50 The Bird -Trappers^ of the Rlvcrlua. 



the bird could t(-ll its story, instoad of merely repeating words 

 of which it does not know the meaning! It it harder for 

 an Australian Coikatoo to utter (lerman words than to say. 

 Scratch poor cocky," or " Give cocky a nut "? 



Some of the men who traffic in Galahs and Parrots 

 are fearless climbers. Collecting fledglings is another phase 

 of the business, more arduous than trapping. All the nesting 

 trees are known, and when the time is ripe, each is visited. 

 Some of the hollows are low down, and the young birds can in 

 such cases be obtained without any difficulty. But when the 

 nest-hole is in a lofty branch, or high up in the trunk of a 

 dead tree, the climber's skill is displayed. 



During my Riverina trip I saw a young man conquer 

 several giant gums that few would care to tackle. He used a 

 bit of stout rope, flung round the trunk of the tree, and the 

 ends held in either hand. Barefooted, he worked his way up- 

 ward so quickly that I was not ready with the camera when 

 he had reached the top boughs. Expert climbers prefer dead 

 to living' trees . because the boughs of the latter are more 

 likely to break. Sapless limbs are tough. Still, the men 

 do nor shirk dangerous trees if there is anything to be gained 

 by climbing them. The life of a bird-trapper is not hard 

 but h^? has to take some risks, and that of falling from a tree, 

 through a bough breaking, is one of them. 



One morning Jack came back to camp, after the usual 

 dawn- work, with the news that there was a white Galah among 

 a flock that he had been observing. He vowed that he would 

 capture the albino before leaving the locality, but failed to do 

 so. He may, of course, have succeeded on a second expedi- 

 tion. 



I.alct ir the day I saw the albino in company with 

 about 300 normal birds. It was conspicuous, the white wings 

 flashing bravely wherever it went. White Galahs are rare, 

 and J- 3 would not be regarded as an exorbitant price for a 

 perfeci specimen. I have seen only two of these albinos in 

 captivity — both taken as fledglings from the nest — and they 

 excited admiration. But I would not say that their beauty is 

 greater than that of the ordinary galah. We are apt to be 

 deceived by the rarity of an object. Even a plainsman, who 



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