252 
BARNARD, Birds of Coomooboolaroo [ T *A P rii' u 
A Review of the Bird Life on Coomooboo¬ 
laroo Station, Duaringa District, Queensland, 
During the past Fifty Years 
By CHAS. A. BARNARD, Ex-President R.A.O.U., with addi- 
' tional notes by Id. GREENS 1 EL BARNARD, R.A.O.U. 
Coomooboolaroo consists of about 170 square miles of country 
which lies about 20 miles west of the Dawson River, and about 
25 miles from the junction of that river with the Mackenzie; 
below the junction the combined streams are known as the 
Fitzroy River. 
The station derives its name from two lagoons which are 
separated by a narrow strip of dry land in dry seasons, but are 
united in wet seasons. In the aboriginal dialect of the district, 
“Coomooboolaroo” signified “two waters/’ The homestead is 
built on a ridge adjacent to one of the lagoons, and overlook¬ 
ing it. 
Coomooboolaroo Station must have been taken up in the fifties 
of last century, and stocked with sheep and a few cattle, but 
when we acquired it in 1873 the sheep had all been removed, and 
there were then under 400 head of cattle on the run. 
Throughout the fifty years we have had the birds of the district 
under observation, and in the earlier part of that period the 
Barnard family contributed considerably to the knowledge of 
the habits and nidification of some of the rarer species. During 
these fifty years many changes have taken place in the numbers 
and distribution of certain species, owing chiefly, I should say, 
to climatic influences, but to some extent also to the stocking of 
the country with cattle. It has occurred to me that a review 
of the bird life of a particular district over such a number of 
years would be of general interest to Australian ornithologists, 
and in the following pages I give brief notes on the species that 
have been observed on the station, with special reference to those 
which have increased or decreased. In some cases I have sug¬ 
gested the probable reasons for the changes that have occurred. 
Before dealing with the birds individually a brief account of 
the different types of country to which the notes refer seems 
to be desirable. The general class of country on the run is what 
we call forest country,” consisting of fairly open grassy flats 
along the creeks working up into higher and more thickly tim¬ 
bered ridges away from the creeks. The flats are timbered with 
various kinds of Eucalypts, while blue gums invariably line the 
banks of the creeks. In the flowering season (early spring) 
these are alive with the different species of Lorikeet. 
1 he mn is bounded on the south by a spur of the Expedition 
Range, in some of the gorges of which are small permanent 
springs. In a dry time these are fine places in which to observe 
a variety of Honeyeaters, Finches, etc. Numerous small gullies 
run out of the ranges at intervals to form the heads of the larger 
