on Bird Life on Yanko Creek , N.S.W.



341



screen of bagging against the fence, holds the free end, ready to

give a sharp pull at the right moment. Soon after the eastern sky

became flushed with rose-pink, the colour of the Galah’s breast,

small flocks of the birds came flying toward the paddock from the

trees along Yanko Creek. Gradually the size of the flocks increased,

till there were thousands of the birds in sight. The call birds,

tethered to the nets, “ spoke ” to those in the air, and presently a

flock of about 30 Galahs circled over the net I was watching, and

then alighted. The trapper pulled the rope, the poles leaped together,

and a babel of harsh cries arose. Eleven birds had been caught, and

they were quickly transferred to a box. In the course of an hour

the nets were sprung three times, and the tally of captives was 87 :

this was not considered a particularly good result. The Cockatoos

were transferred to the big cage on the waggon, where they huddled

on the long bamboo perches. Sulky at first, they soon became

resigned to their lot, and ate and drank. In addition to netting

the adult birds, the trappers gather nestlings and rear them.


We moved toward fresh fields before noon, and spent the

night at a farmhouse. One of the two ladies at the homestead was

a lover of wild birds, and had tamed several Galahs without caging

them. All day, she said, these birds were away with the flocks,

but toward sunset they returned to the homestead, where they

remained during the night. I was lucky enough to see three of

these tame wild birds early in the morning, and secured photographs

of them on their favourite perch. The trappers, who had been at

work before I awoke, reported an albino Galah, which they failed to

capture. Max Egger, from a nest in the Jerilderie district, each

season for three years in succession, took two albino fledgelings, and

reared them all. He had one in his aviary, which I photographed.


Several nests of the “ Blue-bonnet ” (Psepliotus xanthorrhous )

were found in hollows of gum-trees in a paddock near the farm¬

house. One nest was right on the ground, within a hollow trunk,

the entrance hole being some 12 feet above. On another farm we

were introduced to a young Australian Crane or Native Companion

{Antigone australasiana) , which the children had captured and reared

as a pet. The bird, which had the freedom of a small paddock, was

friendly, though it showed some fear of the camera. Its plumage



