Hi
Recently while reading the book ‘Poor Fellow My Country’ – written by Xavier Herbert, i was quite interested in the following extract:
“One of the favoured was *Bilbilgah, *the Night Parrot of the desert country, who kept a look out for Tchamala during the night and always reported to to a *gubbindah *(gecko lizard) before dawn, when the flock went for the one drink they had from dawn till dawn of each day. The easiest way to find a *gubbindah *hole was to listen for the parrots coming to drink, because they made a lot of noise about it. However, failing that, you could pick out the spot by their *goona *on the rock. Because there was magic in the droppings you could see them in the dark”
I wonder what level of consulatation has been made regarding the Night Parrot with traditional owners of the land? To be included in stories they must have had some knowledge of the birds and they certainly sound like the elusive Night Parrot of today. I hope this knowledge has not been lost in time.
Cheers Bruce Greatwich ===============================
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