PLATIBIS. 15 



swamp in search of food, or standing on one of the top:nost dead Hmbs of a Eucalyptus, on the 

 banks of the Talbragar River; occasionally they were flushed as I drove in company with 

 Mr. T. P. Austin along the river. The following month Mr. Austin found a single nest of this 

 species in a tree on a swamp on Munnell Station, near Armatree, New South Wales. The nest, 

 an open structure, was formed entirely of stems and twigs, without any lining, and contained 

 incubated eggs. 



From Copmanhurst, New South Wales, Mr. George Savidge wrote me:— "The Yellow- 

 legged Spoonbill (Platibis /lavipcs) is sparingly distributed along the Clarence River, but is more 

 often seen on the large swamps below Grafton. It is a wild shy bird and difficult to approach 

 within gun shot. I was shown a small colony of about a dozen nests near Ulmarra, on 8th 

 September, 1899 ; the nests were constructed of sticks, and placed on the tops of large Swamp 

 Oak trees rC(r5H,i;-/;w, sp.; bordering the swamps; each nest contained four eggs. The birds 

 were very wild, and flew high up while the nests were being examined." 



The late Mr. K. H. Bennett contributed the following interesting information to the Linnean 

 Society of New South Wales on the breeding place of PlataUa Jidvipcs and Ardca pacijica :—'■'■ 

 " On the plains some thirty miles north of the Lachlan River, New South Wales, is situated a 

 large hollow or depression thickly overgrown with Box-tree (Eiiuilyplns, sp.) This hollow is 

 about a mile wide, and winding through it in various directions are several deep channels frmged 

 with Pohxomini. The average depth of the depression below the level of the surrounding plains 

 is between four and five feet, but in channels it is much deeper. For several years prior to 1870 

 very little water collected there, and this was confined to the deep channels, but in the year 

 above mentioned, owing to the unusual (juantity of rain, and the surrounding country having 

 become harder with silting, this place assumed the appearance of a lake, and with the exception 

 of seasons of drought, large quantities of water have collected there, increasing or diminishing 

 according to the time of the year. It has thus become a favourite resort and breeding place of 

 large numbers of waterfowl, and amongst them Spoonbills (Platalca Jfavipcs), the only breeding 

 place of these birds I ever met with. During the month of January, 1877, I had occasion to 

 pass this place, and my attention was drawn to a large number of Spoonbills constantly flying 

 in and out of a thick patch of trees near the centre of the swamp, where 1 concluded they were 

 breeding. The water was low at this time, and chiefly confined to the channels. Wishing 

 greatly to obtain the eggs of this particular bird, never having seen even a description of one ot 

 this species, I eagerly made for the clump of trees through a dense growth of ' Roley Foley ' 

 bushes, that had sprung up as the water receded ; riding as far as I could, and leaving my horse 

 when the ground became too soft. After some difiiculty, owing to the boggy nature of the soil, 

 I reached the trees in question, and found that my surmise as to this being a breeding-place was 

 correct, but to my intense disgust I was too late, all the nests (amongst which were a nuinber 

 of Anh-a pacifica) containing young in various stages, four being the maximum. 



" The nests of the Spoonbills w^ere large structures of sticks, loosely interlaced, with a 

 considerable depression, lined with the soft fibre of decayed bark. Those of the Herons were 

 much more scantily built, and were almost flat, composed of sticks loosely put together, and 

 entirely without lining. The eggs as I subsequently found were placed on the bare sticks, 

 through the interstices of which they could be seen from below. Finding there was no chance 

 of obtaining a Spoonbill's eggs, or even the broken shell of one to get an idea of the colour, I 

 turned my attention to the birds, old as well as young, and truly it was a most interesting sight. 

 The chimp, or rather belt, was some fifty yards long, the trees comprising it being low and 

 gnarled, their crooked and distorted branches crossing one another and forming capital foundations 

 for nests, an advantage the birds had evidently recognised, for every available place was occupied 

 by a nest, either of Spoonbills or Herons. In some cases two or more nests were placed close 

 * Proc. Linn. Soc. N. S. Wales, Vol. VII., p. 324 (i885). 



