CA 11 I'll I HIS. ( 



bronze like the lesser coverts; in others the bronze colour predominates over the purple on the 

 back, but this is of rare occurrence. 



The late .\rchdeacon Kinj; wrote ine from Stanniore : — " I witnessed, just before I left 

 Camden, forty two miles from Sydney, a very interestintj flit^ht of the Straw-necked Ibis. There 

 were at least ei,i,'hty birds in the lloclc, arranL,'ed in two lines, forminf,' an an.^le as the lines 

 joined one another at the ends ; and althoa:.;h they were not perfectly straij^ht, still each bird 

 kept in its place as lon;^ as they were in si,L,'ht. I counted forty on one side, but there were 

 probably more. Doubtless the same sight has often been seen by others, but I witnessed it with 

 great pleasure." 



I'rom Cobborah Station, Cobbora, New South Wales, Mr. Thos. 1'. Austin wrote me as 

 follows under date joth November, upy : — "The Straw-necked Ibis {CarpJdlns spiiiirollis) is 

 looked upon by the f^raziers as the most useful bird in Australia. What wonderful instinct is 

 it that tells this bird where there is a plague of caterpillars, grasshoppers, etc., playing sad havoc 

 with both crops and grass. Perhaps not one of these birds has been seen in a district for many 

 months, but they will often arrive almost as soon as these small pests enter into or from their 

 larval state, and probably in countless thousands. As they appear to feed the whole day long, 

 what millions of grasshoppers, etc., mu>t be destroyed in a \ery short time, and yet to all 

 appearance they make very little impression upon this plague. When one thinks what might 

 be if there were no Ibis to help us I probably the whole country would be ruined in a very few 

 years. ' 



From an interesting and exhaustive account sent me by Mr. S. Robinson, of Dathurst, I 

 have extracted the following: — "lam forwarding you an account of two species of Ibis, the 

 Straw-necked and White, I found breeding towards the latter end of 1896, near Buckiinguy, 

 New South Wales. (Jn my first trip there in Septemljer 1 noticed the birds fairly numerous, 

 all making their way to the marshes. The first opportunity I rode out to see, but there not 

 being a great deal of water on marshes or plains, I came to the conclusion that they were only 

 looking for a nesting-place, but as the river was rising fast I felt sure they would breed no great 

 distance away, and when leaving for home I ask'ed my son to keep a good look out every week, 

 and let me know the result, but he did not succeed in discovering their breeding-place, so I 

 made up my mind to go again. After riding a few miles I found the nesting site, but sucli a 

 place to get too I never experienced before — water from one to live feet deep, with Polv^omiin 

 growing below and above water, and on the tops were the nests made of rushes, old dry grass, 

 and leaves ; some of the nests contained three eggs, others young in all stages of growth, while 

 others were in course of construction. I got a good number of eggs of both White and Straw- 

 necked Ibis; also Plovers, Rails, Crakes, Night Herons, White-fronted Herons, White-necked 

 Herons, Spoonbills, Coots, Darters, Swans and Ducks of numerous species. On my way home, 

 for I was three days going, I fell in with another deserted Ibis rookery, and the Crows were 

 having a great feast, thousands of them eating the young and eggs. The water here had all 

 drained away, as the river was falling, otherwise the place was an ideal one, quiet and retired, 

 with no one to disturb them." 



Writing from Yandembah Station, near Booligal, New South Wales, the late Mr. K. H. 

 Bennett remarked : — " Gcroiiticiis spinicoUis is a constant resident in this locality, but in some years 

 it appears in much greater numbers than others, assembling on the open plains in flocks of 

 thousands. It breeds here during the periodical inundations of the Lachlan River, when the 

 immense areas of Polygonum, or reed beds, bordering the lower part of the river are submerged. 

 I know of two of their breeding places on the Lachlan River. One is situated in a dense 

 Polvgonum swamp, and the other in a large reed-bed. In both instances the Polygonum and the 

 reeds had been brok'en down by the liirds, forming a kind of platform just above the water, on 

 which the nests, almost touching each other, were placed. The nests were formed of Polygonum, 



