Part 2

20 _Rallus pectoralis._ 65-66 _Genus Thalasseus._ 70 _Sterna fuscata._ 74 _Catharacta._ 75 _Catharacta parasitica._ 76 _Morinella interpres._ 80 _Lobibyx novae hollandiae._ 82 _Squatarola squatarola._ 83-89 _Genus Charadrius._ 90 _Hypsibates_ 95 _Numenius minutus._ 96 _Limosa baueri._ 97 _Limosa melanuroides._ 98 _Tringa hypoleuca._ 99 _Tringa nebularia._ 100 _Arenaria leucophaea._ 101 _Erolia ruficollis._ 102 _Erolia aurita._ 103 _Erolia ferruginea._ 104 _Canutus canutus._ 105 _Canutus magnus._ 110 _Choriotis australis._ 111 _Mathewsia rubicunda._ 114 _Egatheus falcinellus._ 117 _Egretta plumifera._ 118 _Egretta timoriensis._ 121 _Egretta nigripes._ 122 _Demigretta sacra._ 124 _Ixobrychus pusillus._ 126 _Chenopis atrata._ 132 _Tadorna tadornoides._ 134 _Nettion castaneum._ 139 _Nyroca australis._ 140 _Oxyura australis._ 142-146 _Genus, Carbo._ 157 _Astur cirrhocephalus._ 171 _Ieracidea berigora._ 172 _Ieracidea orientalis._ 179-183 _Genus, Tyto._ 185-187 _Genus, Glossopsitta._ 191 _Genus, Callocephalon._ 192-194 _Genus, Cacatoees._ 195 _Licmetis tenuirostris._ 196 _Calopsitta novae-hollandiae._ 198 _Polytelis anthopeplus._ 208 _Neophema chrysostoma._ 213 _Lathamus discolor._ 225 _Eurostopodus albigularis._ 228 _Apus pacificus._ 229 _Cuculus pallidus._ 232 _Misocalius palliolatus._

PREFACE.

This little volume is intended as a pocket book for field use, so that the many teachers, nature-students, nature-lovers, schoolboys, schoolgirls, and boy scouts, who like to "_see_ what they _look at_," may be able to name the birds they meet.

The first step towards knowing the birds is a _desire_ to know them; this will grow if a person is interested; so our first business, as in all nature-study work, is to arouse _interest_. Interest follows at once, as we have often found, if a person realizes that what is about him or her is worthy of study.

To arouse this necessary interest, a lecture on Australian birds is given in such a form that it may be repeated, if desired.

The second requisite is a handy descriptive list of the birds that are likely to be seen. This has been written in simple language, so that the schoolboy and non-expert can use it.

Thus, our aims are two:--

1. To show that Australian birds are of interest.

2. To supply, in a convenient form, a list of the birds which are likely to be seen, and the marks by means of which they may be identified.

This little book contains illustrations and descriptions of--

100% of the birds found in Victoria. 92.5% .. .. .. .. .. .. .. South Australia. 87.3% .. .. .. .. .. .. .. Tasmania. 82.5% .. .. .. .. .. .. .. New South Wales. 78.16%.. .. .. .. .. .. .. W. Australia (S. and C.). 78.15%.. .. .. .. .. .. .. Queensland.

The balance of those found in each of the other States is made up mainly of birds closely related to those of which illustrations are given, or of very rare birds restricted to a small area.

The families of the birds of the world have been included, so that the observer can see where the bird he is observing is placed amongst the world's birds. He will also be enabled to place near its Australian relatives birds he reads about. The Australian birds only are grouped in orders.

Mr. H. Wilson, Nature-study Lecturer, Training College, superintended the painting of the birds, and saw the book through the press.

_A Hand-List of Birds_: Dr. Sharpe; and _A Hand-List of the Birds of Australasia_: Gregory M. Mathews, have been followed for classification and distribution.

But for the interest of the Minister of Education, the Hon. A. A. Billson, and the Director, Mr. F. Tate, M.A., I.S.O., this little book would not have been possible. Further, Mr. Billson suggested the colored illustrations, while Mr. Tate has written the introduction, read the proof-sheets and assisted at all stages.

PREFACE TO THE SECOND EDITION.

In response to requests from beginners, a table has been added on page 190. This table shows the page on which a bird of a certain size may be found.

Pending the completion by the Royal Australasian Ornithologists' Union of its official _Check-list of the Birds of Australia_, the scientific names have been left as in the first edition.

NOTES.

Where one number is placed over another at the left side of the page, the lower number denotes the number of species of that genus found in the world; the upper denotes the number of species found in Australia and Tasmania.

The number at the right side of the page is the length of the bird in inches (from the tip of bill to the tip of tail).

The families of birds known are numbered consecutively, thus, F. 11, F. 12, and so on. The number after a family name denotes the number of species recorded from Australia and Tasmania. The distribution of the species of each family amongst the six zoogeographical regions is shown thus:

F. 17. COLUMBIDAE (2), WOOD PIGEONS, Passenger-Pigeon, Rock-Dove, 119 sp.--41(40)A., 25(17)O., 18(10)P., 19(17)E., 4(0)Nc., 24(20)Nl.

This should read: Family number 17 of the world's birds, COLUMBIDAE (two of which are found in Australia and Tasmania) contains the Wood Pigeons, including the Passenger-Pigeon (of North America) and the Rock-Dove (of Europe). It comprises 119 species, of which 41 are found in the Australian Region, 40 of them being confined to this region; 25 are found in the Oriental Region, 17 being confined to it; 18 are found in the Palaearctic Region, 10 of which are not found outside the region; 19 have been recorded from the Ethiopian Region, 17 being peculiar to that region; 4 have been recorded from the Nearctic Region, none of which is restricted to the region; 24 have been recorded from the Neotropical Region, 20 being peculiar to it.

The name in black type is the name accepted by the Australasian Association for the Advancement of Science in 1898, and amended by the "names" sub-committee of the Royal Australasian Ornithologists' Union, 1911. This name should be used to denote the bird. Many local names are given, so that a person knowing a bird by one of these may discover its proper name.

A.--Australian Region (from Wallace's Line to Sandwich Islands and New Zealand, see map p. 10).

O.--Oriental (Indian) Region (India to Wallace's Line).

P.--Palaearctic Region (Europe, N.W. Africa, and Northern and Western Asia, except Arabia).

E.--Ethiopian Region (Arabia and Africa, except N.W.).

Nc.--Nearctic Region. ("_The A.O.U. Check-List of North American Birds, 1910_" has been followed in making this North America, less Mexico).

Nl.--Neotropical Region (South America, with Mexico).

A.O.U.--American Ornithologists' Union; R.A.O.U--Royal Australasian Ornithologists' Union.

A. denotes found throughout Australia; E.A. denotes found in Queensland, N.S.W., and Victoria; S.A. denotes South Australia; C.A. denotes Central Australia; W.A. denotes Western Australia; N. Ter.--Northern Territory; Mal.--Malaysia; Mol.--Molucca Is.; N. Cal.--New Caledonia; N. Heb.--New Hebrides; N.G.--New Guinea; N.Z.--New Zealand; Br.--British; T.--Tasmania.

Nom.--Nomadic; Mig.--Migratory; Part. Mig.--Partly Migratory; Stat.--Stationary; exc.--except; acc.--accidental.

C.--common; v.c.--very common; r.--rare; v.r.--very rare; u.--unlikely that the ordinary observer will see it.

* means see colored illustration.

f.--female; m.--male; f., sim.--f. is similar in color and size.

=vt. Eur. denotes that the Australian bird is closely similar in form, habits, &c., to the corresponding European bird.

=vt. cos. denotes that it is the equivalent or representative of a cosmopolitan group of birds.

1 4

=6* King Quail= (Chestnut-bellied, Least, Dwarf), reads "No. 6 (see colored illustration) is the King Quail, called also the Chestnut-bellied Quail, Least Quail, and Dwarf Quail. Four of this genus are known in the world, of which one is found in Australia."

(e) denotes that a name is used in error.

* * * * *

A Yellow-tailed Tit-Warbler is about 4 in. long; a White-eye, 4.5 in.; a Sparrow, 5 in.; a House-Swallow, 6.5 in.; a Sordid Wood-Swallow, 7 in.; a Black and White Fantail, 7.5 in.; a Starling, 8.5 in.; a Harmonious Shrike-Thrush, 9.5 in.; a Noisy Miner, 10 in.; a Magpie-Lark, 10.5 in.; a Butcher-Bird, 11 in.; a Pallid Cuckoo, 12in.; a Rosella, 12.5 in.; a Galah, 14 in.; a Wattle-Bird, 14.5 in.; a Laughing Kingfisher, 17.5 in.; a White-backed Magpie, 18 in.; and a Crow, 20 in. (measured from the tip of tail to the tip of bill).

Don't try to judge a bird's length in inches.

Note one or two prominent markings, and the size of a bird; say, larger than a Starling, but smaller than a Magpie-Lark. Then get the length of these birds from the table above (8-1/2 in. and 10-1/2 in. respectively), and compare the description of each bird that comes between these lengths with the illustrations and the bird before you. The birds are approximately relative size on each block.

Use the index to find the page of a bird, then use the number, if asterisked, to find the bird in the colored plate index.

=An Australian Bird Book.=

* * * * *

A LECTURE.

Australia is the wonderland of the scientist and of the Nature-lover. It is a great living "museum," stocked with marvels of many kinds, including so-called "living fossils," the sole survivors of otherwise extinct groups of animals.

Competent authorities have proposed to divide the world, biologically, into two parts--Australia and the rest of the world, and they have considered Australia the more important part.

This division was based mainly on the study of mammals--animals which suckle their young--for Australia is the home of the two surviving members of the lowest group of mammals--Monotremata, the egg-laying Platypus (_Ornithorhynchus_), and the Spiny Ant-eater (_Echidna_). Further, marsupials, except for two kinds found in America, are confined to this long-isolated southern land.

Here, shut off from the severe competition experienced by the animals of northern lands, marsupials were modified so that they were adapted for life in almost every realm utilized by the higher mammals of other countries. Thus there are herbivorous, carnivorous, and insectivorous marsupials. Owing, probably, to the advent of Bats--true flying mammals--at, possibly, a comparatively early time, the marsupial was beaten in the air, and so a true flying form was not evolved, though the so-called "Flying Phalanger" is some distance on the way.

As regards the other group of flying animals--birds--Australia is even of greater interest, for here are found unique archaic forms of life, such as the Emu, Cassowary, Mound-Builders, and Lyre-Birds, and "every widely-spread family of birds but two is represented; the only widely-spread families of birds totally absent from Australia are Woodpeckers and Vultures." Woodpeckers, however, have crossed Wallace's line into Celebes and adjacent islands, and may yet reach Australia naturally.

Further, many well-known birds, such as Pigeons, Parrots, and Kingfishers, reach their highest development in the Australian region, and, more important still, the whole bird world seems to reach its culminating point in this wonderland. It is a factor adding to the interest of Australia's fauna that three of the four families placed at the head of the bird world in the natural system of classification adopted by ornithologists, and used by Dr. Sharpe in his just recently completed _Hand-List of Birds_, should be absolutely confined to the Australian Continent and adjacent islands. Thus Australia can justly claim to be the most highly developed of regions, so far as birds are concerned, for Bower-Birds, Birds of Paradise, and Bell-Magpies (_Streperas_) are peculiar, while the penultimate family--the Crow family--is shared with the other regions of the world.

Thus, with regard to birds, the term "fossil continent" applied to Australia is not appropriate, as it is but partly true.

Since the birds native to Australia are so interesting in themselves, and are so varied in kind, Australians should know, love, and jealously protect these beautiful creatures. Strict regulations should be framed to prevent the exploitation of Nature's gifts by those who destroy useful or precious and rare birds for the sake of gain. Even collectors, who, under the guise of scientific work, collect eggs, and kill birds to trade in their skins, should be supervized.

Let us now consider the different groups of birds. Living birds were formerly divided into two sub-classes--(1) _Ratitae_ (Lat., _ratis_, a raft), and (2) _Carinatae_ (Lat., _carina_, a keel). The first is the small group of flightless, running birds, made up of five living birds, all inhabiting southern lands. These are the Emu and Cassowary of Australia, the Ostrich of South Africa, the Rhea or South American Ostrich, and the Kiwi or Apteryx of New Zealand. Taken together with other evidence, all pointing in the same way, these birds have led scientists to think of a great southern land mass connecting the southern lands, for the Emu did not fly here, nor did the Rhea fly to South America, but they must have reached their present home by a land-bridge not necessarily complete at any one time. As these birds do not fly, they have no big wing-muscles, and so do not need the ridge of bone down the breast. Thus they belong to the sub-class, the members of which have a raft-like breast bone. The other living birds were placed in the sub-class the members of which have a keel on the breast bone for the attachment of the wing-muscles.

Recently, however, Pycraft, a leading ornithologist, has proposed to base the division into sub-classes on the characters of the bones of the palate instead of those of the breast-bone. Thus, he places the sixth family of birds--the Tinamous, of South America--with the ratite birds, to form his primitive group--_Palaeognathae_ ("old jaw"), while the members of the old sub-class _Carinatae_, minus the Tinamous, constitute his second division, the _Neognathae_ ("new jaw").

Mr. Gregory Mathews, the first part of whose projected great work on Australian Birds has just come to hand, has followed Dr. Bowdler Sharpe in accepting this classification, so we must follow too, as Mathews' work will probably be our standard for years to come. The large number of Australian birds belonging to this second sub-class is now divided into 20 orders, which with the Emu order, make a total of 21 orders of birds represented in Australia.

Now, let us consider the birds in each order. The best-known member of the first Australian order is the Emu, a bird well known to all, though, unfortunately, becoming very rare, so that few persons in the settled districts now enjoy the privilege of seeing an Emu in a wild state.

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CLASS.--AVES.--BIRDS.

Sub-Class I.--Palaeognathae.

Ratitae and Tinamidae.

F. 1. _Rheidae_, Rhea, 3 sp. Nl.

F. 2. _Struthionidae_, Ostrich, 4 sp.--4(3)E., 1(0)P. (S. Palestine).

ORDER I.--CASUARIIFORMES.

F. 3. DROMAEIDAE (1), EMU, 1 sp. A.

1 1

=1 Emu=, _Dromaius novae-hollandiae_, A.

Stat. r. plains 78

See diagram, second largest living bird; f., smaller. Fruits, grass.

F. 4. CASUARIIDAE (1), CASSOWARY, 17 sp. A.

F. 5. _Apterygidae_, Apteryx, Kiwi, 6 sp. A. (N.Z.).

F. 6. _Tinamidae_, Tinamous, 69 sp. Nl.

Sub-Class II.--Neognathae.

Carinatae, minus Tinamidae.

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The birds of the second order are well known as "scratchers." They include the domestic fowl, which has been derived from the wild jungle fowl of India, and other fowl, such as the peafowl. Quail are also included here; so are Pheasants. The absence of Pheasants from Australia is more than compensated for by the presence of the Mound-Builders. These marvellous birds, Brush Turkeys and Mallee-Fowl, retain the reptilian characteristic of not sitting on their eggs. Thus the young have never known their parents. The eggs are laid in a huge mound of sand and earth, which contains rotting vegetation. The heat of decomposition in this remarkable natural incubator, is quite sufficient to hatch the eggs. The young are born fully feathered, able to run at once, and able to fly the day they leave the mound. Contrast their stage of development with that of a pigeon born naked, blind, and helpless, and that of a chick born clothed with down and able to run about. There is an interesting connexion between the size of an egg and the state of development of the young bird at birth. The pigeon lays a relatively small egg, so the young pigeon does not develop far in the egg, and requires much maternal care. The hen's egg is larger, and the chick is more fully developed. The Mallee-Hen's egg is enormous, and so the young can develop much further before birth. This bird, unfortunately, is doomed to early extinction, for the fox has discovered the rich store of food in the eggs, and country dwellers have also discovered that they are delicate in flavor, and are good food. It is hoped that the scrubby western end of Kangaroo Island, where foxes are unknown, will prove a suitable sanctuary for them. These birds, which rank among Nature's wonders, are almost confined to the Australian region. One is found in Borneo and the Philippines, while a second is confined to the distant Nicobar Islands. Twenty-six live in Australia and its neighboring islands. One of these has spread across Wallace's line to the small Kangean Island, near Java. The Stubble Quail, a member of the Pheasant family, is nearly identical with the British Quail. Mathews and Campbell make the King Quail a sub-species of the Chinese Quail.

Quail are favorite sporting birds, but when one considers that they are worth about 9d. each as table or game birds, and that sportsmen found at Birregurra, that the crops of Quail were full of crickets, and at Kerang the Quail contained numbers of a species of weevil, it is doubtful if it is wise policy to shoot this insect-eating bird. Although it may be worth a few pence as a table bird; it is worth many shillings as a pest destroyer.

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ORDER II.--GALLIFORMES.

F. 7. MEGAPODIIDAE (4), Mound-Builders, Scrub-Fowl, Brush Turkey, Megapode, 28 sp.--27(25)A., 3(1)O.

1 1

=2* Mallee-Fowl=, Lowan, Native Pheasant, Pheasant (e), _Leipoa ocellata_, N.S.W., V., S.A., W.A.

Stat. r. _mallee scrubs_ 24

Like a small turkey; neck light fawn-gray; back, wings spotted white, black, brown; f., smaller. Seeds, ants.

F. 8. _Cracidae_, Curassows, Guans, 59 sp.--1(0)Nc., 59(58)Nl.

F. 9. _Tetraonidae_, Grouse, Capercailly, Ptarmigan, Prairie-Fowl, 45 sp.--1(0)O., 19(16)P., 28(26)Nc.

F. 10. PHASIANIDAE (6), Pheasants, Partridges, Peafowl, Domestic Fowls, 242 sp.--12(10)A., 137(119)O., 47(31)P., 64(58)E.

1 6

=3* Stubble Quail= (Pectoral), _Coturnix pectoralis_, A., T. =vt. Eur. Quail.

Nom. c. _stubble_, _grass_ 6.7

Brown lined white, black; throat dull reddish; breast streaked black; f., less distinctly marked with black. Weed-seeds, insects. Rises with a burr-r-r.

3 7

=4* Brown Quail= (Swamp, Partridge), _Synoicus australis_, N.G., A., T. =vt. Eur. Partridge.

Nom. c. _grassy flats_ 6.5

Upper finely-barred gray, black, chestnut; under buffy-gray with zigzag black bars; bill blue, tipped black; eyes orange; f., sim. Seeds, insects. "Bee'e quick."

=5 Tasmanian Quail= (Silver, Greater-Brown), _S. diemenensis_, V., T. Like 4, but larger.

Nom. r. occ. _thick grass_ 8.5

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1 4

=6* King Quail= (Chestnut-bellied, Least, Dwarf, Swamp), _Excalfactoria chinensis lineata_, Philippines, Sumatra to A. exc. W.A.; sub-species of Chinese Quail.

Nom. r. _swamps_ 4.5

Back dark-brown; breast blue-gray; abdomen chestnut; throat black, white bands conspicuous; 1-1/4 oz.; f., dark-brown, spotted black; throat whitish; under barred black. Weed-seeds, insects.

F. 11. _Numididae_, Guinea-Fowls, 23 sp. E.

F. 12. _Meleagridae_, Turkeys, 5 sp.--4(2)Nc., 3(1)Nl.

F. 13. _Odontophoridae_, American Quails, Bob-Whites, 72 sp.--18(10)Nc., 62(54)Nl.

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Order III. comprises the 26 Bustard Quail and the peculiar Australian Plain Wanderer. Only the last species of this Bustard Quail family, the Australian Plain Wanderer has the hind toe. The females of this order of birds do the fighting.

In Quail, the rule often observed amongst birds that the male is larger and more beautiful than the female may be reversed, for here the female is sometimes larger and the more conspicuously colored. In association with this reversal of color and size, the domestic habits are changed, for, in some species at least, the female sits on the eggs but a very short time; the male then finishes the task of incubating, and brings up and educates the young family. Meantime, the female has found another mate and another clutch of eggs is left to the care of the male.

In birds having both sexes the same color each bird usually does its share of domestic work, sitting on the eggs, feeding the young, etc. Where the male is more brightly colored, he, as a rule, does not sit on the eggs, for he would be visible to a bird of prey sailing overhead, and so would probably be killed and the eggs taken. The great naturalist, Alfred Russel Wallace, thus regards the quiet coloration of most female birds as a protection during the nesting season. The gaudy coloration of many male birds has been explained by Darwin as being due to sexual selection, the female choosing as a mate the most gaily colored or most attractive bird.

Though the sitting bird is usually protectively colored, it was our good fortune, on a Summer School excursion, attended by His Excellency the Governor (Sir Thomas Gibson-Carmichael), a keen Nature-lover, and the Director of Education (Mr. F. Tate), to find the gorgeously-colored male Golden-breasted Whistler (Thickhead) sitting on the eggs in full daylight. It was noted, however, that the open nest was unusually well protected by an overhead bushy branch.

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ORDER III.--TURNICIFORMES, HEMIPODES.

F. 14. TURNICIDAE (8), Button (Bustard) Quail, 27 sp.--14(14)A., 9(6)O., 3(0)P., 4(4)E.

7 26

=7 Red-Backed Quail= (Black-backed, Orange-breasted), _Turnix maculosa_, Cel., N.G., N.A., E.A., S.A.

Nom. r. _marshy_ 7

Back brown; crown blackish; sides, breast large black spots; abdomen lighter; no hind toe; f., larger. Weed-seeds, insects.

=8* Painted Quail= (Speckled, Butterfly), Varied Turnix, New Holland Partridge (e), _T. varia_, A., T.

Nom. r. _sandy_ 8

Upper rufous-brown with buff, black lines; breast, face spotted; no hind toe; f., larger. Weed-seeds, insects.

=9 Red-chested Quail= (Chestnut-breasted, Yellow), _T. pyrrhothorax_, A. exc. W.A.

Nom. v.r. _marshy_ 6

Upper dark-brown with buff, black lines; breast sandy-red; abdomen whitish; no hind toe; f., much larger, brighter. Weed-seeds, insects.

=10 Little Quail= (Dottrel, Swift-flying, Button), _T. velox_, A.

Nom. c. _open plains_ 5.5

Upper rufous with chestnut, black lines; breast rufous; abdomen white; no hind toe; f., much larger. Weed-seeds, insects.

1 1

=11* Plain Wanderer=, Turkey Quail, _Pedionomus torquatus_, A. exc. W.A.

Mig. r. _grass_, m., 4.8; f., 6.3

Brown; broad black, white spotted collar; light band on wing; breast chestnut; hind toe; m., smaller, paler, faint collar. Weed-seeds, insects.

F. 15. _Pteroclididae_, Sand-Grouse, Rock-Pigeons (e), 17 sp.--7(2)O., 8(1)P., 12(7)E.

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