BIRDS. 51 



While few, if any, other of the many Australian bird pets kept by the writer 

 rivalled the Podargi in the interest evoked by their Protean aspects and engaging 

 habits, certain of them exhibited, under domesticated influences, traits and peculiarities 

 that invite attention. Among the more conspicuous of these, an example of the 

 Queensland Shrike or Butcher-bird, Cracticus torquatus, lays claim to brief notice, 

 with reference, more especially to the pathetic circumstances that attended its decease. 

 Various species of this Shrike genus inhabit all of the Australian Colonies, but 

 are chiefly confined to their southern, temperate, limits. The loud garrulous song 

 of certain of these species which consists of a rapid alternately descending and 

 ascending scale on a gamut of a few notes only, with harmonious intervals has won 

 for them in those colonies, such as Tasmania, to which Dacelo gigas is not indigenous, 

 the local appellation of the " Laughing Jackass." All of the species are very readily 

 tamed, and, being in captivity inveterate mimics, with marked whistling and talking 

 tendencies, are in considerable favour as domestic pets. 



A young Queensland Shrike was obtained by the writer at the same time and 

 from the same travelling caravan which supplied the Podargi. It early developed its 

 special whistling properties, and these were so trained that within a few weeks he 

 rehearsed the first stanzas of the Cambrian air " The Rising of the Lark " with a 

 vigour and correctness that would have won for him honourable mention, if not a 

 prize, at a Welsh Eisteddfod. This became the customary merry reveille" with 

 which from his cage in the verandah he was accustomed to rouse the household 

 in the early morning. The courage and spirit of these birds is notable ; they will 

 readily attack and drive away Hawks, Piping Crows, Gymnorhina, and almost any 

 larger birds that happen to poach upon their preserves. In captivity they evince 

 the strongest likes and dislikes to individual people. In the example under 

 notice children became a special subject of hostility, insomuch that it was 

 found desirable to confine him to his cage when young people were about, upon 

 whom otherwise he was disposed to unpleasantly exercise the aggressive prowess of 

 his sharp beak. Allowed to run loose in the garden during the greater portion of 

 the day, he developed a marked penchant for English sparrows, which to the 

 Australian settler's sorrow have been introduced and have multiplied to a ruinous 

 extent around the greater number of the leading industrial centres. The captured 

 sparrows he was accustomed, after the manner of his kind, to store up for a future 

 banquet in some conveniently accessible spot, such as the forked branch of an 

 adjacent bush, or may be betwixt the bars of his roomy cage. To approach his 



