l86 Chisholm, Pros.ress of Bird Study in Queensland. [,3u"jan. 



Progress of Bird Study in Queensland. 



By a. H. Chisholm. 



In his presidential address to the R.A.O.U. congress at Adelaide 

 in November, 1913, Mr. Robert Hall made passing reference to 

 the position of bird-study in the several States. " Such centres 

 as Brisbane, Hobart, and Perth should be doing better work 

 than they are at present," he declared. " Let us trust them, 

 in the next year or two, to send to the editors of The Emit, some 

 useful notices of the work of their little bands." 



Three years having gone by since Mr. Hall wrote this, the time 

 seems opportune for examining the ornithological situation in 

 the centres referred to, or, better still, as far as possible in the 

 States at large of which they are the capital cities. 



T speak of Queensland on the experience of little more than 

 one year. So far as Brisbane is concerned, I must confess to a 

 sense of disappointment at the comparative lack of working 

 bird -observers. To one who knew something of the numbers and 

 enthusiasm of ornithological workers in Adelaide and Melbourne, 

 the almost entire absence of such in the chief city of this richly- 

 endowed State of the north was bound to come as somewhat of 

 a shock. That is not to say, of course, that it was not possible 

 to find any who were interested in birds ; the point is that any- 

 thing in the nature of field-work was practically a dead letter. 

 The only ornithological company this writer has had among 

 many excursions held during the year was that of Mr. A. J. 

 Campbell, C.M.B.O.U., when the veteran ornithologist was in 

 this city in June, and Mr. W. J. Colclough, a sound observer, 

 who had a few hours' leave from the Queensland Museum to 

 accompany us. A capable bird-student of years gone by, Mr. 

 R. Illidge, of Bulimba, still has an attractive collection, but he 

 now confines his field pursuits to entomology. The Government 

 Entomologist (Mr. Henry Tryon) also finds his attention fully 

 occupied in matters insectivorous, and does not devote to the 

 birds a fraction of the time he did when State secretary of the 

 Union. It is possible that there are others who- might give atten- 

 tion to ornithology were it not for the demands of war-time 

 matters, but, on the whole, I decidedly do not think it is yet 

 possible to form a Bird Observers' Club in Brisbane with the 

 expectation of making it live and successful. All that can be 

 done at present, in my opinion, is to keep the birds before the 

 Field Naturalists' Club and the Royal Society, and to help 

 forward the work of the Gould League of Bird-Lovers. 



It is in connection with the last-mentioned body that the most 

 valuable work of the Queensland year — or of many years — ^in an 

 avine respect, has been accomplished. At the end of last year 

 the Bird-Lovers' League was not particularly active. The 

 handsome certificate (bearing a representation of the regal 

 Regent-Bird) had been produced by the Department of Public 

 Instruction some months previously, but no very definite effort 



