Page:The Boy Travellers in Australasia.djvu/436

412 family; it possesses the king parrot, the bird-of-paradise, the blue mountain-parrot, the cockatoo—blue, white, and crested—lories, paroquets, and love-birds. It has the wild turkey, which we have already mentioned, and a bird closely allied to it, called by the singular name of 'native companion.' Wild-ducks are found all over the country, the 'mountain duck' being the finest; then in their order come the black duck, wood-duck, and the Australian teal, followed by five or six other varieties less known and less liked by sportsmen."

"Don't forget the black swan among the water-birds," said Fred, as Frank paused after reading the foregoing paragraph.

"I was not forgetting him," replied Frank; "what would be our picture of Australia without the black swan? He is found in all the lakes and swamps of the southern coast; in the Gippsland lakes thousands of black swans may sometimes be seen in a single flock, and the sound of their feet and wings striking the water as they rise for a flight may be heard for miles when the air is still. The black swan is not strictly a game-bird; his flesh is rather rank, but this taste can be removed in cooking, and then he isn't at all bad to eat.

"Going from large birds to small," continued the youth, "I learn that snipe are abundant in many localities, but they do not seem to be appreciated as in England and America. The Argus snipe is the prettiest of the family, and also the most difficult to find; he is beautifully marked on the back and wings, and is a valuable addition to an ornithological collection.

"There are at least a dozen varieties of quail in Australia, and as articles of food they are abundant and cheap. With very little effort a settler in most parts of the country could have quail on toast every day in the year; at least the quail would be easily forthcoming though the toast might not. Cold roast quail and damper are not to be despised for lunch after a long ride in the bush."