. Bird notes . wn and the coming of the Galahs. Anhour passed uneventfully, and the cramped position behindthe bag-screen was becoming irksome. But no sooner didthe eastern sky flush rose-pink—the colour of the galaJisbreast—than the birds began to appear. In twos ami threesat flrsl they came, flying swiftly from the trees .ilong thecreek, ther- in flocks of thirty or forty. The air was full of Coca-toob. It was wonderful to see thi> assembling over the wheatof a host of beatitiful bird;. As they wheeled and dived,the sunlight, feeble as yet, shone softly on gre> and rose-tinged ijlujnag
. Bird notes . wn and the coming of the Galahs. Anhour passed uneventfully, and the cramped position behindthe bag-screen was becoming irksome. But no sooner didthe eastern sky flush rose-pink—the colour of the galaJisbreast—than the birds began to appear. In twos ami threesat flrsl they came, flying swiftly from the trees .ilong thecreek, ther- in flocks of thirty or forty. The air was full of Coca-toob. It was wonderful to see thi> assembling over the wheatof a host of beatitiful bird;. As they wheeled and dived,the sunlight, feeble as yet, shone softly on gre> and rose-tinged ijlujnage. Once or twice, some magical tuiK h ol thebun transfonned a bird into a living form of sdvcr, 4S The Bird-Trappers of the Rivcrina. which seemed lo float in the blue. But tlic iiarsli cries oft theCockatoos put al oik ^- dreams to flight. Foi- awhih none of the Galahs came near a net. Thentill- (all-birds became vocal, and the trappers crouched lower,intent, keen-eyed, and ready to act. From the shelter I. An Alijino Galah. These freaks of Nature are worth from .C5apiece upwards. watched a flock alter its line of light, and steer for the net,attracted by the notes of the call-birds. The wild, free,Galahs answered their captive fellows, hesitated for afew minutes, then dropped down on to the unseen net. In-stantly the rope controlling the release was pulled by atrapper, and a babel of bird-voices arose. Ten out of aboutthirty Galahs were caught. ) One by one the new captives were taken from thenet and placed in a box behind the shelter. Great care was The Bird-Trappers of the Riverina. 49 used in securing the birds, liecause a snap from the beak ofan angry Cockatoo is apt to cause a sev^ere wound. I didnot v^enture to help the trappers, but was glad to sec thatthey handled the Galahs as gently as possible. Four times in the course of an hour the nets were varying results. Over eighty birds altogether werecaptured; hundreds escaped the nets. When the early sun-s
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Keywords: ., bookauthorforeignb, bookcentury1900, bookdecade1900, bookyear1902
