QUEENSLAND and NORTHERN TERRITORY 31 



by very varied vegetarian, and the snow capped 

 ranges, it is readily judged to contain most inter- 

 esting things in feathered life. 



There are representatives of the Cassowary of 

 Queensland, and there are the zoologically famous 

 Australian mound building birds and the Sun birds. 



It abounds in colour and picturesque form, and 

 is filled with the species of economic value that a 

 country rich in vegetable products needs. 



Certain of these useful birds pass backwards and 

 forwards between Papua and Cape York Penin- 

 sula. There is the White Ibis, closely related to 

 the Egyptian species, and the Spoonbill. 



There are the Topknot and Nutmeg Pigeons, 

 Bee-eater, Drongo Shrike, Channel-bill Cuckoo, 

 the Black Cuckoo (Eudynamis) and the elegant 

 White-tailed Kingfisher that nests in ant hillocks. 



Pigeons feed largely on the fruits of the native 

 fig. They are to be heard in the higher branches, 

 though scarcely seen through the tangle of the 

 under foliage. Thousands of birds on the ground 

 beneath this leafy dome of thousands of acres make 

 it their daily business to collect the fruits the 

 "wasteful" pigeons drop. It is a world above a 

 world, or a feathered stratum densely living above 

 a ground stratum, equally alive and without much 

 knowledge of its fellow. The law of mutual aid 

 unconsciously is applied. 



The Pittas or ant thrushes are amongst the most 

 finely coloured tropic birds, and map 1 (a) indicates 



