THE GEELONG NATURALIST. , 7l 
Nile-boat traveller or dweller on the Bosphorus, as of old to the 
author of the book of Job. The autumnal thronging of myriads of 
waterfowl by the rivers of Asia is witnessed by the modern sportsman 
as it was of old by Homer. Anacreon welcomed the returning 
swallow in numbers which his imitators of the colder north—to 
whom the associations connected with it are doubly strong—have ' 
tried in vain to excel. The Indian of the fur countries, in formin 
his rude calendar, names the recurring moons after the birds-of- 
passage whose arrival is coincident with its changes. But there is 
no need io multiply instances. The flow and ebb of the mighty 
feathered wave has been sung by poets, and reasoned by philosophers, 
has given rise to proverbs and entered into popular superstition, yet 
we must say of it still that our ignorance is immense.” 
The foregoing, as you have no doubt observed, applies more 
particularly to the northern hemisphere, and those of us who have 
any recollection of the old land can recall with pleasure the arrival of 
those harbingers of spring—the Cuckoo, the Swallow, and the 
Nightingale. 
But it is my intention to confine my remarks more particularly 
to our Australian birds. And here at the outset, we meet with 
the greatest diffieulties owing to the cireumstance that there are so 
few recorded observations in this phase of bird life in this country. 
It is maintained by some writers that all birds are migratory. 
This to some extent is no doubt true, that is, nearly all birds remove 
from one locality to another in search of the food they each prefer. 
Butin the proper sense of the term only those can be so named who 
at regular intervals change their place of abode. Our Black Swan, 
Duck, and Teal which annually resort to Connewarre lakes are now 
undoubtedly migratory, but from inquiries made among some of the 
oldest sportsmen and duck-shooters I find that forty years ago most 
of these birds remained here the whole year; and in fact, Black Swan 
- hatched out their young on lakes in the neighbourhood of Birregurra 
till quite recently. 
Speaking of the Snipe Mr A. J. Campbell says, “It has been 
proved beyond all doubt that this bird migrates from the interior of 
the continent, and arrives in Tasmania and the southern part of 
Australia by night about the end of August or beginning of 
September. In January they return northward by degrees, in time 
for the wet season in the interior, and for the purpose of breeding 
there." 
In the “Birds of Australia” it is stated the pectoral Rail is 
migratory, passing one half of the year in the northern, and the 
