74 NESTS AND EGGS OF Al'STRAUAN BIRDS. 



the ground turning over small stones and leaves in search of food, others 

 were preening theu" beautiful quills or stretching their necks from behind a 

 limb to watch me. Both male and female occasionally uttered the peculiar 

 hoarse, guttui'al ' scrape ' noise, which was sometimes repeated twice in 

 succession. I could not sufficiently admire the splendid shining appearance 

 of the male bird in evei-y position, but when it darted through the rich 

 green foliage or posed upon a rock it was really a superb creatiu-e. I felt 

 convinced that the majority of the birds had not commenced to breed, so at 

 iutei-vals I fired small charges of dust-shot, and secured a pair of fine males 

 and one hen. We all tm-ned up at the tent hungiy and wet, and over a 

 warm ' billy ' of tea exchanged experiences. The takings were distributed 

 as follow : — The botanist, a pan- of Rifle Birds and a pair of Pigeons ; 

 the yoimger brother, a pair of Rifles, a Megapode, and such small fry; 

 and myself, three pairs of Rifles. Although a sharp look-out was kept 

 none of us saw any traces of nests 



" Rats were again troublesome at night. They ran off with our 

 preserved milk tin, and also destroyed one of oiu' fine Pigeons. In the 

 morning we expected the steamer, therefore we chiefly occupied ourselves 

 in striking camp, &c., and gathering collections of sea-shells. There were 

 volutes, cowries, cones, in endless profusion, the majority being empty. 

 The beach was entirely composed of fragments of dead coral, hard as 

 cement, washed up by the sea. When the tide was out the rocks, which 

 are of singidar formation, Uke those of the island, bespangled with mica 

 ciystals, retained innumerable cui'ious marine creatiu-es, such as small fish, 

 water snakes, a most remarkable rounchsh animal furnished with long, 

 brittle spines, live coral of bluish tint, &c. Abimdance of oysters adhered 

 to the rocks. After a wlule the ' BurdeMn ' hove in sight. Since our 

 landing the siui had increased considerably, and the crew had to manoeuvre 

 to keep the boat from being swamped by the breakers while taking us ofi'. 

 Without mishap, Cardwell was reached at six p.m. Thus ended our 

 second excursion to the Barnards (or lia.v-nards, as many persons insist 

 upon calling them, by placing the accent on the second syllable), making 

 a most agi'eeable climax to our ' Naturalists' Camp in Noi-them 

 Queensland.' '' 



In 1887 I received from Mr. Charles French, F.L.S., the supposed nest 

 and eggs of the Victoria Rifle Bird, which I described in the " Naturalist " 

 of that year. The specimens were fomid in the Cardwell Scrubs by an 

 intelhgent reUable collector of Mr. French; but upon Messrs. Le Souef 

 and Barnard's subsequent discoveiy, it appeared the collector, Mr. French, 

 and myself had been misled — the old story of " one fool makes many.'' 



The honom- of the fii'st authenticated discovery of the nest and eggs 

 of the Victoria Rifle Bird rests with my friends, Mr. Dudley Le Souef 

 and Mr. Hany Barnard, who visited the Barnard Islands, and, as if drawn 

 by psychological influence, actually pitched their camp under a tree which 

 was afterwards found to contain a nest and e^g, and the hen of the rai-e 

 bird sitting thereon. 



The following is Mr. Le Souef's own description of the finding of the 

 nest: — ^" Tlie nest was fomid 19th November, 1891. Mr. Harry Barnard 

 and myself watched the hen bird for some time, and saw her fly into the 



