Part 6

Now come those beautiful birds, the Egrets. Man's cupidity and selfishness, and woman's desire for ornament, seem to have doomed these birds to total extermination, for the plume trade, which is responsible for some of the "most abominable cruelty practised in the animal world," is a war of extermination. Egrets are shy, and are approachable only in the breeding season. At that time they are, in obedience to parental instincts, brave in defence of their young. It is just then that the plume-hunters visit the rookeries and shoot the parents, leaving the helpless, almost fully-fledged, young to die in the nest, so high overhead. And all for what? Could anyone who has seen the devastated nests, with the famished bodies of the fledglings rotting in the sun, ever take pleasure in Egret plumes decking the head of a sister or wife? Women of refinement and tender heart will refuse to wear the proceeds of human cruelty. Those engaged in the trade resort to the mean trick of calling the plumes "Osprey plumes." Now, the Osprey is a Fish-Hawk, and so possibly of little use to the land-dweller, but these plumes grow on the back and neck of a valuable insect destroyer. The extent of this trade is appalling. At one plume sale, held in London on 4th August, 1909, the breeding plumes of 24,000 birds were offered for sale. Think of it! The slow starvation of 40,000 nestlings, the death of 64,000 birds, to provide the plumes for one day's sale. No, ladies, if you consider you are in need of ornament, wear ostrich plumes and pheasants' feathers, for these do not involve the death of a bird, but rather the reverse, for the greater the demand for these feathers, the more birds will be bred; but spare the Egret.

The Reef Heron is found on beaches from the Bay of Bengal to New Zealand. It has given scientists much trouble, for it has a pure-white form and a dark slaty-gray form. We found and photographed the nests on Mast Head and Heron Islands. This was a prize, for no photograph of a Reef Heron's nest had been published previously. As soon as the falling tide exposed the reef round the island, Reef Herons, Gulls, Plovers, Dottrels, and Terns, went out to have their next meal.

The "Blue Crane" of the country dwellers is the "White-fronted Heron" of the bird-lover. "Fronted" in a bird name refers only to the forehead. Herons are valuable birds to the grazier, farmer, and irrigationist, for, in addition to insects and snails, they eat yabbies (fresh-water crayfish), which bore into the banks and bed of irrigation channels, and so cause much loss of water by soakage.

Distinguished from these birds mainly by its nocturnal habit is the interesting Nankeen Night Heron, our one representative of a practically cosmopolitan genus. Our one Night Heron hides on a leafy bough asleep during the daytime. About dusk he sets off to a swamp.

The Australian Bittern, also our one representative of a cosmopolitan genus, skulks in a bed of reeds. Hence it is seldom seen. Its loud, dismal, booming note probably assisted in the formation of the Bunyip legends of the blacks. I saw more Bitterns in a recent trip down the Brisbane than I ever saw before.

At breeding time these birds assemble in very large companies, and their nesting-places are called heronries or rookeries. The chief rookeries here are in the Riverina, where the great annual overflow of that fine river, the Murray, converts the country into a great series of lakes and swamps. Here water animals live in large numbers, and thousands of birds take advantage of this abundant food supply to nest there in the enormous redgums.

Each bird is the close relative of a similar bird in Europe, so that what is read concerning Herons and Egrets there, applies equally to our members of this widely-distributed family. Eating grasshoppers and other insects in great numbers, they are friends of the farmer and grazier. Destroying yabbies and other burrowing water animals, they are valuable allies of the irrigationist, and it is decidedly bad policy to shoot one.

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[Page 53]

ORDER XII.--ARDEIFORMES.

F. 50. IBIDIDAE (3), IBISES, 27 sp.--4(2)A., 6(2)O., 3(0)P., 10(8)E., 4(0)Nc., 11(7)Nl.

1 5

=112 Australian White Ibis= (Black-necked), Sickle-Bill, _Ibis molucca_, Mol., N.G., A. =vt. Sacred Ibis of Egypt.

Nom. flocks, r. _lagoons_ 30

White; head, upper-neck bare black; back of head and neck barred rose-pink; black bill arched; f., smaller. Insects.

1 1

=113 Straw-necked Ibis=, Dryweather (Letter) Bird, Farmer's Friend, _Carphibis spinicollis_, A. T.

Nom. flocks, c. _grassy_ 28

"This beautiful ibis;" head, fore-neck naked black; black bill arched; pointed, straw-colored plumes on neck; breast, upper greenish-purple barred black; abdomen, flanks, tail white; f., smaller. Insects.

1 3

=114 Glossy Ibis=, Black Curlew (e), _Plegadis falcinellus_, A., T., N.Z., almost cos. exc. S. Am., Arctic, and Pac. Is. [~114 _Egatheus falcinellus._]

Nom. flocks, v.r. _swampy_ 25

Head, neck, breast, back, under rich reddish-chestnut; lower-back, tail dark bronze-green; winter; head, neck streaked white; f., sim. Insects, worms.

F. 51. PLATALEIDAE (2), SPOONBILLS, 6 sp.--2(2)A., 2(0)O., 2(0)P., 2(1)E., 1(0)Nc., 1(0)Nl.

1 4

=115 Black-billed Spoonbill= (Royal), _Platalea regia_, A., N.Z.

Nom. r. _marshy_ 29

White; bill, legs, feet black; f., sim. Shellfish, frogs.

[Page 55]

=128= Cape Barren Goose =129= Maned Goose =131= Plumed Whistling Duck =133= Black Duck =134= Australian Teal =135= Gray Teal =136= Australian Shoveller =137= Pink-eared Duck =139= White-eyed Duck

[Page 57]

=152= Allied Harrier =155= Australian Goshawk =157= Collared Sparrowhawk =158= Wedge-tailed Eagle =165= Black-shouldered Kite =167= Black-cheeked Falcon =170= Little Falcon =172= Brown Hawk =173= Nankeen Kestrel

[Page 60]

1 1

=116 Yellow-billed Spoonbill=, _Platibis flavipes_, A.

Nom. r. _swamps_ 28

White; bill, legs, feet yellow; f., sim. Shellfish, frogs,

F. 52. CICONIIDAE (1), STORK (JABIRU), 19 sp.--2(0)A., 10(6)O., 4(1)P., 8(4)E., 2(0)Nc., 3(1)Nl.

F. 53. _Scopidae_, Hammer-Head, 1 sp. E.

F. 54. _Balaenicipitidae_, Shoe-bird, Shoebill, Whaleheaded Stork, 1 sp. E. (Upper White Nile).

F. 55. ARDEIDAE (16), HERONS, 107 sp.--32(16)A., 27(4)O., 21(1)P., 25(14)E., 17(4)Nc., 33(20)Nl.

1 3

=117 Plumed Egret=, _Mesophoyx plumifera_, Cel., Mol., N.G., A. [~117 _Egretta plumifera._]

Nom. v.r. _swamps_ 24

White; bill yellow; feet, lower legs black, above "knee" yellow; f., sim. Insects.

1 3

=118 Australian White Egret= (Great), White Crane (e), _Herodias timoriensis_, Jap., China, Philippines to A., T., N.Z. [~118 _Egretta timoriensis._]

Nom. v.r. _lagoons_ 30

"This noble species;" white; bill beautiful orange; legs above "knee" and line down centre of inner shin dull yellow; rest of shin, feet black; naked space about eye greenish-yellow; f., sim. Fish, frogs, insects.

2 4

=119* White-fronted Heron=, Blue-Crane (e), Matuku, _Notophoyx novae-hollandiae_, Cel., Mol., N.G., A., T., N.Z.

Nom. v.c. _about water_ 24

Face, throat white; upper, wings dark-gray; under gray tinged rufous; f., sim. Insects, crabs, yabbies.

=120 White-necked Heron= (Pacific), White-necked Crane (e), _N. pacifica_, A., T.

Stat. r. _swamps_ 30

Head, neck, breast, shoulder white; under, wings, tail upper blackish; f., smaller. Frogs, insects.

[Page 61]

1 2

=121 Lesser Egret= (Little, Spotless), _Garzetta nigripes_, Malay to N.G., A. [~121 _Egretta nigripes._]

Nom. r. _swamps_ 22

White; 2 long plumes from nape; feet, legs totally black; bill black; f., sim. Frogs, insects.

1 1

=122 Reef Heron= (White, Blue, Sacred), _Demiegretta sacra_, Jap., Ind. to A., T., N.Z. [~122 _Demigretta sacra._]

Stat. r. _coast_ 23

Dark slaty-gray; bill yellowish-green; some birds are white; f., sim. Crabs, shellfish.

1 8

=123* Nankeen Night Heron=, Nankeen Crane (e), _Nycticorax caledonicus_, Cel., N.G., A., T., N.Z. =vt. Eur. Night Heron. Frogs, insects, yabbies.

Mig. c. _swamps_ 19

Nocturnal; crown, nape black; long white plumes from nape; upper rich chestnut; abdomen white; neck, chest reddish-chestnut; f., sim.; young mottled brown, buff.

2 10

=124 Minute Bittern=, Kaoriki, _Ardetta pusilla_, A., N.Z., =vt. Eur. Little Bittern. [~124 _Ixobrychus pusillus._]

Stat. v.r. _swamps_ 10

Crown, back, tail greenish-black; under pale-buff; hind-neck, shoulder deep-chestnut; bill, feet yellow; dark line from chin to lower breast; f., smaller; upper brown streaked chestnut; tail black; under white streaked brown. Water-animals.

1 5

=125* Australian Bittern= (Black-backed), Boomer, Bull-Bird. Matuku-Lurepo, _Botaurus poeciloptilus_, A. T., N. Cal., N.Z. =vt. Eur. Bittern.

Stat. r. _reeds_ 24

Head, hind-neck, back dark-brown; wings brown marked buff; throat, under creamy-buff streaked dark-brown; bill yellow; f., smaller. Fish, frogs, yabbies, insects.

F. 56. _Palamedeidae_, Screamers, Unicorn-Bird, 3 sp. Nl.

F. 57. _Phoenicopteridae_, Flamingoes, 6 sp.--2(0)O., 1(0)P., 2(0)E., 1(0)Nc., 4(3)Nl.

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Swans, Geese, and Ducks, the Swimming Birds grouped in Order XIII., are all classified in one family, though there are many sub-families.

At the head of the Australian birds is the Black Swan--that _rara avis_ which, possibly, has done more to advertize Australia than any other Australian animal or plant. A "black" swan was an "impossibility," so this bird was one of the strongest factors in establishing Australia's reputation as a land of paradoxes and contradictions.

The Black Swan is well known outside Australia, as it is common in every park and garden in Europe. Gould feared that it would be exterminated here, but fortunately Australians are now learning to appreciate their own land, and there is no danger of such a calamity.

Eight species of Swans are known to occur all over the world with the exception of New Zealand and Africa.

In the next sub-family there is but one bird--the Semipalmated Goose of Australia. This bird, better known as the Magpie Goose, has its feet but half-webbed, hence its specific name, _semipalmata_. It is getting rare, though I heard of six near Colac recently.

Again, the only living representative of the next sub-family is the Cape Barren Goose, which is common in city gardens in Adelaide. It is also becoming rare. It is found only in Tasmania, the Bass Strait Islands, and Southern Australia. We visited its nesting place near Flinders Island. It is a very pugnacious bird, so it is difficult to keep with other birds.

After the Goose sub-family comes the group which includes our "Wood Duck," or, as it is called, the Maned Goose, for its bill is goose-like. It is a common bird in Australia. Two allied genera are found in South America and North-east Africa respectively.

In the next sub-family come the domestic Ducks and most of the wild Ducks of Australia. This group is often referred to as the "Freshwater or River Ducks."

First come two kinds of Whistling Ducks--so called on account of their whistling note uttered while flying. These are rare Ducks, one of which is found as far as India; the other is occasionally seen in New Zealand, as well as in Australia. The Sheldrake, or Shieldrake (Mountain Duck) is the largest Australian Duck, and one of the most handsome of the sub-family. It is nowhere very plentiful, though one or more pairs appear in most suitable localities. As it is unfit for the table, it should be spared as an ornament to the landscape.

The Black Duck is very similar to the common wild Duck (Mallard) of England. Our Black Duck does not change color with the season, nor is the male different in color from the female.

The Australian Teal is closely similar to the Teal of Europe. It is a grass feeder, and is a good table bird. The female is very different from the male. It is impossible to distinguish the male Gray Teal from the female Teal when in the free state. Mr. Keartland (ex-President of the Field Naturalist Club, and ornithologist to the Horn and Calvert exploring expeditions) has shown that there is a big difference in weight. The male of the smaller Gray Teal is not brightly colored like the male Chestnut-breasted Teal.

The remarkable Shoveller comes next. It is closely similar to the English Shoveller. Strange that this name was first used for the Spoonbill. The Shovellers are found the world over. The males are very brightly colored in the nesting season.

Unlike most other birds, Swans and Ducks lose the whole of their wing feathers at once when moulting, so that for a short time they cannot fly. As a protection, the gaudy ones acquire a quiet, inconspicuous coloration for a time, so that the male is said to get an "eclipse plumage." Many other birds get a bright dress for the breeding season only, but the male Duck wears his bright dress for the whole year, except in the moulting period. It is then "eclipsed," with the corresponding advantage that he is protected from his many enemies at a time when he is most helpless.

The remarkable Pink-eared Duck has no close relative. It has a small pink spot between the eye and ear, and so is called pink-eyed or pink-eared. It is found only in Australia. The female is similar in color to the male. The name Wigeon, or Widgeon, sometimes applied to this Duck, properly belongs to another of the fresh-water Ducks which is not found in Australia. Hence, this name should not be used for our bird.

Another peculiar Australian Duck is the Freckled Duck. It is a very rare bird. One taken on the ornithologists' excursion to Eyre Peninsula was considered a prize. So far as is known, it does not change color with the season, nor has the male or female the usual bright metallic patch seen on the wing of a Duck.

The "Salt-water Ducks" form the next sub-family. These Ducks, though, are not always true to name, for they are not confined to the salt water. The Victorian representative is the well-known White-eyed Duck, or Hardhead. This Duck was common on the Botanic Gardens Lake, Melbourne, until it was emptied some time ago. Thus, our one "Salt-water Duck" was often seen on fresh water. In the same sub-family come the Eider-Ducks of Iceland and the Logger-head, Racehorse, or Steamer Duck, of Magellan Straits, which is said to lose the power of flight on reaching maturity after the first moult. Thus the life-history tells us that this bird is a degenerate form, and not a primitive flightless form, for it has evidently descended from flying ancestors. It uses its wings to row itself along at great speed.

The ninth sub-family of this group of swimming birds contains two native Ducks. The Blue-billed Duck, the first of these, is "especially adapted for immersion and for obtaining its food from the bottom of the water rather than on its surface." It was thought by Gould to be confined to the coastal lagoons of Western Australia, but it has since been recorded from inland in Victoria, and four specimens have been taken in Tasmania. It remains under the water for a considerable time, and, if hunted, flaps along the surface with its short wings, but hesitates to exercise its "feeble grebe-like flight."

Some writers declare that the large Musk Duck is the most remarkable of the many remarkable birds of Australia. It is the only known species of the genus, and is "singularly different from every other member of the Duck family," as Gould points out. Gould further says that "this extraordinary bird reminds one of the Cormorants. Like many other of these antipodean forms, it must be regarded as an anomaly." The male has a lengthened, stiff, and leather-like appendage under the bill. The female is without this pouch, and is but half the size of the male. A pair is often to be seen on a sheltered bay or on an inland dam, and yet this bird has very feeble powers of flight. It is difficult to cause one to take to flight. Mr. A. J. Campbell summed up an instructive discussion on this point in the columns of _The Australasian_ by concluding that Musk Ducks can fly, though they do so almost entirely at night.

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[Page 62]

ORDER XIII.--ANSERIFORMES.

F. 58. ANATIDAE (21), SWANS, GEESE, 206 sp.--39(30)A., 50(9)O., 68(10)P., 41(21)E., 56(11)Nc., 70(39)Nl.

1 1

=126 Black Swan=, _Chenopsis atrata_, A., T. [~126 _Chenopis atrata._]

Stat. c. _lakes_ 40

Black; white on wing; very long neck; f., sim. Plants.

[Page 63]

1 1

=127 Pied Goose= (Magpie, Black and White, Semipalmated), _Anseranas semipalmata_, A., T.

Stat. v.r. _water_ 32

Head, neck, wings, lower-back, tail, thighs black; rest white; feet half-webbed; f., sim. Grass.

1 1

=128* Cape Barren Goose=, _Cereopsis novae-hollandiae_, V., S.A., W.A., T., Bass St. Is.

Stat. v.r. _grass_, _coast_ 33

Brownish-gray; dark spots on wing; bill black; naked skin round bill lemon-yellow; legs pinkish; toes, webs, streak up front of leg black; pugnacious; f., sim. Grass.

1 1

=129* Maned Goose=, Wood-Duck (e), _Chenonetta jubata_, A., T.

Stat. c. _water_ 20

Crown deep-brown; tail, lower-back black; metallic green on wing; breast gray spotted black; hind-neck short black plumes; white patch on wing; bill olive-brown, high, goose-like; f., smaller; duller; breast spotted white. Grass, snails, insects.

2 9

=130 Whistling Duck= (Tree), _Dendrocygna arcuata_, Ind., Malay to Cel., Mol., N.G., A., Oceania.

Stat. r. _water_ 17

Crown, upper brownish-black marked lighter; chin whitish; breast deep-buff, spotted black; abdomen chestnut; under base tail white; whistles when flying; f., sim. Water-plants, fish.

[Page 64]

=131* Plumed Whistling Duck= (Eyton Tree), _D. eytoni_, A., T., N.Z.

Stat. r. _lagoons_ 16

Upper grayish-brown; rump, tail blackish-brown; lower-breast, flanks chestnut barred black; white, black plumes on flanks; under base tail white; whistles when flying; f., sim. Water-plants, fish.

[Page 65]

2 5

=132 Australian Sheldrake=, Chestnut-colored Shieldrake, Mountain Duck, _Casarca tadornoides_, N.S.W., V., T., S.A., W.A., N.W.A. =vt. Eur. Sheldrake. [~132 _Tadorna tadornoides._]

Stat. r. _lagoons_ 27

Head, neck shining-green; chest, upper-back pale rust-red; white band between green and rust-red; upper, under blackish; tail black; white, green, chestnut on wing; f., smaller, duller. Small fish, shellfish.

1 16

=133* Black Duck= (Australian Wild, Gray, Brown), Parera, _Anas superciliosa_, =vt. Eur. Mallard. Sunda Is. to N.G., A., T., N.Z.

Stat. v.c. _water_ 24

Head dark-brown; line above eye, line below eye, throat light-buff; upper, under brown marked lighter; glossy-green patch on wing; bill bluish lead-color; f., sim. Grass, insects, pond-snails.

3 15

=134* Australian Teal= (Chestnut-breasted, Black, Mountain), Tete, _Nettium castaneum_, Java, Cel., A., T., N.Z. =vt. Eur. Teal. [~134 _Nettion castaneum._]

Stat. c. _lagoons_ 18.5

Head, neck dark bronze-green; upper rich brown; under chestnut; flanks spotted black; white, green patch on expanded wing; quills black; 1 lb. 9 oz.; f., head, neck brown and buffy-white; breast gray, spotted black; 1 lb. 8 oz. Grass.

=135* Gray Teal=, Wood-Teal, _N. gibberifrons_, Sunda Is., Cel., N.G., A., T., N.Z.

Stat. c. _lagoons_ 16

Like female of 134, but smaller; neck white; 1 lb. 2 oz.; f., smaller; 1 lb. 1 oz.

[Page 66]

2 4

=136* Australian Shoveller=, Bluewing, Spoonbill-Duck, Stinker, Kuruwhengi, _Spatula rhynchotis_, A., T., N.Z., =vt. Eur. Shoveller.

Nom. v.r. _freshwater_ 21.5 Crown brownish-black; white line before eye, side of neck; head, neck gray tinged green; under chestnut-brown mottled black; flanks chestnut banded black; back-feathers blackish edged grayish; blue, white, green on wing; throat black; quills dark-brown; under-wing white; f., duller; head, neck buff marked brown; under mottled brown, buff. Water-plants, shellfish, insects.

[Page 67]

1 1

=137* Pink-eared Duck= (Pink-eyed, Zebra), Widgeon (e), _Malacorhynchus membranaceus_, A., T.

Nom. v.r. _fresh water_ 17

Under barred brown, white; face, chin white; black round eye; behind eye a spot of rose-pink; back, wings brown; upper base tail whitish; tail dark-brown slightly tipped white; f., smaller. Water-animals.

1 1

=138 Freckled Duck= (Monkey), _Stictonetta naevosa_, V., S.A., W.A., T., N.S.W.

v.r. _water_ 17

Dark-brown freckled whitish, under lighter. Small fish, pond-snails.

1 8

=139* White-eyed Duck= (Purple-headed, White-winged), Hardhead, Brownhead, Barwing, Karakahia, _Aythya australis_, N.G., A., T., N.Z., =vt. Canvas-back of N. Am. [~139 _Nyroca australis._]

c. _lagoons_, _bays_ 20

Chestnut-brown; white patch on wing; upper abdomen whitish; under tail white; eye white; f., smaller, duller. Pond-snails, insects.

1 7

=140 Blue-billed Duck= (Spiny-tailed, Stiff-tailed, Diving), _Erismatura australis_, N.S.W., V., S.A., W.A., T. [~140 _Oxyura australis._]

v.r. _reedbeds_ 16

Head, neck black; chest, back, flanks chestnut; tail blackish; bill light-blue; f., bill olive-green; freckled gray-brown; under lighter. Insects, pond-snails, fish.

1 1

=141 Musk Duck= (Must), Mould Goose (e), _Biziura lobata_, S.Q., N.S.W., V., S.A., W.A., T.

Stat. c. _lagoons_, _bays_ 26

Blackish freckled buffy-white; wings small; long stiff tail-feathers; bill, lobe beneath chin greenish-black; dives; f., half-size; duller; no lobe. Frogs, shellfish, shrimps.

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There are six families of birds included in Order XIV.--the Totally-webbed Swimmers. All four toes are joined by a web. Ducks have three toes only joined by the web, the hind toe being free. Representatives of the six families are found in Australia. These birds are fishers _par excellence_.

In the first family come the well-known Cormorants or Shags, birds found in almost every country in the world. Forty-two species are known, of which five occur in Australia.

The large Black Cormorant is the common Black Cormorant of Britain. It has a very extensive range over North America, Greenland, Europe, Africa, Asia, and Australia.

The little Black Cormorant is found in Australia, from the Moluccas to Borneo, and in New Zealand. Indeed, New Zealand is the stronghold of Cormorants, as it possesses many species.

The White-breasted and Pied Cormorants are so closely similar that possibly they will yet prove to be one species. Each is glistening white below, and jet black above. The bill is said to be longer in the Pied Cormorant, and the patch of naked skin near the eye is yellow, whereas, in the White-breasted Cormorant, this patch is said to be blackish or purplish. The Little Cormorant is also black and white. Its throat and upper chest are yellow.