This week’s Trove Tuesday article from the Portland Guardian and Normanby General Advertiser is not an enjoyable read, but it is a reminder of the changes in attitude towards our environment and the creatures that inhabit it. In 1867, a bird hunting cat was a thing to celebrate but remember this was a time when sparrow matches and other bird shooting was popular, so please think no less of Mrs Simpson of Bridgewater.  The poor bird involved was a “land rail bird”, most likely the endangered Lewin’s Rail, a small native water bird found in the south-west of Victoria.

AN EXPERT BIRD-CATCHER. (1867, September 23). Portland Guardian and Normanby General Advertiser (Vic. : 1842 – 1876), p. 6 Edition: EVENINGS.. Retrieved September 9, 2012, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article64638792