Resistant Immigrants
It was noticed in more than one district that imported species of bird—especially thrush, blackbird, sparrow and Java dove—stood the hard trial better than the native bird ; and the theory is advanced that the too perfect conditions of Aus- tralian life had left the native birds without the training in the struggle for life that is normal in "less happier lands." English birds have certainly flourished in Australia, and Australia is certainly a paradise for birds. While sitting up in a tree on a station near Canberra I was astonished to find myself surrounded by goldfinches, whose twitterings went strangely with the hoarse cries of a yellow-crested cockatoo cracking almonds nearby. Certainly never in my life did I see so many species of bird within a short time and space as once at the edge of a mere in Rockhampton, Queensland. These were all native. The Australian who gave me that treat made a list, and it included between forty and fifty species all recorded within a quarter of an hour or so. Perhaps South Africa is a rival. A young Englishman who has lately gone to an educational post in the Cape told me that he had identified 146 species of bird in his first three months of residence, and indeed the vlei in Cape Colony will bear comparison with the lake in Queensland.
Previous page
