NESTS AND EGGS OF AUSTRALIAN BIRDS. gj i 



N(;st. — Large, flat (the eentrc being slightly concave); roughly con- 

 structed of sticks, hned with dry grass, wool, &c. Situated in a tall 

 tree, upon a cliff by the sea coast, or occasionallj' on the groimd 

 (Butler). 



E<jys. — Clutch, three to six, usually four ; elliptical in form ; tcxtiu'e 

 of shell coarse ; surface sUghtly glossy ; colour, light bluish-grecu, mottled 

 over with lime deposits. Dimensions in inches of a set from Europe : 

 (1) 2-39 X 1-7, (2) 2-17 x 1-61, (3) 2-12 x 1-6. 



Ohservatioiu. — The Common Heron evidently enjoys almost a world- 

 wide range. Gould, during his journey into the interior of South Aus- 

 traha, 1839, saw a fine adult example of this bird, but althougli he 

 resoi-ted to every possible stratagem in his power to get witliiu shot of 

 it, he was unsuccessful. However, he afterwards received a skin of 

 this species direct from New South Wales. 



Amongst other localities the Grey Heron is known to breed in 

 India, where it usually lays in small colonies in trees, amongst other 

 kinds of Herons, Egrets, Ibises, &c. 



705. — Mesophy.x plumifera, Gould. — (550) 

 PLUMED EGRET. 



Figure. — Gould : Birds of Australia, fol., vol. vi., pi. 57. 

 Reference. — Cat. Birds Brit. Mus., vol. xxvi., p. S;. 



Geographical Didrihutwn. — Australia in general; also New Guinea 

 and Moluccas. 



Neat and Erjys. — Undesciibed. 



Observations. — We all agree with Gould when he says no one of the 

 members of the beautiful genus of White Herons is more interesting 

 than this species, inasmuch as it is not only adorned with the redun- 

 dance of graceful plumes springing from the back like the other species, 

 but it has a mass of ornamental feathers of precisely the same structure 

 hanging from the lower part of the neck and chest. Are not these 

 adornments only donned during the breeding season? 



Tlie Plumed Egret has been observed in nearly every State, either 

 about the mud flats of bays or estuaries or in swamps and lagoons in 

 the interior, but no Australian breeding grounds have yet been dis- 

 covered, or at least invaded by the collector. True to their 

 tribe, they possibly breed in heronries or colonies, sometimes in company 

 with other species of Herons, Ibises, &c. 



The food of all Egrets consist of fish, frogs, aquatic insects, &c. 

 A fine specimen of the Plumed Heron, prociued at Western Port by 

 one of our field naturalists, had no less than three dozen small fish 

 in its stomach. 



