5() BIRDS or AUSTRALIA. 



turbed by the passer-by will merely fly ofi" to the nearest tree, 

 or to the rails of the wayside fences. Scenes like these fill the 

 mind with sensations of no ordinary description, and excite 

 the greatest astonishment in those who have recently arrived 

 in the country ; the novelty, however, soon wears off, and 

 a caged lark, linnet, or blackbird from the land of their birth 

 are highly cherished and valued, while the beautiful produc- 

 tions of the island are passed by unheeded, except to deal out 

 destruction among them, with no sparing hand, for some 

 slight injury they may have inflicted upon the rising corn. 

 The above remarks refer more particularly to Tasmania, but 

 apply with equal force to New South Wales, where the bird 

 inhabits all situations similar in character to those above re- 

 ferred to. It is found in great numbers in the district of 

 the Upper Hunter, and was formerly very numerous at Para- 

 matta, particularly in the neighbom'hood of Rose Hill, whence 

 its name. It breeds abundantly both in Tasmania and New 

 South Wales, during October and the three following months, 

 and lays from seven to ten beautiful white eggs, one inch and 

 an eighth long by seven-eighths of an inch broad, in the 

 hollow of a gum-tree. 



The natural food of this bird consists of seeds of various 

 kinds, particularly those of different grasses, and occasionally 

 of insects and caterpillars. 



Its flight is short and undulating, and is rarely extended to 

 a greater distance than a quarter of a mile, as the bird fre- 

 quently alights on a leafless branch, always flying a little 

 below it and rising again just before it settles. 



Its note is a somewhat pleasing whistling sound, which is 

 very frequently uttered. 



The sexes are alike in plumage, and the young assume the 

 bright colouring from the nest ; the birds of the year, although 

 they may have attained their full size, are not so brilliant as the 

 adult, and may always be distinguished by the bill and nos- 

 trils being of a delicate gamboge-yellow. 



