Long-lost Night Parrot
Bushman Sheds Fresh Light On Mystery.
......on the habits and haunts of the rare and priceless - night
parrot of Australia will command the attention of ornithologists Mr J.
Neil McGilp told of a chat he had concerning this quaint bird with
Mr. John McDonald, a septuagenarian bushman in the far north interior
of South Australia, DURING a trip into the interior of this State,
I made numerous enquiries about the long-lost Night Parrot, Mr.
McGilp said It was not until I reached Macumba Station, north-east
of Oodhadatta, that I had the good fortune to get into touch with
anyone who satisfied me that he knew the Night Parrot.
At this station I had a long and interesting chat with Mr. John
McDonald, and from him secured valuable information. Mr. McDonald knew
the Night Parrot as being fairly numerous in the late 'seventies
and early 'eighties, when Jiving on Cootanoorina Station, south east
of Oodnadatta. At one time he had four young ones in an aviary.
The young he described as being a greyish green color, with a black
spot in the centre of each feather. They used to....
NIGHT PARROT, .....an object of great interest among bushmen and
ornithologists..... spend practically all the time at the bottom of
the cage, and he never saw them on the perch, which was from 3
ft. to 4 ft. from the ground.
How the Night Parrot Nests
These birds were taken from a nest in the centre of a bunch of
porcupine. The nest was entered through a tun nel, starting low down
on the side and almost under the bunch. At the end of the tunnel
there was an en larged cavity, in which the birds had placed small
sticks. The nest was found by 6eeing the bird flush out when a mob
of pack-horees in a cattle mustering outfit was driven over a patch
of porcupine grass, thereby disturbing the bird. Mr. McDonald told
me that he had never seen the Night Parrot in flight unless the
bird was disturbed, and that only by contact _wlth tlie tou«n. He
had never seen more than one bird at a time. When flushed, the bird
flies but 20 to 40 yards, drops to earth very suddenly, and then
runs off at ! right angles to its line of flight. I learnt that
Mr. McDonald had seen at least three or four nests, one of which he
describes as being in a samphire bush. This bush grew plentifully
in the vicinity of the dry salt lakes, and was of a low dense
structure. The nest was made, by form ing a run-way or tunnel into
the cen tre of the bush, where a fair number of small sticks made
a platform be tween the central branches of the bush. In no
instance did Mr. McDonald find the bird had nested on the ground
under the bush, but said that during the day time the bird crouched
in a 'squat' — similar to that of a hare— under a dense bush, and
he had on occasions flushed the bird from this position. The eggs
were four in number, and white, and about the size of a crested
pigeon's.
Sweet Two-Note Whistle When camped at waterholes, Mr. Mc Donald had
often heard the Night Parrot coming to water in the evening, and he
was emphatic in saying that it was always between 8 p.m. and 9
p.m. The birds have a sweet, low, two-note whistle, uttered
frequently during their flight to and from water, and apparently
several birds made the' trip in company. Mr. McDonald had never
heard the call from a Night Par rot during the day, but his young
ones used to answer him at any time he whistled to, them during
the day or night. I asked Mr. McDonald how he could account for
the disappearance of the Night Parrot, and he replied— 'If you tell
me what happened to much of our former-day bird and animal life, I
would say that was the reason. What, for instance, has caused the
almost total disappearance of most of our small marsupials?' He
consideredthat the domestic cat, gone wild, had accounted for many
birds and animals, but they were not responsible for all the damage
or shortage. He mentioned that stocking had cut up the country which
Night Parrots used to frequent, and drought had gone on with the
job, so that today he hardly knew the coun try on which, in years
gone by, he had spent so much time in searching for cattle and
horses.
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