Mr. Heumann’s Aviaries at Beecroft, N.S.W.



303



are quite common, and their throaty voice and alarm note are always

pleasant to hear. Of tree-creepers I have only seen two, but how

fascinating they are to watch with their striped brown plumage !

In England many bird-lovers have to record and regret the absence

of swallows and house martins. Here it is refreshing to see so

many making use of the well-sheltered eaves of the scattered

Flemish homesteads, nor do they appear to be bullied by the spar¬

rows as is so often the case in England. Cuckoos were heard

frequently six weeks ago, and I managed to get close under one

and watch its contortions unobserved at each vocal effort; later

on I did not hear or see any. Larks are very numerous ; one

morning while riding out early I saw a strangely light-coloured

bird, this turned out to be a lark, almost an albino.


I might have mentioned before that one of our men who

had lain between our own and the German trenches dangerously

wounded in the abdomen for some hours before he could be moved

from such a perilous position, reported that he had noticed the birds

flying about near by and even building their nests in the bushes ;

and that he also saw rabbits feeding. All these wild things had

become quite used to the crack of rifles and explosion of shells.



MR. HEUMANN’S AVIARIES AT

BEECROFT, N.S.W.


[The Australian Naturalist gave this account by Mr. G. D. Stead,

in the July number, 1914, of one of our member’s aviaries and

birds.]


Saturday , February, 1914.


Great interest was manifested by a large number of members

of the Society, who had the privilege of seeing Mr. G. A. Heumann’s

rich collection of living Australian and exotic birds, in his fine

aviaries at Beecroft. The great variety of seed-eating birds in this

collection alone, would make a very remarkable assemblage ; but

what surprises the visitor most, is the unique collection of insec¬

tivorous, frugivorous, and other birds, many of which need so much

attention, and necessitate the preparation of strange and special

foods. I would fain touch upon the latter in some detail, but space



