Woodpeckers, a group of birds found in all parts of the world with the exception of Australia and
Polynesia.
Such then is a transient view of a few of the great physical features of Australia to which I have thought
it requisite to allude in the Introduction of the present work, and I cannot conclude this portion of the
subject without mentioning the very remarkable manner in which many of the Australian Birds represent
other nearly allied species belonging to the Old World, as if some particular law existed in reference to the
subject, the species so represented being evidently destined to fulfil the same offices in either hemisphere,
As instances in point, I may mention among the F a l c o n id ^e the F. hypoleucus and F. melanogenys, which
represent the F . Islandicus and F. Peregrinus ; our Merlin and Kestril are equally well represented by the
Falcofrontatus and Tinnunculus Cenchro'ides of Australia; the Osprey of Europe also is represented by the
P . leucocephala; among the wading birds, the Curlew and the Whimbrel of Europe are beautifully represented
by the Numenius Australis and N . uropygialis, and the bar-tailed and black-tailed Godwits by the Limosa
uropygialis and L . Melanuroides. Both Europe and Australia have each one Stilted Plover, one Dottrell
{Eudromias), and one Avocet. Among the water birds the Cormorants and Grebes of Europe are similarly
represented by the Phalacrocorax Carboides, &c., and Podiceps Australis, P . Nestor and P . gularis ; and other
instances might be noticed, hut as they will all be found in the body of the work, it will not hi; necessary
to recapitulate them here. Although so many curious instances of representation and of nearly allied species
are found to occur, no country possesses so many genera peculiar to itself as Australia, such as AEgotheles,
Falcunculus, Collaricincla, Grallina, Gymnorhina, Strepera, Cinclosoma, Menura, Psophodes, Malurus, Sericornis,
Ephlhianura, Pardalotus, Chlamydera, Ptilonorhynchus, Struthidea, Licmetis, Calyptorhynchus, Platycercus,
Euplema, Nymphicus, Climacteris, Scythrops, Myzantha, Talegalla, Leipoa, Pedionomus, Cladorhynchus,
Tribonyx, Cereopsis, Anseranas, and Biziura.
In a country of such vast extent as Australia, spreading over- so many degrees of latitude, we might
naturally expect to find much diversity in the climate, and such is really the case. Van Diemen’s Land,
from its isolated and more southern position, is cooler and characterized by greater humidity than Australia ;
its vegetation is therefore abundant, and its forests dense and difficult of access.. The climate of the
continent, on the other hand, between the 25th and 35th degrees of latitude, is. much drier, and has a
temperature which is probably higher than that of any other part of the world ; the thermometer frequently
rising to 110°, 120°, and even 130° in the shade; and this high temperature is not unfrequently increased
by the hot winds which sweep over the country from the northward, and which indicate most strongly the
parched and sterile nature of the interior. Unlike other hot countries, this great heat and dryness is
unaccompanied by night dews, and the falls of rain being uncertain and irregular, droughts of many months’
duration sometimes occur, during which the rivers and lagoons are dried up, the land becomes a parched
waste, vegetation is burnt up, and famine spreads destruction on every side. It is easier for the imagination
to conceive than the pen to depict the horrors of so dreadful a visitation. The indigenous animals and birds
retire to the mountains, or to more distant regions exempt from its influence. Thousands of sheep and
oxen perish, bullocks are seen dead by the road-side or in the dried-up water-holes, to which, in the hope
of relief, they had dragged themselves, there to fall and die; trees are cut down for the sake of the twigs
as fodder; the flocks are driven to the mountains in the hope that water may there be found, and every
effort is made to avert the impending ruin ; but in spite of all that can he done the loss is extreme. At
length a change takes place, rain falls abundantly, and the plains, on which but lately not a blade of herbage
was to be seen, and over which the stillness of desolation reigned, become green with luxuriant vegetation.
Orchidece and thousands of flowers of the loveliest hues are profusely spread around, as if nature rejoiced in
her renovation, and the grain springing up vigorously gives promise of an abundant harvest. This change
from sterility to abundance in the vegetable world is accompanied by a correspondent increase of animal life,
tlie waters become stocked with fish, the marshy districts with frogs and other reptiles; hosts of caterpillars
and other insects make their appearance, and spreading over the surface of the country commence the work
of devastation, which however is speedily checked by the birds of various kinds that follow in their train.
Attracted by the abundance of food, hawks of three or four species, in flocks of hundreds, depart from their
usual solitary habits, become gregarious and busy at the feast, and thousands of Straw-necked Ibises (Ibis
spinicollis), and other species of the feathered race, revel in the profusion of a welcome banquet. It must
hot however be imagined that this change is effected without its attendant horrors ; the heavy rains often
filling the river-beds so suddenly, that the onward pouring flood carries with it everything that may impede
its course; and woe to the unhappy settler whose house or grounds may lie within the influence of the
overwhelming floods ! A painful instance of the desolating effects of this sudden irruption of the waters
came under my own observation while travelling in the plains bordering the Lower Namoi in New South
Wales. On pulling up my horse at one of the huts erected by the stock-keepers charged with the flocks
and herds depastured in this vast grazing-ground, I found it occupied by Lieut. Lowe and his nephew, who
had gone thither for the purpose of being present at the shearing of the flocks belonging to the former
gentleman. Although strangers, their reception of me was warm and hospitable, and I left them with a
promise of making their abode a resting-place on my return; My second welcome was such as friends
receive from friends, and rejoicing that I had made the acquaintance of persons so worthy and estimable, I
left them busy in their operations, happy and prosperous. Seven days after my departure from their
dwelling heavy rains suddenly set in ; the mountain-streams swelled into foaming torrents, filling the deep
gullies; the rivers rose, some to the height of forty feet, bearing all before them: The Namoi having widely
Overflowed its banks, rolled along with impetuous fury, sweeping away the huts of the stock-keepers in its
course, tearing up trees, and hurrying affrighted men and flocks to destruction. Before there was time to
escape, the hut in which Lieut. Lowe and his nephew were sojourning was torn up and washed away; and
the nephew and two men, overwhelmed by the torrent, sank and perished. Lieut. Lowe stripped to swim,
and getting on the trunk of an uprooted tree, hoped to be carried down the eddying flood to some part
where he could obtain assistance. But he was floated into the midst of a sea of water stretching as far as ■
he could discern on every side around him. Here he slowly drifted; the rains had ceased, the thermometer
was at 100°, a glaring sun and a coppery sky were above him ; he looked in vain for help, but no prospect
of escape animated him, and the hot sun began its dreadful work. His skin blistered, dried, became parched
and hard, like the bark of a tree, and life began to ebb. At length assistance arrived—it came too late ;
he was indeed just alive, but died almost immediately. He was scorched to death.
Sir Thomas Mitchell, in his recently published “ Journal of an Expedition into the interior of Tropical
Australia,” has given a most vivid picture of the manner in which floods occasioned by distant rains fill the
river-beds, and which I beg leave to transcribe. Sir Thomas being somewhat unwell while encamped
on the banks of the Macquarie, the channel of which was deep and dry, sent Mr. Stephenson, one of his
party, to Mount Foster, to' make inquiries about the river and the stations on it lower down. Mr.