The History of Tasmania Volume I Part 32

ZOOLOGY.

SECTION I.--MAMMALIA.

The most perfect list of the mammals of Australia which has yet appeared is in the appendix to Capt. Gray's _Travels in North-west and Western Australia_, compiled by J. E. Gray, Esq., of the British Museum. Since its publication (1841) a few additional species have been added to the fauna of Tasmania, and a few of the smaller animals, probably, remain still to be described; but they will not materially affect the following list, which is compiled from the table by Mr. Gray, and a subsequent _History of the Marsupiata_, by G. R. Waterhouse (1846):--

-------------+---------------------+------------+-----------+-----------+ ORDERS. | GENERA. | Total No. | Peculiar | Common to | | | of Species | to | Australia | | | in | Tasmania. | and | | | Tasmania. | | Tasmania. | -------------+---------------------+------------+-----------+-----------+ CHEIROPTERA | Nyctophilus | 1 | -- | 1 | | Scotophilus | 2 | -- | 2 | | | | | | MARSUPIALIA | Thylacinus | 1 | 1 | -- | | Dasyurus | 3 | 2 | 1 | | _includes Diabolus_ | | | | | Phascogale | 3 | 3 | -- | | _includes | | | | | Antechinus_ | | | | | Perameles | 2 | 1 | 1 | | Phalangista | 3 | 1 | 2 | | _includes Hepoona_ | | | | | Phascolomys | 1 | -- | 1 | | Hypsiprymnus | 2 | 1 | 1 | | _includes | | | | | Bettongia_ | | | | | Macropus | 3 | 1 | 2 | | _includes | | | | | Halmaturus_ | | | | | | | | | RODENTIA | Hydromys | 1 | -- | 1 | | Mus | 2 | 1 | 1 | | | | | | EDENTATA, or | Ornithorhynchus | 1 | -- | 1 | MONOTREMATA | Echidna | 1 | 1 | -- | | |------------+-----------+-----------+ | | 26 | 12 | 14 | -------------+---------------------+------------+-----------+-----------+

This makes a total of twenty-six mammals inhabiting Tasmania, exclusive of the _Seals_ and _Cetacea_, with which our acquaintance is still very imperfect.

From the above list it will be perceived, with the exception of the three bats, two mice, and one water-rat, that all our mammals are either Marsupial (pouched) or Monotrematous (a closely-allied form, to which belong the platypus and porcupine of the colonists). Orders found in other countries, such as the _Pachydermata_ and _Ruminantia_, are in Tasmania wholly wanting, as they are also throughout the extensive continent of Australia.

It is also remarkable that twelve out of the twenty-six animals are peculiar to this small island, and have not yet been detected elsewhere.

Amongst those thus limited in their geographical range are the tiger and devil of the colonists, the two largest indigenous Australian carnivorous quadrupeds.

Australia is the great metropolis of the marsupial animals. Certain species of the group are found in North and South America, and in New Guinea, the Moluccas, and adjacent islands, but the numbers seem limited as compared with the other indigenous quadrupeds of those countries.

Professor Owen observes:--"That the marsupialia form one great natural group is now generally admitted by zoologists. The representatives in that group of many of the orders of the more extensive placental sub-cla.s.s of the mammalia of the larger continents have also been recognised in the existing genera and species:--the Dasyures, for example, play the parts of the _Carnivora_, the Bandicoots of the _Insectivora_, the Phalangers of the _Quadrumana_, the Wombat of the _Rodentia,_ and the Kangaroos, in a remoter degree, that of the _Ruminantia_."[268]

The Tiger or Hyaena of the colonists (_Thylacinus cynocephalus_, Harris) is a very powerful animal, about the size of a large dog, with short legs. It is of a tawny or brownish yellow color, with numerous black bands arranged transversely along the back, from the shoulders to the tail; hence the erroneous names tiger and hyaena, given to it by the early settlers. The muzzle is rather elongated, the ears short and erect, and the pupils elliptical, corresponding with its leaping, predaceous habits; if it had the characteristic brush instead of a long taper tail, its figure would bear a considerable resemblance to that of the fox. The female is much smaller, but more active and supple in its movements than the male. They prey upon kangaroos, opossums, bandicoots, and other native animals; hunting by night, their exquisite sense of smell enables them to steal cautiously upon these defenceless animals, in the thick covers of the low gra.s.sy flats and scrubs, or to run them down on the more open hill and forest land. They are not very fleet, but follow the track with untiring perseverance, occasionally uttering a kind of low smothered bark. They never hunt in packs, but a male and female, or a b.i.t.c.h, with two or three half-grown pups, have occasionally been seen together, in pursuit of game.

The Thylacine kills sheep, but usually confines its attack to one at a time, and is therefore by no means so destructive to a flock as the domestic dog become wild, or as the Dingo of Australia, which both commit vast havoc in a single night. High rewards have always, however, been given by sheep-owners for their destruction; and, as every available spot of land is now occupied, it is probable that in a very few years this animal, so highly interesting to the zoologist, will become extinct; it is now extremely rare, even in the wildest and least frequented parts of the island. A male and female were sent to the Zoological Society of London during the present year (1850), and were the first that ever reached Europe alive.

The Devil (_Dasyurus ursinus_, Geoff.), about the size of a bull terrier, is an exceedingly fierce and disgusting looking animal, of a black color, usually having one white band across the chest, and another across the back, near the tail. It is a perfect glutton, and most indiscriminate in its feeding; nothing comes amiss to it; it lives chiefly upon carrion, the smaller native animals, and occasionally attacks sheep, princ.i.p.ally, however, lambs and the weakly or diseased; even one of its own kind, caught in a snare, is attacked and devoured without mercy. They are very numerous in some localities, and from their smaller size will probably longer survive the war of extermination carried on against them.

The other two species of _Dasyurus_, viz., the Tiger cat (_Dasyurus maculatus_, Shaw) and Native cat (_Dasyurus viverrinus_, Shaw), are similar in their habits to the pole-cat and marten of England, from which they do not differ materially in size, and prove equally destructive to the poultry yard. The Native cat varies a good deal in color, many being black with white spots; but the usual and prevailing color is a greyish tan or yellow, with white spots; and from these mere varieties some naturalists have const.i.tuted two species. Great numbers of Native cats are killed in some localities for the sake of their skins, which are formed into rugs by the shepherds.

The Phascogales are small insectivorous animals, found on the mountains and in the dense forest parts of the island, and little is known of their habits.

The two species of Bandicoot (_Perameles obesula_, Shaw, and _P.

Gunnii_, Gray), are very common throughout the colony, living upon insects and roots.

The Opossums usually abound where gra.s.s is to be found, lodging by day in the holes and hollows of trees. The most common species is the _Phalangista vulpina_ (Shaw), under which is placed both the black and grey opossums. These animals are much sought after by the servants on most farms for the sake of feeding their dogs with the flesh, and forming the skins into rugs; an opossum (or kangaroo) skin rug being the princ.i.p.al bedding of all the shepherds, stock-keepers, and laborers in the more remote parts of the colony. When travelling from one station to another, and sleeping in the open air, these men always carry a rug with them; and wrapped in this, with his feet to the fire, the bushman sleeps on the ground warm and comfortable, even in the coldest nights, with no other shelter save a log or a few boughs to windward; and this was generally all the shelter used by the aborigines. The fur on the opossums in the mountains and cooler parts of the island is thicker and better adapted for rugs than on those obtained from the sea coast or the warmer settled districts. The Ringtail opossum (_Phalangista_ or _Hepoona Cookii_, Desm.) is smaller, less common, and less sought after, for dogs will not eat the flesh of the Ringtail even when roasted.

The Flying squirrel, or opossum of Port Phillip (_Petaurus sciureus_, Desm.), was introduced from that colony between the years 1834 and 1839: many of those so introduced escaped from confinement, and from the numbers which have been killed around Launceston since that period they have evidently increased and established themselves amongst the denizens of our woods. No species, however, of flying opossum is indigenous to Tasmania.

The Wombat, more commonly called in the colony Badger (_Phascolomys wombat_, Peron.), is an animal weighing forty to eighty pounds, having a large body, with short legs. Notwithstanding its burrowing habits, and the excessive thickness and toughness of its skin, it is usually so easily killed, that it is becoming less and less common.

The Kangaroo rats (_Hypsiprymnus cuniculus_, Ogilby, and _H. murinus_, Ill.) are small animals, like kangaroos in their form and mode of progression, but require few remarks, as they are not killed either for food or their skins. They are not numerous anywhere. Dogs will not usually eat them.

Our best known animals, however, are the Kangaroos, of which we have three species, distinguished by the names of Forester, Brush, and Wallaby.

The Forester (_Macropus major_, Shaw), the male being known by the name of "boomer," and the young female by that of "flying doe," is the largest and only truly gregarious species,--now nearly extinct in all the settled or occupied districts of the island, and rare everywhere.

This species afforded the greatest sport and the best food to the early settlers, an individual weighing 100 to 140 pounds. It is much to be regretted that this n.o.ble animal is likely so soon to be exterminated.

It was usually hunted by large powerful dogs, somewhat similar to the Scotch deer hounds; and when closely pressed had the remarkable peculiarity of always taking to the water where practicable. A modern kangaroo hunt has been thus graphically described by the Honorable Henry Elliot, in Gould's splendid work on the Macropodidae:--

"I have much pleasure in telling you all I know of the kangaroo-hunting in Van Diemen's Land. The hounds are kept by Mr. Gregson, and have been bred by him from fox-hounds imported from England; and though not so fast as most hounds here now are, they are quite as fast as it is possible to ride to in that country. The 'boomer' is the only kangaroo which shows good sport, for the strongest 'brush' kangaroo cannot live above twenty minutes before the hounds; but as the two kinds are always found in perfectly different situations we never were at a loss to find a 'boomer,' and I must say that they seldom failed to show us good sport. We generally 'found' in a high cover of young wattles, but sometimes we 'found' in the open forest, and then it was really pretty to see the style in which a good kangaroo would go away. I recollect one day in particular, when a very fine 'boomer' jumped up in the very middle of the hounds, in the 'open:' he at first took a few high jumps with his head up, looking about him to see on which side the coast was clearest, and then, without a moment's hesitation, he stooped forward and shot away from the hounds, apparently without an effort, and gave us the longest run I ever saw after a kangaroo. He ran fourteen miles by the map from point to point, and if he had had fair play I have very little doubt but that he would then have beat us; but he had taken along a tongue of land which ran into the sea, so that, on being pressed, he was forced to try to swim across the arm of the sea, which, at the place where he took the water, cannot have been less than two miles broad; in spite of a fresh breeze and a head sea against him, he got fully half-way over, but he could not make head against the waves any further, and was obliged to turn back, when, being quite exhausted, he was soon killed.

"The distance he ran, taking in the different bends in the line, cannot have been less than eighteen miles, and he certainly swam more than two.

I can give no idea of the length of time it took him to run this distance, but it took us something more than two hours; and it was evident, from the way in which the hounds were running, that he was a long way before us; and it was also plain that he was still fresh, as, quite at the end of the run, he went over the top of a very high hill, which a tired kangaroo never will attempt to do, as dogs gain so much on them in going up hill. His hind quarters weighed within a pound or two of seventy pounds, which is large for the Van Diemen's Land kangaroo, though I have seen larger.

"We did not measure the length of the hop of this kangaroo; but on another occasion, when the 'boomer' had taken along the beach, and left his prints in the sand, the length of each jump was found to be just fifteen feet, and as regular as if they had been stepped by a sergeant.

When a 'boomer' is pressed, he is very apt to take the water, and then it requires several good dogs to kill him, for he stands waiting for them, and as soon as they swim up to the attack, he takes hold of them with his fore feet, and holds them under water. The buck is altogether very bold, and will generally make a stout resistance; for if he cannot get to the water, he will place his back against a tree, so that he cannot be attacked from behind, and then the best dog will find in him a formidable antagonist.

"The doe, on the contrary, is a very timid creature, and I have even seen one die of fear. It was in a place where we wished to preserve them, and as soon as we found that we were running a doe we stopped the hounds, just at the moment they were running into her. She had not received the slightest injury, but she lay down and died in about ten minutes. When a doe is beat she generally makes several sharp doubles, and then gets among the branches or close to the trunk of a fallen tree, and remains so perfectly still that she will allow you almost to ride over her without moving, and in this way she often escapes.

"A tolerably good kangaroo will generally give a run of from six to ten miles; but in general they do not run that distance in a straight line, but make one large ring back to the place where they were found, though the larger ones often go straight away."

The Brush kangaroo (_Macropus [Halmaturus] Bennettii_, Waterh.) is universally distributed over Tasmania, and in some localities was formerly very numerous indeed, but the war of extermination constantly waged at all seasons against this species, for the sake of its skin, has, in many places, entirely destroyed it, and rendered it scarce everywhere. Many thousands of skins have been annually exported from Launceston alone, and nearly all the leather used in the colony for ladies' and gentlemen's boots and shoes is made from the skin of the brush kangaroo, which is thicker and better than that of the larger species.

The Wallaby (_Macropus [Halmaturus] Billardieri_, Desm.) is the smallest species of kangaroo, and inhabits thickets; and although described by Mr. Gould as being gregarious, is never seen in flocks, as is the forester kangaroo.

All the different species of kangaroo are admirable food, and are now in much request by the residents in the towns as a delicacy, having in soup a flavor somewhat similar to that of hare. No others of the indigenous quadrupeds are usually used for food, although occasionally bushmen eat the wombat and echidna, and, more rarely, the bandicoots and kangaroo rats.

The Platypus (_Ornithorhynchus anatinus_, Shaw) has for many years been so great a subject of interest to the zoological world that little is left to detail. It is still not uncommon in the pools and small streams on the table land of the western mountains; at the source of the river Derwent, Lake St. Clair; and in most of the rivers and streams in the more remote parts. Those who feel any interest in the peculiar structure of this very remarkable animal, and its congener the Porcupine (_Echidna setosa_, Cuv.), can find full details in Professor Owen's very elaborate and admirable paper, in the _Cyclopaedia of Anatomy and Physiology_, on the _Monotremata_.[269]

Nearly all the Tasmanian quadrupeds are nocturnal in their habits, or, when not strictly so, feed princ.i.p.ally during the morning and evening twilight: and as few of our mountains exceed four or five thousand feet of elevation above the sea level, most of the animals are distributed over the whole island, being merely influenced in their range by the greater or less abundance of food.

All the larger species of indigenous mammals will rapidly diminish under the united efforts of Europeans and their attendant dogs. No species is protected, and no species spared. As the _Marsupialia_ are not prolific, the extinction of several species may soon be antic.i.p.ated, from the circ.u.mstance that the unsettled parts of the island, to which they have been driven, are comparatively dest.i.tute of gra.s.s, and unfit for the support of graminivorous animals.

It may here be observed that the Dingo of New Holland never inhabited Van Diemen's Land; and although wild dogs were at one time troublesome in a few districts, yet they were merely the domestic dogs become wild (many having from time to time been abandoned by their masters--aborigines and convicts), and were soon destroyed. European rats and mice are now common all over the island: the domestic cat, also, has in many localities become wild, and proves very destructive to quails, and those birds which are much on the ground.

SECTION II.--BIRDS.

Unlike the mammals, there is nothing in the general aspect of the birds of Tasmania to distinguish them from those of other countries; there are, however, some peculiar forms, but they are not of such a nature as to strike the eye. Many of the birds of Europe are represented here, as the hawks, owls, swallows, snipe, ducks, &c., and not a few have received English names, from the real or fancied resemblance which they bear to their British prototypes, as the magpies, wrens, robins, &c.

Mr. John Gould, in his splendid and elaborate work, _The Birds of Australia_, has so completely ill.u.s.trated and described the birds of Australia, including those of Tasmania, that little remains to be done by those who follow him. Whether we look at this magnificent work for its beauty, or its accuracy, we cannot help feeling rejoiced that so interesting a portion of the natural history of Tasmania should have been so ably ill.u.s.trated. According to Mr. Gould's work, Tasmania possesses 170 species,[270] of which only a few, so far as at present known, are _peculiar_ to it, that is, have not yet been found in any other part of Australia. In the 170 are included some occasional and rare visitants to our sh.o.r.es, but several others will, no doubt, have hereafter to be added; this is, however, a close enough approximation for all ordinary purposes.

The 170 birds may be divided into the following orders and genera:--

ORDERS. No. of No. of Genera. Species.

RAPTORS 11 13 INSESSORES 46 62 RASORES 4 6 GRALLATORES 20 30 NATATORES 29 59 110 170

From the above table the ornithologist will form an idea of the character of our birds; but it will be well to proceed a little more into detail.

Among the thirteen raptorial birds the eagle (_Aquila audax_, Lath.) takes the foremost place. It is about the size of the golden eagle of Europe; and being destructive to young lambs in some localities, a constant war is waged against it by the shepherds, and it is becoming rapidly scarce.

The beautiful white hawk (_Astur Novae Hollandiae_, Cuv.), erroneously called an albino by Mr. Gould, once very abundant, is now becoming rare, having been nearly extirpated for the sake of its skin by the zeal of bird collectors. The other raptorial birds possess little to distinguish them from those of other countries.

Many of the genera of the perchers are peculiar to Australia; and the brush-like tongues of many species, formed for extracting the honey from flowers, have been cla.s.sed amongst the Australian anomalies. The parrot tribe is the most attractive to strangers, and eleven species, belonging to not less than eight genera, are found in Tasmania. The green and rose-hill parrots (_Platycercus flaviventris_, Temm., and _P.

eximius_, Shaw) occur in immense flocks in some places, and prove very destructive to the ripe grain in the fields, as also injuring the roofs of corn stacks in the barn yards. The white c.o.c.katoos (_Cacatua galerita_, Lath.) were at one time to be seen in immense flocks, but are now becoming scarce. Many of the parrots have beautiful plumage, and the white c.o.c.katoo and rose-hill parrot have occasionally been taught to speak.

Two pigeons and four species of quail are all the rasorial birds in the island; the true gallinaceous birds being wholly wanting.

Of the thirty species of grallatores the most remarkable is the emu.

Very few individuals can now exist in the island, and it is to be feared that its total extinction will be effected ere it can be ascertained whether the Tasmanian bird is identical with that of New Holland. Tame emus are common in the colony, but the original stock of most of those now domesticated was introduced from Port Phillip.

The fifty-nine species of swimming birds include many sea birds which inhabit the Antarctic, Southern Indian, and South Pacific Oceans. That "_rara avis_," the black swan, once so common that rivers, bays, points, &c., received their names, but a few years ago, from its abundance, is now becoming truly a _rara avis_ in the settled parts of the island, having been driven from its old haunts by that great intruder, the white man. Ducks are numerous, of many species, and form admirable articles of food. The sooty petrel (_Puffinus brevicaudus_, Brandt.), or mutton bird, occurs in immense flocks in Ba.s.s' Strait. Captain Flinders, in his _Voyage to Terra Australis_,[271] says that when near the north-west extremity of Van Diemen's Land he saw a stream of sooty petrels from fifty to eighty yards in depth, and of three hundred yards or more in breadth. The birds were not scattered, but flying as compactly as a free movement of their wings seemed to allow; and during a full _hour and a-half_ this stream of petrels continued to pa.s.s without interruption, at a rate little inferior to the swiftness of the pigeon. On the lowest computation he thought the number could not have been less than a hundred millions. This bird burrows in the ground, forming what are called by the sealers in the Straits, _rookeries_; and a considerable trade was at one time carried on in their feathers, eggs, and salted bodies.[272]