THE BLACK SWAN. 67 



this punt. The diggings were then in full swing, money- 

 was like dirt, and the birds sold at any price. The 

 buyers were not particular. Many a brace of sea-gull 

 have been sold for 5s. and I once knew a pair of old 

 shags with their beaks trimmed up, sold for 15s. as " rock 

 duck." But this did not last long. The duck-shooters 

 of that day, like the diggers, never heeded the morrow, 

 and not one laid up for a rainy day. As the birds be- 

 came scarcer, the shooters increased, and prices fell, till 

 at the present day duck-shooting is not worth following 

 within fifteen miles of Melbourne. "What a change has 

 six years made in the appearance of this country. The 

 swamps and lagoons near Sandridgeare all drained or built 

 on, and a railroad now passes over ground on which, at 

 that day, four or five couple of ducks might be killed with 

 ease in a night's flight-shooting. 



Eight species of wild duck are more or less common 

 in this district, and I believe these are nearly all the 

 ducks indigenous to Victoria : the Mountain Duck, 

 the Black Duck, the Wood Duck, the Pochard or 

 China-eye, the Whistle-wing or Pink-eye, the Shovel- 

 bill, the Teal, and the Musk Duck. I have seen one 

 other species in Melbourne, said to have been shot in 

 the neighbourhood, as large as the black duck, but more 

 resembling the British gadwall in plumage. This I 

 believe to be only a rare and occasional visitant to these 

 parts ; although I have heard that it is common in some 

 parts further inland. 



The Slack Swan is common throughout the winter 

 v 2 



