Peeps At Many Lands: Australia

-Some quaint and delightful birds-The

e was built, before the days, indeed, of the Egyptian civilization, animals of which we find traces in the fossils of very remote periods-those are the types living in Australia to-day. They belong to the same epoch as the mammot

e kangaroo's forelegs are very small; its hindlegs and its tail are immensely powerful, and these it uses for progression, rushing with huge hops over the country. There are very many animals which may be grouped as kangaroos, from the tiny kangaroo rat, about the size of an English water-rat, to the huge red kangaroo, which is over six feet high and about the weight of a sucking calf. The kangaroo is harmless and inoffensive as a rule, but it can inflict

ame kangaroo would have its forefeet fitted with boxing-gloves. Then when lightly punched by its trainer, it would, quite naturally, imitate the movements of the boxer, fending off blows an

a rare animal of the squirrel species, but marsupial, which lives in trees; the wallaby, the wallaroo, the paddy-m

ed up into a fine sausage-meat, with half its weight of fat bacon, kangaroo flesh is just eatable. The tail makes a very rich soup. The sk

N FOREST AT N

. PAGES

large

its name), and the koala, or native bear. Why this little animal was called a "bear" it is hard to say, for it is not in the least like a bear. It is ab

the koala should have been left in peace. But its confiding and somewhat stupid nature, and the senseless desire of small boys and "children of larger growth" to kill something wild just for the sake of killing, has led to the koala being almost exterminated in many places. N

to beware of when buying furs. Bush lads catch the 'possum with snares. Finding a tree, the scratched bark of which tells that a 'possum family lives upstairs in one of its hollows, they fix a noose to the tree. The 'possum, coming down at night to feed or to drink, is caught in the noose

loathsome-looking lizard-can climb trees, and is very fond of raiding the 'possum's home when the young are the

at nuisance in districts where there are irrigation canals; its burrows weaken the banks of the water-channels, and cause collapses. The dugong is a sea mammal found on th

ock-and of terrible ferocity. The bunyip is represented as living in lakes and marshes, but it has never been seen by any trustworthy observer. The blacks believe profoundly in the bunyip

s name. The Tasmanian tiger will create fearful havoc if it gets among sheep, killing for the sheer lust of killing. At one time a price of ￡100 was put on the head of the Tasmanian tiger. As settlement progressed it became rarer and rarer, and I have not heard of one h

nd not in Australia shows that that island has b

mesteads on the stations with snake-proof wire-fencing, so as to make some place of safety in which young children may play. The most venomous of Australian snakes are the death-adder, fortunately a very sluggish variety; the tiger-snake, a most fierce serpent, which, unlike other snakes, will actually turn and pursue a man if it is wounded or angered; the black snake, a handsome creature with a vivid scarlet belly; and the

ke and the carpet-snake (a species of python) for examples. The carpet-snake is oc

ung of any creature. Growing to a great size-I have seen one 9 feet long and as thick in the body as a small dog-the 'goanna looks very dangerous, and it will bite a man when cornered. Though not venomous in the strict sense of the word, the 'goanna's bite generally ca

eing poisonous, come into the houses. But they are really not in any way dangerous. I knew a man who used to keep tarantulas under his mosquito-nets so that they might devour any stray mosquitoes t

cker, whom she-the male ant, like the male bee, is not a worker-bites with a fierce energy that suggests to the victim that his flesh is being torn with red-hot pincers. I have heard it said that but for the fact that Australia is so large an island, a great proportion of its population would by this

untry it would not be possible to keep grass lawns for tennis. But an excellent substitute has been found in the earth taken f

ust be very careful indeed that there is no possibility of the termites being able to get to its timbers. Otherwise the joists will be eaten, the floors eaten, even the furniture eaten, and one day everything that is made of wood in the house will collapse. All the mischief, too, will have been concealed until the last moment. A wooden beam will look to

, narrow, high, and always pointing due north and south. You can tell infallibly the points o

d bee. They would catch a bee, preferably at some water-hole where the bees went to drink, and fix to its body a little bit of white down. The bee would be then released, and would fly straight for home, and the keen-eyed black would be

. The bird-of-paradise was threatened with extinction on account of the demand for its plumes for women's hats. So the Australian Government has recently passed legislation

DROVER.

large

land carried around by gipsies and trained to pick out a card which "tells you your fortune." From that tiny little green bird the range of parrots runs up to huge fowl with feathers of all the colours of the rainbow. There are two fine

s on a farmer's maize-patch, the leader seems to prospect the place thoroughly; he acts as though he were a general, providing a safe bivouac for an army; he sets sentinels on high trees commanding a view of all points of danger. Then the flock of cockat

the sheep were lambing, or when, owing to drought, they were weak, seen the horrible cruelties of the crow. This evil bird will attack weak sheep and young lambs, tearing out their eyes and leaving

a man is carrying a gun, and will keep out of range then; if a man is without a gun the crow will let him approach quite near. One can never catch many crows in th

ont of the man's favourite dog, which ate it, and was with difficulty saved from death! Another story is that of a man who thought to get within reach of a crow by taking out a gun, lying down under a tree, and pretending to be dead. True enough, the crow came up and hopped around, as if

lish in its ingenuity as in its cruelty. In most parts of Australia there is a reward paid for every dead crow brought into the police offices. Still, in s

colour. Its sly, mocking eye prepares you for its note, which is like a laugh, partly sardonic, partly rollicking. The kookaburra seems to find much grim fun in this world, and is always disturbing the Bush quiet with its curious "laughter." So near in sound to a harsh human laugh is the kookaburra's call that there is no difficulty in persuading new chums t

to hear a group of them singing together in the early morning suggests a fine choir of boys' voices. They will tell you in Australia that the young magpie is taught by its parents to "sing in tune" in these bird choir

but that is an exaggeration founded on the fact that, like all great birds, it can and does eat nails, pebbles, and other hard substances, which lodge in its gizzard and help it to digest its food.) On account of its mischievous habit of breaking fences the emu is hunted down, and is now fast dw

ll seriously. The bird does not hatch out its eggs by sitting on them, but builds a moun

tty grey colour, with red bill and red legs. The brolga has a taste for dancing; flocks of this bi

bits of rag or metal, feathers from other birds, coloured stones and flowers. In this he sets himself to dancing until some lady bower-bird is attracted, and they set up housekeeping together. The bowe

cool glens, and has a note like a bell, and yet more like the note of one of those strange hallowed gongs you hear from the groves of Eastern temples. Often

oy loves to get a locust to carry in his pocket, and he has learned, by a little squeezing, to induce the unhappy insect to "strike up," to the amusing interruption of school or home hours. Now, to get a locust it is

to co