eable bird.
The parroquets are entirely green, except a red tuft on their
head. Hawks are numerous and of two different kinds, the grey and
blue: they were great enemies to the young chickens, and it was
no unusual sight to see them take up the rats. Quails and curlews
are plentiful, but very shy. The owls, which have very handsome
plumage, make a noise like one man calling to another, and they
pronounce the word "yaho" very distinctly. Many of the smaller
birds have a most melodious note, and their plumage is very
beautiful.

There are also a species of birds which burrow in the ground
like rabbits, where they hatch their eggs, and rear their young:
they are web-footed; which is rather extraordinary, and their
bill is like that of other sea-fowl; but they have not the least
fishy taste, and their flesh is very fine. These birds never quit
their holes till sun-set; from which time, until midnight, the
air is full of them: they afforded us many fresh meals.

I now set the two sawyers and two carpenters to work in
building houses; one man was employed in making a crab to heave
the boat by, another attended the live-stock, and the remainder
were busied in clearing ground at Mount George, and Arthur's
Vale.

By the 17th, the rain was almost incessant, and, as I had
every reason to suppose it would continue so three or four months
longer, which would endanger the health of those who lived in
tents; I caused the provisions to be removed from the store-house
to a cellar under my house, which was dry, and the stores I put
into a loft; and, as five men and three women lived at present in
tents, I put them into the store-house, until they could build
huts for themselves. The whole settlement were now well
sheltered, except the surgeon and the midshipman; for whom I
proposed to begin a house immediately.

On the 18th, the shell of my house was finished: its
dimensions were twenty-four feet long by twelve feet wide, and
eight feet under the eaves: the sides and roof were
weather-boarded.

I sent the boat out this afternoon, and she returned with
fifty very fine fish, which were issued out as usual.

I set out on the 19th, with an intention of tracing the
rivulet which runs through Arthur's Vale, to its source, and
likewise to examine the extent of the valley; but, after
wandering about the greatest part of the day, I returned back,
much fatigued, and all the cloaths torn off my back by the briars
and the entangled state