen of flat-
head and small snapper are sometimes caught by two
hands in the day. They will be worth about 2s. per
dozen ; but the value of the fish here depends much on
circumstances. The flathead is considered as fine a table
fish as any in the colony.

The principal net-fish here are salmon, salmon-trout,
mullet, herring, seapike, and gar-fish ; and these come on
the coast, in large shoals, at irregular periods.

The salmon and the salmon-trout rather resemble the
small salmon-trout at home in shape and appearance;
but they have no adipose fin, and rarely run to any large
size. They are both, however, clean, silvery-looking, nice
eating fish. Now and again a good haul of salmon or
herrings is made on the coast, and I have known a boat's
crew to clear £60 in one night. But this is a rare oc-
currence now. The large shoals of fish don't set in to
these shores as formerly ; and if by chance one is seen,
too many are on the look out to share the prey. As I
said before, sea fishing is overdone in this bay. "When I
first knew Mordialloc, I don't believe more than three

252 NATURAL HISTORY SKETCHES.

fishing parties were camped there ; and " Wiseman," one
of the oldest and best fishermen in the bay, had the coast
nearly to himself. Now there is a regular canvas town
of fishermen's tents here during the season, and I have
counted between forty and fifty boats on the snapper
ground at one time.

The seapike runs to 5 or 6 Ibs., and much resembles
the seapike at home. The gar-fish sometimes run to a
good size, are taken in large shoals, and sold by the
basketful.

There are a great many dog-fish in these bays, of
different species ; and one which we called the pig-headed
dog-fish is curious and interesting, as being antediluvian ;
in fact, many of the common fishes peculiar to these seas
are of the earliest kind, and have for the most part a
cartilaginous structure ; and it is worthy of remark, as
Professor Owen observes, that we have both in the
botany, zoology, and ichthyology of Australia a striking
analogy to that of the Oolite ^3Era (of geologists), a
period in the earliest stage of creation, when the mam-
malia first appeared.

I have seen some fair-sized sharks taken in both these
bays, and one monster, which must have rivalled Port-
Boyal Tom, haunted our bay for a season, and if he were
only half as large as the fishermen represented, must
have indeed been a wonderful fish ; I don't think, how-
ever, we had any ground-sharks ; I never heard of a
whale finding its way in at the Heads ; at times heads of
large porpoises would show themselves, but neither in

SEA FISH. 253

numbers nor varieties of species can these coasts be at all
compared to the British shores.

The benito sometimes, but rarely, comes into these
bays. The butter-fish runs to a large size off the Heads ;
and if the accounts I have heard are true, this must be
the largest eating-fish off these coasts. The smaller ones
used to come on to our beach in summer, and we speared
them in shallow water.

We had two species of large ray, — the one which we
called the stingoree— for, I presume, the stingy ray ; and
the other the old maid, or fiddle-fish ; and small flounders
abounded on the sandy flats. The stingoree is a very
large species of ray, often weighing 15 or 20 Ibs., with a
long thin tail, and a long, sharp, jagged spike on the back
of the tail, which the fish can erect at pleasure. The
fiddler is something similar, but rounder, with a smaller
tail, and no spike. Both used to lie on the bottom in
shallow water. The back of the fiddle-fish is marked
with black lines, and I suppose it derives its name from
some fancied resemblance to a fiddle. The livers of both
these fish, as well as the shark and dog-fish, boil down to
capital oil, and this is the only purpose they are put to,
neither being considered eatable. I have, however, eaten
both, and, with the help of a bottle of " Burgess's
original," should not have known them from skait. Jelly-
fish of all shapes and sizes float about the bay; and cut-
tle-fish, the long tendons of which are an excellent bait
for snapper, and which we called squid, abound on the
coasts. There are several nasty-looking fish in these

254 NATUBAL HISTOET SKETCHES.

bays ; — the poisonous toad-fish, the prickly porcupine-
fish, and others ; and often, when a net is drawn ashore,
many small but singular wonders of the deep are brought
to light.

We had several species of limpet or wilks on the small
rocks ; one which we called " the warrener," as large as a
great wood-snail, which was capital eating. By the way,
I never recollect seeing any land-snails in these forests.
But the finest shell-fish in this bay was the " mutton-
fish," which in the island of Jersey is called the
" ormer," a large flat shell-fish, often as large as one's
hand, which sticks so closely to the rocks by the fleshy
side that they require to be removed with a knife. These
mutton-fish are excellent eating when roasted on the
ashes, and a dozen of them will make what is colonially
termed a " capital feed." The Blacks are very fond of
them ; and it is extraordinary to see what a time they
can remain under water when diving for mutton-fish ou
the rocks below the surface.

Two or three species of small crab were found in the
crevices of the rocks at low water ; and ones which we
called the soldier-crab, was handsome and curious. There
was a funny little species of land-crab, round, and about
as large as a musket-ball, which used to cover the beach
at low water in such quantities in certain places, that the
ground seemed alive with them as they scuttled back-
wards into the sand. The crayfish, however, represented
our lobster and crab on these shores.

A small species of saw-fish — I have seen the saw about

THE FUB-SEAL. 255

jone foot long — is met -with in these bays ; and there are
some very pretty varieties of star-fish. But we had very
few shells on these coasts : those which we did find were
small and plain-looking ; and whatever value they might
bear in the eyes of a conchologist, were certainly not to
be prized on account of their beauty.

Good fishing-gear is still dear out here, especially
English sieve-nets and a good whale-boat : and to start
right, a fishing-party requires some capital. I have known
men stick to it during the summer, in a small dingy,
single-handed, and make a good living, when the hook-
fish were well in : but this is dangerous work ; for the
squalls come on so suddenly in these bays, that the
fishermen have often to "up killoch" and run into
shore before the wind with scarcely five minutes' warn-
ing. Four is about the right number for a good fishing-
party ; and if they only understood their business, worked
steadily at it, and shunned the "nobbier" — the ruin of
many a good man in this country, — they could hardly
fail to do well. But, like the shooters, the fisherman's
motto is generally "happy-go-lucky;" and perhaps the
principal reason why we never see either in very flourish-
ing circumstances is, that there is rarely a woman in the
bush-tent to keep " the house in order."

The fur-seal abounds at certain seasons on some of the
rocky islands at the entrance to "Western Port Bay. The
skins are valuable, and I should think the blubber was
worth something : but nobody seemed to care much
about them. Sealing, however, is not a boy's game ; for

25G NATURAL HISTORY SKETCHES.

it requires a good boat and hardy crew to weather th»
surf, which at times breaks with thundering violence
over the iron-bound coast at the entrance to this bay.
The seals appear to come on to these rocks about the
end of November ; and fine still weather in December
is the right time for sealing.

"Western Port Bay will, I fancy, soon be the great
rendezvous of the fishermen south of Melbourne. The
shipping and steamers have much disturbed the fish in
Port Phillip Bay within the last few years, whereas in
Western Port Bay there is no harbour for shipping ;
and although the shores are principally mud-flats in-
stead of a sandy beach, there is much good fishing-
ground, and many places where a net can be " shot."
The distance from town is considerable ; but even now
hawkers run regularly during the winter ; and depend
upon it, if the fishermen once get down there, John
Chinaman will soon follow them.

When I first came into this district, I camped for two
seasons at Mordialloc, on the beach, about fifteen miles
south of Melbourne, then the best fishing-station in this
part of the country. In my time there was not a better
shooting-ground anywhere near Melbourne ; and had
things only remained as they then were, I should never
have cared to leave it ; but the game became scarce, and
all the land bought up, so that you could not walk a mile
without a three-rail fence staring you in the face. I shall
even look back with pleasure upon the time I spent at
Mordialloc ; nor shall I easily forget the uniform kind

" WAIFS AND STBAYS." 257

treatment I received, not only at the hands of Mr,
McDonald, the owner of the station, but of every one
else connected with it. I certainly was more at home
there than in any other of my camping-places : for it is
very rarely that a station-master out here will conde-
scend to notice (otherwise than as a parish-beadle regards
a vagrant in the old country) a vagabond shooter who
camps upon his run.

A few years ago many a man earned good wages by
picking up " waifs and strays," washed ashore on the
coasts of this bay ; and I remember, when the Ontario
was wrecked on the Heads, in 1853, some thousands of
pounds' worth of property came ashore, and the beach
was strewed for days with valuable articles of every
description. Unfortunately, her cargo was not a dry
one ; and I saw a fatal accident, which resulted in the
death of one of our party, arise from the reckless man-
ner in which the spirits were served out upon that occa-
sion. Formerly every ship discharged her lumber in the
bay ; and owing to the heavy rates of storage in Mel-
bourne, emigrants would cast many things overboard
rather than bring them ashore: now, however, people
are more careful ; and this beach is so regularly
"combed," that one rarely sees anything worth pick-
ing up.

258 NATTJBAL HISTOET SKETCHES.

CHAPTEE XVII.

THE ABOBIGINES OF POST PHILLIP — PARTING ADVICE TO OLD FHIENBS,
AND CONCLUSION.

OF the Australian aborigines I have but little to say.
They are a race fast passing away ; and the few that we
do meet with now about Melbourne — in fact, in all the
settled districts — are very different men from the real
Australian native of the last century. There are only
two tribes now in the vicinity of Melbourne ; and these
are but remnants of what they were when we first took
possession of their country. The Tarra Blacks, who camp
about the ranges at the head of the Tarra, north-east of
Melbourne, and the " Bomerang, or Coast Tribe," whose
head station is at Mordialloc, and who own — if we can
use that term now we have dispossessed them of all their
land — the country to the southward down to the Heads.
These, by constant intercourse with the white man, have
learnt much of our language and habits, are on capital
terms with us, and there is no more danger in meeting a
lot of them in the bush than a gang of gipsies at home.
The Gipps Land tribe appears to be the most numerous
in this part of Port Phillip, and these men seem to
be wilder and more ferocious than any I have seen.
"Wherever Government has taken up their laud, a

THE ABOBIGINES. 259

Black's reserve of, I believe, a square mile, is left,
and blankets and rations, provided by Government,
are served out to them by the master of the station
nearest to their reserve. There is also a protector, or
kind of magistrate, appointed to look after their worldly
interests ; but no one seems to trouble himself about
giving them any religious instruction. It is not within
my province to offer any opinion as to whether or not it
is our duty to do so, after, as it were, adopting them.
There is a great cry at home about sending missionaries
into foreign parts of which we know but little, and yet
here we have tribes of savage heathens wandering about
among Christians, in the close vicinity of a large city in a
rising colony, which is now certainly more like England
than any we possess, abounding in religious sects of all
denominations, and yet no pains are taken to instruct or
convert these poor savages. Perhaps it is not possible
to do so. Perhaps they are better off as they are ; and
this is probably the case — for, as Bonwick justly observes,
" we have a sad tale to tell when we speak of our so-called
civilization upon these aborigines." To adopt our habits,
they must be entirely removed from the associations of
the Mia-Mia ; and what have we to offer in exchange for
endearing relations, joyous freedom, and an unanxious
existence ? The black man is thrust upon a competition
society to earn his bread ; he is exposed to the gibes and
contempt of the lowest of our countrymen ; he is without
sympathy and without friends ; and is herded with men
from whom he learns the most obviously developed prin-
s 2

260 NATTJEAL HISTORY SKETCHES.

ciples of European civilization — swearing and drinking.
It is true he eats better food, wears better clothes, and
sleeps in better dwellings. But where is his home ? Who
will be his sister, his mother, his brother ? Who will
ally herself as wife to his dark skin ? Can he ever know
the sweetness of a child's love ? No ! He soon tires of
our food, our work, our confined habitations, our heart-
less ridicule, and hastens back to his camp-fire, to find a
friend, to feel himself a man, to dwell with those that can
love him. Attempts were formerly made to convert them,
which always failed ; but this was long before the country
was peopled as it is now. Heathens or no heathens, how-
ever, the life of the savage here is perhaps as free from
reproach as that of many of their Christian neighbours.
When I camped at Mordialloc, I lived on very neigh-
bourly terms with the " Bomerang " tribe, for they
generally had their "miamies" close to my hut; and
as I never made too free with them, or gave them a
promise I did not intend to keep, I was a bit of a
favourite with them. Like most other savages, they
strictly imitate the white man in all his vices ; and this
tribe is fast paying the penalty ; for since I knew it first,
more than two-thirds have been swept away by disease
and intemperance, and in a few years it will exist only
in name. It is melancholy to see a whole race of beings
thus disappear, without any apparent cause. There is
no prostration of physical strength, or mental activity ;
they wither in the prime of life, and sink into the grave,
as though a blight had fallen on them.

THE ABOEIGINZS. 261

Of the many thousands -who inhabited .this colony
before the arrival of the white man, not 2,000 survive,
and most of these are on the banks of the Murray.
Although debased far below their own savage level since
their intercourse with the white man, the few that are
left still retain much of that free independent spirit, and
wild roving disposition, which characterizes all savage*
who have to gain a living by the chase. For although
they can get their rations all the year round at the head
station, they never care to live long in one place ; but,
following up the habits of their early life, make periodi-
cal excursions into the bush at different seasons, when
the different game is in. Thus swans' eggs, kangaroo,
ducks, pigeons, eels, and crayfish, all furnish them with
food and occupation at certain seasons ; and it was but
rarely that many of these were on the reserve at ona
time. I have often remarked, when wandering through
these forests, that the Blacks invariably fix upon the
prettiest situations for their camping places. I cannot
help thinking that the character of the Australian abori-
gines has been much belied by those writers, who have
described them as but one degree removed from the
brute. It is true that they possess inherently all the
bad qualities of the savage, and where is the wild man
whose character is not marked by ferocity, treachery, or
cunning? But they have also many good attributes,
which might shame the white man. I always found
them honest, and fond of the truth ; and although they
will ask for anything they fancy, just as if they had a

262 27ATUEAL HISTOET SKETCHES.

right to it, I never knew them steal. They are a manly,
independent race, certainly not cowards. Some of them
are the merriest vagabonds under the sun. It would be
impossible to make a slave of an Australian Black ; and
they always appeared to me to possess a degree of savage
intelligence, superior to that of many other wild men.
Some of the men are very athletic fellows, far from bad-
looking ; but I eannot say much for the personal appear-
ance of the females. Strange to say, these ladies seem
to care nothing for finery or ornaments, a dirty blanket,
or opossum rug wrapped loosely round them, and a short
black pipe stuck in their hair completes their toilette.
The Black's opinion of the white man is pithy and
laconic : — " Big one fool, white fellow, all same working
bullock."

No improvements, or alterations, seem to surprise
them. The Australian native, unlike his neighbour the
New Zealander, makes no endeavour to keep pace with
the times. " To be content, is his natural desire." The
easier he can get his bread, the better he likes it ; and if
he can obtain sufficient food for the day, he cares little
about the morrow. Nor is this to be wondered at, when
he has been accustomed from his birth to lead a careless,
wandering life, in a country where Nature has so liberally
supplied him with food, and where the climate is such
that a bush-gunny, ah, or mia-mia, will shelter him in
the most inclement weather. Some of our chaps I used
to like very much ; and when my old friend, King Der-
mot, is gathered to his fathers, I trust his prediction to

ADVICE. 263

me ucon one occasion will be verified — that " When he
tumbled down, he should go up long way and fly about,
all same big one eagle-hawk."

Although, as I have before stated, a fortune is not likely
to be made by the gun out here, still I consider this is as
much owing to the habits of the shooters themselves, as
to anything else. If I were a second time thrown upon
the shores of Australia, this is the life I should again
follow ; and if three good men — really working sports-
men, none of the make-believe sort — were to start with
a small capital, fit themselves up with a house, tent, and
rations, go down into some good kangaroo country near
the coast, shoot and salt for the season, save the skins,
as I have before recommended, and when the season was
over, go down upon the beach and fish, — I am certain
they might do as well at it as anything else in the bush.
But the difficulty would be in finding three men who
would stick well together for any length of time in this
country, where self-interest is the only thing that binds
men to each other, and where the whole decalogue
appears to be comprised in this single sentence, " Man
love thyself." Most men out here are red-hot to enter
into any new scheme, but they will rarely stick long
enough at it to give it a fair trial : as long as things go
on right, all is well ; but as soon as the sun becomes a
little clouded, half of them knock under, and leave a
mate without a moment's warning. It is strange, that
although two men can, and do often, stick well together,
we rarely see three agree long. Tet for this job ther?

264; NATTJBAL HISTOBY SKETCHES.

should be three, and if they would only give it a fair
trial, they might make as good wages at it as any other
bush work. I should, however, certainly not recommend
either the labourer who can earn his steady £1 per
week, or the man in town who has a regular and certain
billet, to leave it and take to the gun. They are both
better off where they are, and would probably be neither
of them fit for this work ; for it is a great mistake to
suppose that shooting is a game to which any one may
turn for an easy living when he can do nothing else.
But for men like myself, who are neither labourers nor
men of business, but who can at least handle a gun, and
do not mind roughing it so long as they are free, this is
the life ; and I am certain that they would be far more
independent, and I do not know whether they would not
make as much at it as many a man in town, who, to all
appearance, holds a good and lucrative situation. For
although the profits may not be great, the expenses are
small ; and if it was not for " the bursts," which are
almost sure to occur when a bushman visits town with
the hard earnings of perhaps a twelvemonth in his
pocket, he might always save a little money.

And now, in conclusion, a bit of advice to any old bush
friend, who may chance to cast his eye over these pages.
Unless his circumstances are such that he can live inde-
pendent, or has good friends able and willing to help
mm, let him stay where he is, and not think of returning
home. "We all know what home sickness is ; and where
is the wanderer in a foreign clime, let his condition be

THE OLD COTTSTBY ASD THE BUSH. 265

•what it may, who has not at times felt a longing desire
once again to see the land of his birth ? But old Time
works his revolutions as steadily at home as abroad ; and
•when he does return after a few years' absence, he will
most probably find so many changes, so many ties will
have been severed, that bound him to the home of his
youth, so many old friends dead, others so changed,
that in nine cases out of ten he will feel himself an alien
in the land of his fathers, and experience far more re-
gret than pleasure when he once again sets his foot on
his native shore. Such was my fate ; I trust it may not
be the lot of all. Of one thing, however, I am certain,
that the man who has led a wild bush-life for any length
of time will hardly ever again settle down to the staid
customs and formalities of the old country. He will
miss the jolly freedom and independence of the bush ; and
this is the reason why so many who do go home with the
intention of remaining, are sure to return again to the
colony after a short absence. But, above all things, let
no working man think of going home unless he " has
made his pill;" for if he has to get his living by hard
work, he will find it far easier to do so abroad than at
home ; and if he should chance to want a supper or a bed
on this side of the equator, he will have something more
to do to get it than to walk up to the first bush hut or
tent that he comes across, and throwing down " his
swag," by the simple passwords " Good evening, mates,"
obtain a hearty welcome for the night.

266 JfATUBAL HISTOBY SKETCHES.

Cease we our chronicles, and now we pause,
Though not for want of matter ; but 'tis time.

It is now some years since I left my home " a vagabond
to be," and during that period have wandered over many
lands, my gun and fishing-rod my only companions — a
true citizen of the world.

In the prime of years, in the full flush of youth and
strength, such a life offers charms of wild independence,
which can never be realized by that man who is tied to
one spot; no matter with what comforts he may be
surrounded, or what sport he may enjoy, ready made to
hand. But as years creep on, and a man begins to feel
that " the old gentleman with the scythe" is pressing
hard upon his heels, his enthusiasm will in a measure
abate ; and the more he has buffeted with the rude waves
of the world, the greater will be his desire to cast anchor
in some quiet haven,which he may regard as a permanent
home in declining years. For how truly has Sam Slick
described the dark side of the wanderer's life in the fol-
lowing words : " Here to-day, gone to-morrow ; to know
folks but to forget them ; to love folks but to part with
them ; to come without pleasure, to go without pain ;
and at last, for a last will come to every story, still no
home." Never, perhaps, was the history of a life written
in so short a sentence.

Sterne wisely remarks : " Matter grows under our
hands ; let no man say, come, I will write a duodecimo."
This must be my excuse if my wanderings have led the
reader too far. My fitness for the task I have under-

CONCLUSION. 267

taken, I ground upon the fact of having lived five years
in the bush, my sole occupation shooting and fishing ;
and as I have stated very little from hearsay, but nearly
all from actual observation, the truth of all I have stated
may be relied on. I have no intention of instructing the
colonial sportsman, — my only wish is to amuse the sports-
man at home. If this object is attained, and if every one
•who opens this little work feels half the pleasure in its
perusal that I have done in writing it, I am satisfied.
"With this hope, and with best wishes for the welfare of
all the old mates and friends I left behind me in the
bush — and I did not know there were so many till I had
to take leave of them — I shall close my slight notices of
the field sports and fauna of Australia Felix.

INDEX.

Albatros, Diomedea exulans.
Ant-eater, spiny, Echidna hys-
trix.

B.

Bandicoot, Perameles nasuta.
Bat, Rhinolophus (mcgaphyllust).
Bear, native, Phascolarctos cine-

reus.
Beaver rat, Hydromys chryso-

gasler.

Bee-eater, Merops.
Bell-bird, Myzantlia melanophrys.
Bittern, Botaurus australis.

C.

Cat, native, Dasyurus viverrinus.
Coachwhip-bird, Psophodes cre-

pitans.
Cobbler's-awl bird, Acanthorhyn-

chus tenuirostris. '

Cockatoo, black, Calyptorhyn-

chus macrorhynchus.
white, Cacatua gale-

rita.
yankate, Licmetis na-

sicus.
corella, Callocephalon

galeatum.

Coot, Fulica, australis.
Cormorant, Phalacrocorax car-

boides.
Crane, Nankeen, or Night heron,

Nycticorax caledonicus.

Crane, Australian, or Xative

companion, Gnis austraUtti-

anus.
Crow, white-eyed, Corvuscoronoi-

des.
Cuckoo, large grey, Cuculus op-

tatus.
bronze or zebra, Chry-

sococcyx lucidus.
Curlew, Numeniiis australis.

D.

Dabchick, Podiceps poliocepka-

lus.

Devil-devil, Diabolits ursinus
Diamond-bird, Pardalotm punc-

tatus.
Diceum Swallow, Dicceum hi*

rundinaceum.
Dingo, Canis Dingo.
Diver, Podiceps australis.
Dog, wild, Canis Dingo.
Dove, ground, Cindosoma punc-

tatum.

Duck, black, Anas superciliosa.
mountain, Casarca tador-

noides.
musk, or moss, Biziura

lolata.

Shoveller, or Spoony,

Spatula rhynchotis.
Duck-billed platypus, Platypus

Eagle, wedge-tailed, or Eagle
hawk, Aquila /woso.

270

INDEX.

Egret, little white, Herodias

immaculata.
Emu, Dromaius Novce Hollan-

dice.

F.

Falcon, blue, Astur Novae Hoi-

landice.
peregrine, Falco melano-

gemys.
Fantail, large, RHpidura mota-

cilloides.

G.

Gannet, Sula australis.

Goose, magpie, or tree, Anser et-
nas melanoleuca.

Cape Barren, Cereopsis

Novce Hollandice.

Goshawk, white, Astur Novce
Hollandice (albino).

Gull, great black-backed, Larus
pacificus.

lesser black-backed.

pigeon, Xema Jamesonii.

H.

Hawk, large white fishing, Ich-

thyaiaetus leucogaster.

swamp, drew assimilis.

— ^— sparrow, Accipiter torqua-

tus.

carrion, leracidea beri-

gora (?).

— musquito, Falco frontatus.

Heron, purple and white, Ardea

Novce Hollandice.
night, or Nankeen Crane,

Nycticorax caledonicus.
Honey-eater, Mdipliaga Novce

Hollandice.
warty-faced, Zan-

thomyza phrygia.

Ibis, straw-necked, Geronticus
spinicollis.

J.

Iufecksss, laughing, Dacelo gi-
aantea.

K.

Kangaroo, Macropus major.

- rat, Hypsiprymnus
minor.

Kestrel, Tinnunculus cencroides.

- white, or Little white
hawk, Elanus aodllaris (1).

Kingfisher, sacred, Halcyon

sanctus.

— Australian, Alcyone

azurea.

Kite, Milmsisurus.
Koala, Pkascolarctos cinereus.

Landrail, Rallus pectoralis.
Lark, mounting, Cinclorham-

phus cruralis (?).
Leatherhead, TropidorJiynchus

corniculatiis.

Lowan, Megapodius tumulus
Lyre-bird, Menwra superba

. M.
Magpie, Gt/mnorhina tibicen.
black, Conor ax leuco-

pterus.

Martin, Collocalia arborea.
Miner, or Soldier-bird, Myzan-

tha garrula.

Mole, water, Platypus anatinus.
Morepoke, Podargus Cuvieri.
little, ^Erjotheles Novce

Hollandice.

Mouse, Mus musculus.
flying, Acrobatcs pyg-

IXDEX.

271

K.

Nightjar, Capiimulgus (ma,-
crurus ?).

Pigeon, bronze-wing, Peristcra
ckalcoptera.
scrub, Peristera elegans.

0.

Opossum, silver, Phalangista
cinereus.

tarcticus.
Piper, SchcenicliiS subarquatus.
Pipit, Anthus aitstralis.

gista viverrina.
Oriole, Pacliycephala glaucura.

thocheilus.
Pochard, or China-eye, Nyroca
australis.

simplex.
Owl, yellow, Strix delicatulus.
brown, Strix personata (?).
large grey, A thene strenua.

Q.

Quail, common, Synoicus aus-
tralis.

booL
Oyster-eater, or Sea Magpie,
ffcematopus longirostris.

P.

chinensis.
— painted, or Wanderer, He-
mipodius varius.
silver, Synoicus Diemenen-
sis (?).

Paroqueet, Ground, red-shoul-
dered, Euphema pulchella.
flyingloriqueet, Latha-
mus discolor.
Rosella, Platycercus
eximius.
• • shell or Zebra Mclo

ralis.
E.

Rat (Norwegian), M us Rattus.
Robin, common, Petroica phce-
nicea.

psittacus imdulatus.

black and white, Petroica
bicolor.

flaviventris.

Robin, rose-breasted, Erythro-
dryas rosea.

Barrcibaudi.
Parrot, king, Aprosmictus sea-
puZatus.

- red-capped, Petroica
Goodenovii.

S.

cercus Pennantii.

Satin-bird, Ptilonorhynckus ho-

choglossus rubritorquis.

Shovel-bill (duck), Spatula rhyn-

koo, Pogophorus formosus.
Pelican, Pelecanus conspicttlatus
Penguin, Spheniscus.
Petrel, Thallasidroma marina.
Pheasant, Menura superba.

Shrike, Cracticus destructor.
Snipe, Scolopax australis.
Spoon-bill, Plataleaflavipes.
Squirrel, magpie, Petauristct
tacjuanoides.

272

Squirrel, sugar, Petaurus sdu-

reus.
Stilt, red-eyed, Himantopus leu-

cocephalus.

Swallow, Ilirundo neoxena.
wood, Artamus sor-

didus.

Swan, black, Chenopis atratus.
Swift, spine-tailed, Acanthylis

caudacuta.
common, Cypselus austra-

T.

Teal, Anas punctata.

Tern, Sterna.

black, Onychoprion fuliyi-

nosus.

Thrush, Colluricincla harmonica.
mountain, Oreocinda lu-

nulata.

Tiger cat, Cuscus maculatus.
Turkey, Leipoa penicillata(GoUo'
pachiri).

W.

Wallaby, Halmaturus ualala-

tus.

Water-hen, Tribonyx ventralis.
Wattle bird, Anthochcerus carun-

culatus.
Whistlewing, or Pink-eyed duck,

Malacorhynchus membrana-

ceus.

Wombat, Pkascolomys ursinus.
Wood Swallow, Artamus sordi-

dus.
Wren, blue, or Superb wai bier,

Malurus cyaneus.
emu, Stipitwrus malacku-

rus.

5758