Spring in Neiv South Wales.



79



round. Day after day they pay their visit of inspection, im¬

patiently awaiting the time when the flowers are open at last.


But not only the birds and flowers give evidence of this

early spring. The ants, kept underground during the winter, have

come out, and the large blue-tongued lizards, eight in number, pets

of my little daughter, after sleeping these last four months between

bags in a cardboard box, have left their recent home and may now

be seen daily basking in the sun. It is a lovely time, springtime in

Nature, and how happy one might be were it not for the awful

catastrophe which has befallen the world.


As is usual with me, I spent again last Saturday in the bush

with my boy. Taking the western train early in the morning we

alighted at a small platform about 40 miles from Sydney. It was

an ideal, a glorious morning. Unfortunately, little original bush

is left in this district, farms and cultivation are dotted all over the

plain, but the few acres of rough country harbour all the birds

originally found in these localities. Here were still a few rosella

parrakeets chattering away in the trees, in spite of the persecution

of the so-called sportsmen. We noticed soldier birds carrying nest¬

ing material, and once in a way we flushed a pair of Australian

quail. A nest of yellow-tufted honey-eaters with a clutch of three

prettily-marked eggs we passed on the way, the old birds making a

dreadful fuss because we peeped into their nest. Occasionally we

came across a complete or half complete nest of tits, some already

with young, whilst the nests of the Sydney waxbill (redhead) or the

diamond sparrow could escape nobody’s attention ; they were very

plentiful, but generally high up compared to the tits, which built a

lovely little hanging nest, beautifully lined ; the redheads and dia¬

monds build a clumsy ugly structure. A pair of crows had built

their home high up upon a big gum tree and I dare say many a little

bird in that locality will suffer from their attention.


Whenever we met an interesting sight we stopped to observe

the habits of the birds, and to enjoy a sun bath like the birds them¬

selves on this glorious spring morning. On these occasions we

watched the building of the nest of the tiny red-capped robin, very

low in the fork of a tree. Once in a way the little hen, after having

put a few touches to it, would sit in the nest to make it a good fit



