ii6 /)//"(/ Lijc III the Firing Line. 



I'rascr's Island, witli its 050 square miles, wtmld form a 

 splendid and ideal sanctuary for oiu" native birds and animals. 

 It wotdd lirst be necessar}- to exterminate the din.L;oes wliich 

 are everywhere, the true ori,L;inal bushy-tailed. |)ointed-eared. 

 yellow-skinned " warrii^al.'" Xe\v Zealand's chief bird and 

 animal preserve is on an island. There are many wallabies, btit 

 no kaui^aroos on I'raser's Island. 



All the explorers — Leichhardt, Cires^ory. jardine, Lands- 

 l)orotii4'h, Hodg"kinson, J. G. M'Donald, and ilume — record 

 incredible quantities of j^'ame. A surveyor named I'rancis 

 Cirundey was surveying- at the mouth of the Brisbane River, in 

 1851, and in liis highly interesting;- book he mentions the whole 

 river and shores of the bay, and the fiats near Fisherman Island, 

 as covered with myriads of dticks. i^eese. and swans, and 

 the " ducks rising- in clouds which darkened the sun." 



^^M^ 



Bird Life in the Firing Line. 



By Dr. N. S. Luca.s, R.A.M.C 



I had your last number of " Bird Notes " out here and 

 saw in it your urgent appeal for more copy. To-day (May 25, 

 1917), is the anniversary of my having" seen service in h'rance for 

 two months ; if that can be an anniversary, and if my bird ex- 

 periences during- that period are of any general interest you are 

 at liberty to publish them. I ai)pend a list of the birds 1 luue 

 seen myself during- that period and a few others which have been 

 seen by reliable people in that time. Most of the birds were 

 seen near Peronne. those observed since are marked with an 

 asterisk, though I cannot tell you where. 



First I had better give you a description of the country 

 near Peronne. The town itself is mostly ruins. It is situated by 

 the Somme. which is a peculiar river, in that it meanders about 

 through marshes. There is a great deal of flood, too, owing 

 to the canal bank being- broken. On the outskirts are a lot of 

 small gardens, with birds, of course, and beyond, the river 

 jtretches of what was once corn land but is now covered with 

 roug'h long grass. 



When T arrived at Peronne the weather was verv cold 



