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■constant in the land. This was the keynote to what later day revealed.

Birds constantly reminded one that they were about. The place had manv

feathered denizens, whom experience had taught that they hail nothing to

fear, and that their presence was most welcome. Some of the species were

•elsewhere in the district regarded as extinct.


“ Upon several trees were fastened sections of a hollow log, a bunch of

grass, or other provision made for hidden nest. The tiny Martins which

are usually found nesting in hollow trees in the bush were here in hundreds,

•dwelling happily in suspended bamboo stems, in the sides of which holes

had been cut, so that each section of the jointed stem was usable for

breeding purposes. Every available nook or ledge was occupied by them

too—even a large funnel suspended on a shed wall had been utilised. It

was a pretty sight when the funnel was gently taken down to see the little

lien bird remaining on her clutch of eggs and looking at her visitors as if

wondering what this disturbance of her home could mean. An old watering-

can, some six feet from the ground, had been made use of in a similar

way, but here the female had not completed her tale of eggs, and resented

being gazed upon, preferring rather to watch our actions from a few yards

away. The nest took up a large portion of the can, and had been made of

gum leaves and some grass, that in the funnel being principally of the

same materials. How rapidly Tree Martins find a new nesting-place was

shown when, a few days before our visit, some pierced bamboos were

suspended in a new piggery, close under the roof. Not many hours

elapsed ere each hole had its occupants, who were now bringing mud

pellets for their architectural purposes. A Shrike Tit, whose nest is usually

not easily found, had made a home above the kitchen roof.


“ The farm still bears some of the natural vegetation of a damp place.

Along the creek a thick fringe of timber flourishes — tea, gum, and

other native trees—and where some large aviaries are built the reeds grow

thickly enough to afford shelter to the Bronze-wing Pigeon, who, with head

laid sideways on the edge of the nest, permitted inspection of its home.

(The male bird was sitting at the time.) They grow also where two Cape

Barren Geese marched proudly at the head of a brood of goslings, the male

bird quacking and his mate replying with porcine grunt.


“No shooting is allowed in this bird refuge; all living creatures

excepting rats, mice, and sparrows, are encouraged there. In a con¬

servatory lay basking a fine brown snake (a Denisouia of lighter hue than

the species usually seen near Melbourne) ; a smaller one was where some

Pheasants had a home, and seemed quite undisturbed when one pugnacious

bird, endeavouring to fight with an annoying Bald Coot, his next door

neighbour, through the netting trod close beside its head. The snakes

keep down the mice and such “ small deer,” who otherwise would overrun

the place, and hence are looked upon as friends.


“ A pair of stately Black Swans reared two fine cygnets during the

last season, their offsping now being as large as themselves, and all roamed

at liberty about the yards or plunged into a tank with evident enjoyment.

To enumerate every native bird which still clings to the spot would need

much patient watchfulness—new seasons bring new kinds, and weeks

would be necessary to find out all that now are there. Amongst those

heard of, but not seen, were visitors from the interior of our continent,

who usually find haven here when drought-driven from their inland



