AUSTRALIAN FAVOURITES.
The cult of birds is advancing nowhere more quickly than in Australia ; and the annual Bird Day of November 21st is celebrated with continually increasing gusto. That lively and well-written paper, the Sydney Mail, which is always sent to me, devotes more and more attention to the subject. The island continent is not only rich in birds ; they display them- selves with singular charm. You come back—to quote a personal experience—from racing emu along the side of a rabbit wire, or seeking a Bowerbird's nest, to find the " Native companion" storking—the spelling is intentional —about the paddock ; the whistling eagles arise overhead, and your attention is continually challenged by gorgeous flights of parrots of strange colours. A writer on the latest Bird Day calls particular attention to the wagtails and fly-catchers. My experience of these, or indeed of any Australian small birds is short and slight ; but I shall never forget seeing a " Willie wagtail " pursuing a large dog along one of the principal streets of Perth. It is interesting to know that these birds will accompany droves of cattle for seventy or eighty miles.
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