AESTS AND EGGS OF AUSTRALIAN BIRDS. 755 



lu the finest of the Lakes — King — tlicrc are several brackish creeks, 

 or ai-ms, extending a quarter of a-mile or so into the elevated sloping 

 shores, clothed with timber and thick scnib and well margined with 

 teartreo (Mt-hihuca) and sedg}- flags. These latter afford a serene and 

 seciu'e retreat for several pairs of Gallinulcs. 



My friend Mr. R. A. Poole — a great lover of birds of the counti7 — 

 built a home here on the shore of Bancroft Bay (the aboriginal name 

 of the locality being Metung). In one of the small creeks, about twelve 

 yai-ds from where Mr. Poole moored his boats, and about one hundred 

 vards from the dwelling, two pairs of Gallinules, or Moor Hens, took 

 up their quarters and became very tame, so that Mr. Poole had no 

 difficulty in obsei-\-ing their habits. They had been there for three 

 seasons, and at the expense of the birds he kindly forwarded me speci- 

 mens of their eggs, which were described and figiu-ed in my Manual, 

 " Nests and Eggs "' (1883). A strange circumstance occuiTed one 

 season — the season of my particular visit. Botli pairs of birds recon- 

 stnicted an old nest, each female laying eight eggs therein, although the 

 task of incubating the combined clutch devolved upon one pair only, 

 Mr. Poole thoughtfully secured for me a pair of each tyi^e of this 

 interesting combination set. One pair was similar to the eggs already 

 described by me, wliile the others were stouter ovals, wann stone-colour, 

 and with markings a reddish-brown, larger, and in the form of patches 

 here and there. 



Removing the eggs in no way disconcei'ted the birds, in fact it was 

 a convenience, because one bird had much difficulty in covering the 

 whole sixteen eggs. In about three weeks the majority of the eggs 

 was hatched, the chickens being attended by J)(>th pairs of birds. 



In another and neighbouring creek, Mr. Symonds and I iiidely 

 disturbed the wonted solitude by shooting a brace of birds and robbing 

 a nest containing eleven fresh eggs. The nest was situa.ted in a clump 

 of tea-tree a few feet from the shore. It was heaped up about a foot 

 from the surface of the water, and was constructed of dead flags and 

 tea-tree twigs, and lined with square patches of the paper-like bark of 

 the same trees. 



The Moor Hens have not such a happy lot as may be expected in 

 these romantic, sedgy -margined creeks. Troublesome water-rats keep 

 their ranks reduced by destroying many eggs and young. During our 

 trip we shot one of these animals in the very act of destroying a nest. 

 It proved to be the species known as the white-bellied Ijeaver rat 

 (HydromyH leucogaster ), a perfect monster. 



I took exception to the eggs described by Dr. Ramsay and re-des- 

 ciibed by Mr. North in the Australian Museum " Catalogue." as being 

 incorrect. What I have akeady said on this point is published in the 

 " Victorian Natiu'alist " (1893), and need not be here repeated. It was 

 with the utmost deference to such accomplished authorities as 

 Dr. Ramsay and Mr. North that I ventured to dispute their descrip- 

 tions, and I chd it not in the spirit of controversy or fault-finding, but 

 piuely in the interests of research. 



Dr. Ramsay was good enough to show me the eggs referred to and 

 collected in the Richmond and Clarence River districts bv Mr. Mac- 



