586 NESTS AND EGGS OF AUSTRALIAN BIRDS. 



hundreds of thousands that had accumulated there (many flocks had 

 flown away satisfied) wa^ a sight that to the eyes of a naturalist was 

 delightful. It would take the pen of an Alexander Wilson to graphic- 

 ally describe the scene ; how, in spite of their really incredible numbers, 

 their closeness together, and their extreme rapidity of flight, yet not 

 one ever made a mistake and ' cannoned ' against its neighbour ; in 

 and out they glide, circle within circle, and each cii-clc counting 

 thousands ; all seem to be moved by one spirit of unity, and they 

 swoop and turn, rise and fall, as if directed by an invisible hand. The 

 roar from their wings, as a larger flock than usual rose, was really 

 deafening. The ducks paddled to the centre of the water, and the 

 herons and spoonbills sailed away to neighbom-ing trees, evidently 

 annoyed at tins noisy intenuption of their quiet habits. The sight 

 was one never to be forgotten ; it was a red-letter day among the many 

 such days that a ' bush naturalist ' can get in Queensland. Never but 

 this once has it been my good fortune to see such excessive numbers at 

 one time. 



" Generally speaking, a water-hole is chosen for a favourite drinking 

 place that is free from much timber, with a good, firm, gradually 

 sloping ' shore ' to the water. Tliis gives plenty of room for their 

 eccenti-ic habits. I came across such a place one day, about fifty miles 

 from the scene just spoken of, and was surprised to find it as it were 

 planted all round with gum-tree branches. I could not at first make 

 it out at all : these bushes were stuck into the mud close to the 

 water, and were about the height and distance apart that gooseberry 

 bushes are usually grown. It did not require the footprints, quite 

 fresh, of blacks to let me know it was their work ; but I thought the 

 children had done it in their ' play about.' Seeing a nide sort of 

 gunyah at each end — the iiolc was about one hiuidrcd yards long — 

 I rode up, and then the mystery was explained by the heaps of Pigeons' 

 feathers lying about. I afterwards had the pleasure of watching the 

 blacks in this place catching them. It is thus : the blacks, well sup- 

 plied with light boomerangs, conceal themselves, one in each gimyah, 

 and wait patiently till the Pigeons come. They, with their u.sual 

 impetuosity, after some preliminary circling, swoop down to the water; 

 the little bushes confu.sc them, momentary disorganization ensues, they 

 try to rise again, but their unity of sjoirit is broken, and they are a 

 whizzing, buzzing mob of rabble. This is the time waited for by the 

 blacks, who, springing to their feet, with eyes dilated, muscles quiver- 

 ing with wild excitement and savage satisfaction, hurl boomerang after 

 boomerang into tlie seething mass before the a.stonislied Pigeons even 

 know that their arch-enemy is upon them. Tiie whole scene did not 

 take two minutes of time, and yet there lay dead or wounded some 

 four dozen birds. 



" About December these large flocks break up into couples, and it 

 is not till after the breeding season that they again re-foi-m. My 

 opinion is that the couples are faithful partners, even for life, for 

 amongst the great flocks it is still often possible to detect the pair 

 keeping close together. They make no nest, but lay two white eggs 

 on the bare ground, well concealed uiiclcr a tussock of grass. Tliey sjl 



