150 KATUEAL HISTORY SKETCHES. 



rise, and when on the wing easily knocked down with a 

 small bush or cap. The male has a weak but pretty 

 little song. 



I have seen two or three species of Sedge Warbler in 

 the reeds by the side of the creeks and swamps, and one 

 used to keep up a continuous little song throughout the 

 summer nights, not unlike that of the sedge bird at 

 home. 



The Satin or Shiny Sower Bird was a rare and only 

 an occasional visitant to us, generally appearing in the 

 autumn and winter, and those which we saw in our 

 district were principally the yellowish-green birds, some- 

 times accompanied by an old black cock. The old male 

 satin bird is a splendid bird, nearly as large as the jay at 

 home ; the whole plumage a beautiful deep-purple glossy 

 black, the eye bright-blue, the beak, which is long, thick 

 white. The old males are very shy and very rare in pro- 

 portion to the yellow birds. Like many of the parrots, 

 the males do not come to their full purple plumage 

 until after about the fourth moult ; the standard colour 

 of the females and young birds being greenish-yellow, 

 mottled, which in the males becomes every year chequered 

 with black, till they attain their full plumage. The note 

 of the satin bird is a kind of loud guttural hiss. They 

 are very common in some parts on the ranges, and they 

 come down much into the bush gardens when the peach 

 is in bud, and when the grapes are ripe, and are at such 

 times very destructive. When they came into our parts 

 the yellow birds were by no means shy ; they frequented 



