Page:Australia, from Port Macquarie to Moreton Bay.djvu/236

 huddled together on the sand-spits during low water, to digest their meal. My men ate some of the flesh from the breast of one I shot, and they told me that it was like beefsteaks, but I should think that it could have been any thing but palatable. The men have occasionally procured nearly a quart of oil from a single pelican, as these birds were in general extremely fat.

The divers and godwits differ but little from those of England; the red-bill is found near the sea coast, and is very plump and well-flavoured, not possessing the slightest rank or fishy taste. The swamp-pheasant somewhat resembles that of England, in shape, but is very much smaller; it is a stupid inactive bird, generally found among swamp-oak thickets, bordering on marshes. The lyre-bird derives its name from its elegant and curiously shaped tail; it frequents shrubs and thickets, and is easily approached and shot. The bustard is a large bird, weighing fourteen or fifteen pounds, but is rather rare.

On traversing the dense brushes of New South Wales, the sportsman, as he climbs over the prostrate timber, and crawls under the entangled creepers and briars, must take care that he does not put his hand on some venomous snake. These disagreeable reptiles are particularly abundant in the north-eastern part of the territory of the colony, where the country is so brushy and swampy. Nearly all the snakes of New South Wales are poisonous, for