Part 8 (2/2)

The white-headed sea-eagle is a deadly foe to the pugnacious sea-serpent also On the beach just above high water-mark was the headless carcase of one that , and while it was under inspection an eagle circled about anxiously Soon after the intruders disappeared the bird swooped down and resu to join hihed several pounds, and apparently was not as dainty to the taste as the green arboreal variety, for after two days' occasional feasting there was still some of the flesh left

Shrewd as is the observation of the white-headed sea-eagle he is not exeh he pounces with authoritative certainty and precision, he does not discriminate until the capture is complete, between the acceptable and the unacceptable Generally whatsoever is seized is carried off, apparently without inspection Perhaps the balloon fish is the only one that is promptly discarded The sea porcupine (DIODON), which shares with that repugnant creature the habit of exe the extent to which the skin of a fish is capable of distention without bursting, is frequently picked up from the shalloater it favours Short sharp needles stand out rigidly froainst le does not always devour the sea porcupine, which at the very best is nothing st such a complex labyrinth of keen bones a hasty le is not a leisurely eater He likes to gulp; and so when he has indiscreetly blundered on a porcupine he frequently unlocks his talons and shakes hiulp, floats away high and light, bearing on its tense silvery-white side the criuided fish have blundered into the trap in the corner of the bay, the sea-eagle deotten spoil Perched on the tallest stake, he faithfully indicates the presence of food that he cannot obtain unless by goodwill; yet ould deny the bird of his right? Having fulfilled his duty as sentinel, he soars to an adjacent tree, uttering that sneering twang which is his one paltry attribute, and when a fish is thrown into the shalloater he swoops down and is aith it to his eyrie If the sand is bare, however, he cannot, owing to his length of wing, pick up the fish in his flight Unbecoal a bird, a series of trials was undertaken to ascertain the height froripped Twelve successive swoops for a h it was touched at least six tile's outstretched talons Consenting to failure, the bird was conifiedly a few yards away, to aardly jump to the fish and to eat it on the spot, for however ile is in the air, and dexterous in the seizure of a fish from the water, he cannot rise from an unimpressionable plane with his talons full On another occasion a fish was raised 4 inches on a slender stake The sea-eagle dislodged it several tirasp it Raised a further 4 inches the fish was seized without fuht inches or so, therefore, seeht fro and a nice deterrip with certainty

WHITE NUTMEG PIGEON

No birds of the air which frequent these parts attract eons (MYRISTICIVORA SPILORRHOA), which resort to the islands during the incubating season

White with part of each flight feather black, and with down of pale buff, it is a handso and fir Half of the year is spent with us They co the first week of Septe March While in this quarter they seek rest and recreation, and increase andthe day for food Their flights to and fro froe is between thirty and forty Purpose and instinct guide theht Towards the end of the breeding season, when therecruits, for an hour and more before sunset until a fewprocession froreat, al under the weight of the ht, the clacking and slapping of wings, the do ”coo-hoo-oo” of the male birds and the responsive notes of the hens; the tu siain with rustling and creaking branches, the sudden shistling wings of single birds close overhead, create a perpetual din Then as darkness follows hard upon the down-sinking of the sun, the birds hustle ale, with querulous, inquiring notes and much ado Gradually the sounds subside, and the subdued monotonous rhythm of the sea alone is heard

An endeavour, from the outset destined to be futile, has been made each season in succession, to estiiven point per ht With so methodical a bird, it was to be expected that the companies would have favoured points of departure fro precise routes to a co the coast, but the main bodies keep to particular routes Most of those which rest on the islands in this neighbourhood quit the mainland between Clu toward the latter point Six miles separate these headlands, but the channel between Tam o'

Shanter and Dunk Island is little eons here become concentrated to a certain extent Early in the season they pass Dunk Island at the rate of about 300 persunset To speaksouth, easily within range of sight fro like 27,000 But in reality the procession of birds may cover a breadth of 2 miles, while only those flocks nearest to the observer are included in the esti When the incubating season is at its height the nu are hatched the un with but brief intervals between the coh and wide

Great as the company of birds seems, it is small coone by Pioneers tell of the days when blacks ont toto the s, which in accordance with tradition were devoured by the older sters of the tribes were nurtured in the belief that if they partook of such luxuries all the pigeons would fly away never to re-visit their haunts Strange as it may seem, the vast quantities eaten by the blacks did not seem to decrease the numbers But since the advent of the white un, a remarkable diminution has been observed in some localities No doubt it could be successfully nificant toll compared with that taken by the blacks of the past But the birds were then deprived of their nestlings and eggs quietly, if re to the species as a whole than the nueons are frequently shot by the hundred as they reach their nesting-place and mass themselves on the trees Some of their nurseries lie far away frole expedition during the breeding season to one of the islands may cause ih in lessening nu the coast to the south, they keep ithin the tropical zone The most favoured resorts within many miles are the Barnard Islands, 14 miles to the north of Dunk Island The whole of the tribes, therefore, though scattered for feeding over an iate on four or five islands--es are indeed prodigious; but they represent the gathering together of clans which have a very wide dispersal Crowded together the host appears innu the day (when only the hen birds stay at horoupon the tree-tops (they are generally silent when feeding), but they are too thinly distributed to afford sport Any other species of native bird which took to gregarious habits ht seem as numerous as this If all the sulphur-crested cockatoos, scrub turkeys, and scrub fowls scattered over an area of the round of the nutht in four or five co; but because the poor pigeon, conspicuous and heedless, has the instinct or habit of association, it is argued that they outnuions are infinite, and that that fact is sufficient licence for the destruction of thousands during the breeding season

Coeonsestablishments extend over hundreds of miles of the eastern coast of North Queensland But it must be remembered that the birds breed only on the islands To preserve them effectually certain islands should be proclaie their propensities when haunted by the thoughts of the consequent cruelty

There are many contradictory statements in popular natural history works with reference to the habits of this bird, and it may not be out of place to quote what one authority says:--

”This singularly shy bird has acquired its popular name fro the wild nut tree (MYRISTICA), in the tops of which itthe brief pairing season Then it coroves, uity to fresh water Here it makes its nest, a more than ordinarily careless structure, the few crossed sticks barely sufficing to prevent the single egg it is destined to receive, fro is undoubtedly shole by the bird, and to the powers of deglutition is left the separation of the nutritive portion which we know as estible nut which is voided in flight Thus this elegant little creature beco-tree, and it is found that sooes during sojourn within the body of the bird, is actually necessary before the nut can be fertilised and induced to take root So strictly arboreal is this pigeon in its habits that it is questionable if it ever alights upon the ground, and so tiem is resorted to”

Some years of repeated observation enable me to offer certain amendments to this narrative, evidently written by one who has been impressed by half the life-history of the bird--the half spent on the eon is multifarious All sorts of nuts and seeds, and even fruits are consu those of the creeping pal (MYRISTICA INSIPIDA, not the nut it), the white hard seeds of the native cabbage (SCOEVOLA KOENIGII), the Burdekin pluh and apparently indigestible, innutritious woodeny nuts and drupes Moreover, it fattens on such diet, but still the wonder grows at the happy provision which enables nuts proportionately of such enormous size to be sed by the bird, and ejected with ease after the pulp or flesh has been assiht from the mainland, a portion of the contents of the crop see down through the leaves to the ground as each co-place Perhaps those only who are suffering from uncomfortable distention so relieve theo through the ordinary process of digestion Thus, by the eons, there is a systee of seeds between the eon resorts to islands where there is no fresh water, and builds a rude platfors, and occasionally of leaves, on all sorts of trees, in all sorts of localities Pals, are all favoured, no particular preference being shown It rears generally two, but so season, which continues from the end of Septe a fresh carpet of twig or leaves is spread A rare nest was composed of fresh leaves of the Moreton Bay ash, with the petioles towards the centre, fore as a pearl-like focus co reposed carelessly at the base of a vigorous plant of DENDOBRIUM UNDULATUM, the old-gold plueons who elect to incubate on the ground discard even the rude platforenerally represents the nest of those who prefer bushes and trees, but gradually encircle themselves with tiny mounds of ejected seeds, until the appearance of a nest is presented At the ter are indicated by circular ra predominates Personal experierminate less readily than those taken direct from the tree

Planted with the red mace still adherent the nuts are quite reliable; others which have been sed by the pigeon and ejected, though submitted to like conditions, fail in considerable proportion So that the oft-repeated theory that the Queensland nuto some chemical process sieon to ensure gereon performs is to transport the nut to free, unstifled soil

No bird is more precise and punctual in its visits It co-places and departs with alo, and becomes wonderfully tame and trustful when undisturbed Speci their habits, climb particular trees known to be well patronised, and as the birds swoop down to rest, kill the slender stick, or hurl nulla-nullas into the hoood table bird, the flesh being dark, tough, and of an earthy flavour--far inferior to the generality of pigeons, and not to be coa-tree of the species referred to elsewhere, in full fruit--pink in colouring until it attains purple ripeness--attracts birds froay as a theatre From sunset to sunrise birds feast and flirt with but brief interludes A general dispersal of the asseic presence of a falcon, whose murderous deeds are transiently recorded by stray painted feathers But the fright soon passes, and the olden-yellow, purplish-reenish-yellow, are his predo bass ”Bub-loo, bub-loo ain in unbirdlike tone, without erievance, a remonstrance and a threat in one doleful phrase; but to the flattered feallantry That other, known as the allied--so like his cousin that his dissonant accents, ”quok--quok--quoo,” are more to be relied upon as ready e; the white-headed, the pheasant-tail, the gorgeous ”superb,”

the tranquil dove, Ewing's fruit pigeon--ular patrons, and each of the family has the distinctive demeanour and note All save the allied--which is too full of assurance and fruit to be disconcerted by the presence of le, and then, as the moins

With one exception the fruit pigeons, however gay the colouring of the throat and breast and under parts generally, are green of back, that passing falcons may be deceived by rese's and Swainson's have the richest of crowns--crowns pink, or shi+ rosy purple Why this fanciful decoration if not to carry the delusion further by reseeons are but a few of the s, and enliven the scene with soft notes and eager whistles Varied and fasciated honey-eaters, black and white, and Jardine's caterpillar-eaters, the tiny s dicaeu costume of blue-black and red (whodimensions), the yellohite-eye (who pecks it to pieces), the white-bellied and the varied graucalus, the drongo, the shi+ning calornis--these and others have been included time after time in the one enu-trees as systeht be expected When they coht, nipping off branchlets and dropping therey falcon soars overhead the birds display varied foreons crouchthe circles of the eneht to a forest tree, whence there is a clear get-away; the companies of yellohite-eyes, with a unanile; the caterpillar-eaters and the honey-eaters, peering about, drop discreetly down a the lower branches, and silence prevails

No serious heed is taken of the white-headed sea-eagle Though the fruit-eaters do not recognise the lordly fellow on the instant of his appearance, he may perch on the topmost branches of the tree to scrutinise the shallows, and they will resu and noise

But a falcon is as a death's-head, and alas! too often a sanguinary disturber of the peace, as the tufts of painted feathers tell

AUSTRALIA'S HUMMING-BIRD

One of the most self-assertive of birds of the island is also one of the least--the sun-bird (CINNYRIS FRENATA) Garbed in rich olive green, royal blue, and bright yellow, and of a quick and lively disposition, setful of his appearance, or regardless of his rights Feeding on honey and on insects which frequent honey-supplying flowers, the sun-bird is generally seen a with the splendour of his plu blossoms, and he seein-gee, the reds of the flale and double hibiscus are reflected fro the bloo-bird--which he resembles even to the characteristic expansion of the tail feathers When in Septeather by the score--the gayest of all the revellers Uncoth of bill enables them to probe recesses of flowers forbidden others, and they seem proud of the superiority The varied-honey-eater visits flower after floith so ofa dozen blooms, while his noisy rival sips with the air of a connoisseur at one There is a spell in the nectar of the flame-tree as irresistibly attractive to taste of birds as the colour is to the sight of h the tree bursts into bloo banquet with unaffected impatience Then one of the prettiest frolics of the sun-bird is revealed Tiay, saucy creatures, so while they wait half a dozen or ate in a circle and with uplifted heads directed towards a co in unison Whether the theainst the tardiness of the tree, or of thanks in anticipation, or of exultation in race, or of rivalry, matters not; but one is inclined to the last theory, for none but lints on their burnished breasts, their throats throb, their long bills quaver with enthusiastic effort, and the song still , so feeble and faint as to be inaudible a few yards off Patience and stillness are the price of it