20



Walter Good fellow—A Collector on Melville Island



rather a large bird with a long graduated tail, that spreads open in

flight, showing deep white tips on the underside. All the colours are

soft and blended into one another. The first time they came under

my notice, I heard what I thought was a pack of yelping puppies

approaching the camp, which changed into half-human maniacal

sounds, and again into growls, snarls, and grunts. I have never

imagined a bird making such queer noises before. The flock usually

consisted of about a dozen and when they came, perhaps twice a week,

they stayed around for at least an hour, searching methodically every

trunk and bush for insects. With their rather thin and slightly curved

bills they opened every shrivelled up leaf which generally yielded a

grub. They clung to the bark of trees, working up them sideways,

and at times hung completely upside down to reach some leaf ; while

others searched the ground and roots of bushes. When so occupied,

they were silent except for an occasional grunt or growl. They seemed

to have a leader who always kept ahead of the main party and led

them all round the clearing. All their movements were very graceful,

and it seemed remarkable how they could dig in the way they did

into rotten wood, and tear the bark from trees with such a slender

and inappropriate-looking bill. I imagine one alone would not be

so interesting to keep, but how wonderful say half a dozen would

look in a well-planted garden aviary, and what an endless interest

they would be.


There is one group I cannot pass over, the Doves, not that I am

in love with them, on the contrary. I am not a person usually irritated

by any noises made by birds, in fact I had always thought I could

put up with anything from them, but I must confess that two species

of Doves, the Peaceful (Geopelia placida) and the Bar-shouldered

(6r. liumeralis) almost drove me to distraction. Both kinds were in


hundreds, and there was not a daylight hour when the camp


was free from them, and at night the trees all around were


full too. Why one was ever called the “ Peaceful ” I cannot


imagine, except as a joke ; they are the most quarrelsome birds I have

met, continually fighting among themselves, indeed several times

both on Melville and in Darwin I picked up some with broken wings,

and otherwise injured. It was not this, however, that annoyed me,



