Page:The Present State and Prospects of the Port Phillip District of New South Wales.djvu/138

 man. A friend of mine, not much used to the bush, was rather shocked by one of our shepherds telling him, on his making some inquiries about the sporting in that part of the country, that he had only on the day before "missed fire at an old man." The brush kangaroo is much smaller. Opossums, flying squirrels, kangaroo rats, and wild cats (a kind of weasel), are plentiful all over the country, and form the chief support of the natives. The wild dog, too, I regret to say, is not on the decrease, and their boldness is matter of serious annoyance to the sheep-owner. The emu is well known, and I need do no more than allude to it. The egg of this bird is something smaller than that of the ostrich, and of a beautiful dark green colour. The wild turkey, or rather bustard, is found in great abundance in many districts of the country. I have seen as many as forty together in a flat of not more than thirty acres. I counted them out of curiosity. They are generally very wary, and it requires a good deal of management to get within shot. The best plan is to have a horse that will stand Are, and you then have a good chance of getting close, as they do not much mind a man on horseback. I have been so close to them in this way as to be tempted to fire my pistol at one of them. They are excellent birds to eat, in flavour something like the grouse. The outside part of the breast is dark brown meat, while the part next the bone, as well as the legs, are white. The bronze-winged pigeon is one of the easiest birds to shoot; it is by no means shy, and is very good eating. They are birds of passage, and abound in summer. If you wait near a