Page:History of Australia, Rusden 1897.djvu/104

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colours under the clear Australian sky, and the sbrill cries of swarms of parroquets glancing through the air imparted a foreign feeling even to those who were not already wearily conscious of their exile from England, Quail and snipe are occasionally al)undant, thout](h sometimes absent from a caprice unexplained by naturalists and unwelcome to sportsmen. Tiie wedge-taiied eagle and numerous hawks soar for their prey, and descend upon ifc hke a thunder-bolt. The bustard (turkey of the colonists) has been seen struck in air l>y an eagle and tumbling helpless to earth. The rare wliite hawk condescends to no carrion, but strikes his fjame for himself. The ibis visits in large flocks the Cordillera country at intervals, and the early colonists gathered from its coming an apprehension of drought, believing that the evaporation of the waters of the interior drove it towards the liigli lands. Pigeons of large size and doves of singular beauty abound. Though song-hkds are rare, the luitive thrush, without the sustained note of the Emopean congener, has perhaps a mellower voice. The startling and melodious voice of the bird called by the early settlers *Hhe coachman/' from the likeness of his note to the crack of a whip, astonishes him who sees from how small a bird such sound can come. The bell- bird, with metallic but mellow pipe, warns the wanderer that he is near water in some sequestrated nook. The sky- lark is common, but soars not so high in air as his northera congener, and has no song comparable to that of the lark of England. The clattering laugh of the gigantic king- Usher (the laughing jackass) was eccentric and unmusical, but the JD,yous note of the magpie {Gfjmnorhina tlbieeus)^ as he trolled his flutelike morning carol, was always pleasing. The flowers of the forest are plentiful, and excite wonder now, as they did when in their honour Cook's landing-place was called Botany l^ay. The lily, the waratah, and many others claim admiration from the eye. The sweet-scented pittosporum and boronia may challenge other lands to pro- duce an odour which surpasses theirs. Numerous varieties of the mimosa make the air heavy with perfume, and the wafted odour of the mask-tree after rain seems to have i^ome unallojed from the tipice Islands, The flame-tree