II HOBART AND THE MIDLANDS 45 



before the land is ready for use. At a low esti- 

 mate, supposing the cost of the land is £1 an 

 acre, it will cost £4 an acre to clear it, though 

 of course the expense varies greatly according to 

 the thickness of the timber and scrub. 



In the open pasture lands and cultivated dis- 

 tricts of which we are speaking, there are one 

 or two very characteristic birds which will at 

 once strike the eye of a visitor. The native 

 Magpie {Gymnorhina organicum), really a Crow 

 Shrike, is a fine black and white bird with a very 

 melodious voice, but its song is more in the 

 nature of an experiment than a finished work 

 of art ; in captivity, however, it will learn to 

 whistle almost any tune, and I was surprised in 

 the bush by an escaped pet whistling ' I don't 

 want to play in your yard ', regarding me the 

 while with a knowing expression. 



Another very beautiful bird which haunts the 

 lightly timbered sandstone country and is even 

 common in orchards, where it makes considerable 

 depredations among the fruit, is the Rosella 

 Parakeet with the head and breast of a brilliant 

 scarlet. Nothing is more beautiful than to see 

 these birds dashing about in the sunlight from 

 tree to tree ; the brilliant scarlet plumage appears 

 to annoy some of the other birds, and I have 

 seen small flocks of Miners, inconspicuous grey 

 birds of about the size of a Mistle-thrush, with 

 yellow bills, belonging to the large Australian 

 family of the Meliphagidae or Honey-eaters, 



