Chapter XLIV: Section II: Birds

Unlike the mammals, there is nothing in the general aspect of the birds of Tasmania to distinguish them from those of other countries; there are, however, some peculiar forms, but they are not of such a nature as to strike the eye. Many of the birds of Europe are represented here, as the hawks, owls, swallows, snipe, ducks, &c., and not a few have received English names, from the real or fancied resemblance which they bear to their British prototypes, as the magpies, wrens, robins, &c.

Mr. John Gould, in his splendid and elaborate work, _The Birds of Australia_, has so completely illustrated and described the birds of Australia, including those of Tasmania, that little remains to be done by those who follow him. Whether we look at this magnificent work for its beauty, or its accuracy, we cannot help feeling rejoiced that so interesting a portion of the natural history of Tasmania should have been so ably illustrated. According to Mr. Gould's work, Tasmania possesses 170 species,[270] of which only a few, so far as at present known, are _peculiar_ to it, that is, have not yet been found in any other part of Australia. In the 170 are included some occasional and rare visitants to our shores, but several others will, no doubt, have hereafter to be added; this is, however, a close enough approximation for all ordinary purposes.

The 170 birds may be divided into the following orders and genera:--

ORDERS. No. of No. of
Genera. Species.

RAPTORS 11 13 INSESSORES 46 62 RASORES 4 6 GRALLATORES 20 30 NATATORES 29 59 110 170

From the above table the ornithologist will form an idea of the character of our birds; but it will be well to proceed a little more into detail.

Among the thirteen raptorial birds the eagle (_Aquila audax_, Lath.) takes the foremost place. It is about the size of the golden eagle of Europe; and being destructive to young lambs in some localities, a constant war is waged against it by the shepherds, and it is becoming rapidly scarce.

The beautiful white hawk (_Astur Novæ Hollandiæ_, Cuv.), erroneously called an albino by Mr. Gould, once very abundant, is now becoming rare, having been nearly extirpated for the sake of its skin by the zeal of bird collectors. The other raptorial birds possess little to distinguish them from those of other countries.

Many of the genera of the perchers are peculiar to Australia; and the brush-like tongues of many species, formed for extracting the honey from flowers, have been classed amongst the Australian anomalies. The parrot tribe is the most attractive to strangers, and eleven species, belonging to not less than eight genera, are found in Tasmania. The green and rose-hill parrots (_Platycercus flaviventris_, Temm., and _P. eximius_, Shaw) occur in immense flocks in some places, and prove very destructive to the ripe grain in the fields, as also injuring the roofs of corn stacks in the barn yards. The white cockatoos (_Cacatua galerita_, Lath.) were at one time to be seen in immense flocks, but are now becoming scarce. Many of the parrots have beautiful plumage, and the white cockatoo and rose-hill parrot have occasionally been taught to speak.

Two pigeons and four species of quail are all the rasorial birds in the island; the true gallinaceous birds being wholly wanting.

Of the thirty species of grallatores the most remarkable is the emu. Very few individuals can now exist in the island, and it is to be feared that its total extinction will be effected ere it can be ascertained whether the Tasmanian bird is identical with that of New Holland. Tame emus are common in the colony, but the original stock of most of those now domesticated was introduced from Port Phillip.

The fifty-nine species of swimming birds include many sea birds which inhabit the Antarctic, Southern Indian, and South Pacific Oceans. That "_rara avis_," the black swan, once so common that rivers, bays, points, &c., received their names, but a few years ago, from its abundance, is now becoming truly a _rara avis_ in the settled parts of the island, having been driven from its old haunts by that great intruder, the white man. Ducks are numerous, of many species, and form admirable articles of food. The sooty petrel (_Puffinus brevicaudus_, Brandt.), or mutton bird, occurs in immense flocks in Bass' Strait. Captain Flinders, in his _Voyage to Terra Australis_,[271] says that when near the north-west extremity of Van Diemen's Land he saw a stream of sooty petrels from fifty to eighty yards in depth, and of three hundred yards or more in breadth. The birds were not scattered, but flying as compactly as a free movement of their wings seemed to allow; and during a full _hour and a-half_ this stream of petrels continued to pass without interruption, at a rate little inferior to the swiftness of the pigeon. On the lowest computation he thought the number could not have been less than a hundred millions. This bird burrows in the ground, forming what are called by the sealers in the Straits, _rookeries_; and a considerable trade was at one time carried on in their feathers, eggs, and salted bodies.[272]

With the exception of the pretty but gaudy parrot tribe, our most beautiful birds may be said to be the wren (_Malurus longicaudus_, Gould), the grosbeak (_Estrelda bella_, Lath.), the king-fisher (_Alcyone Diemenensis_, Gould), the diamond birds (_Pardalotus_ species), and the satin fly-catcher (_Myiagra nitida_, Gould). None of the birds equal the songsters of Europe, although many have sweet notes, and some are musical, as the magpie (_Gymnorhina organicum_, Gould), that lively bird whose cheerful notes delight the ear of every traveller at early dawn in the settled districts of Tasmania, to which it is restricted.

The distribution of the birds of Tasmania is very partial, differing in this respect remarkably from that of the animals. The supply of the peculiar food suitable to particular genera and species necessarily affects their range, and as one half of the island is still covered by the dense primæval forests, so in that portion few of the birds inhabiting the settled districts are to be found. Several of them follow the footsteps of man, and as his clearings take place in the remote wilds, and corn-fields spring into existence, so many grain-eating birds make their appearance. This is entirely irrespective of the regular annual migrations of numerous species from New Holland to Tasmania, which, in this respect, follow the same law which governs the migrations of species inhabiting similar latitudes in the other hemisphere. The snipe and swallows usually arrive in Van Diemen's Land during the first week in September; and during that month most of those birds which migrate for the purpose of breeding also make their appearance. In April, or soon after, the various summer visitants take their departure northwards. Mr. Gould observes:--"There are also periods when some species of birds appear entirely to forsake the part of the country in which they have been accustomed to dwell, and to betake themselves to some distant locality, where they remain for five or ten years, or even for a longer period, and whence they as suddenly disappear as they had arrived."

The only birds shot as game in the colony are quail and snipe. Quail shooting commences on 1st April, and snipe shooting about 1st September.