44 AHliEID/E. 



and the nest was at last appropriated in the same season by the ^'eliow-necked Manf^rove 

 Bittern, tliree eggs being laid in the nest. (Jn 27th October, kjoS, scooped a set of three eggs 

 of this species from a nest on a horizontal limb of an Acacia overhanging Maguire Creek, near 

 Alstonville, the nest being placed twenty-eight feet above the surface of the water, and from the 

 same nest on 23rd October, 1909, scooped a second set of three e^gs, pro\ ing that this species 

 will lay again in the same nest after being roblied. I previously had a similar experience with 

 this species. The usual breeding months are October to January, and a reference to my note 

 book discloses the fact that during the period from December i.S99to January 1909, thirteen sets 

 were obtained, and of this number nine of the sets contained three eggs each, and four sets 

 contained four eggs each. Of these thirteen sets four were taken in the month of October, two 

 in November, four in r3ecember, and three in January, the earliest date recorded being 12th 

 October and tlie latest date (the eggs being fresh) 7th January." 



From Copmanhurst, in the Upper Clarence River District, New South Wales, J\ir. George 

 Savidge writes : — " The Yellow-necked Mangrove Bittern (Dupctor f;oii!di ) is sparingly dispersed 

 along the banks of the Clarence River: also about small creeks, swamps and lagoons, and I 

 have seen it in the dense scrubs if a watercourse exists there. I have not noticed this bird 

 so plentiful at Yamba or near to the entrance as higher up the river. The nest is a flat structure 

 of sticks and twigs, usually built over water, from ten to twenty-five feet above the surface. If 

 not disturbed they breed in the same place for several seasons, and I have known them to 

 use the deserted nest of Butoridcs sldi^'unti/is. The earliest date on which I have taken the eggs 

 was the 7th September, and the latest date the 26th January ; both of these sets were perfectly fresh. 

 I believe they rear two broods yearly, one in September or October and another brood in December 

 or January. The eggs vary very considerably for a sitting, sometimes only two are laid, 

 mostly three and four, and one nest I found contained five eggs. This bird disperses itself over 

 a far wider range of country, and seems to have more of a nocturnal habit than Butovides 

 stagnatilis. It is not unusual to flush it from amongst reeds by the side of water holes or swamps. 

 A nest I saw the birds commencing to build contained the full complement of four eggs within 

 ten days. It was a very wet dark afternoon when I found it, and both birds were carrying 

 sticks as fast as they could, one after another. Upon my approach some days after, the bird 

 which was sitting on the eggs hopped away from the nest, and assumed a straight horizontal 

 position; it straightened itself out full length, as straight as any walking stick, with its bill 

 pointing straight up and its feathers pressed in close to the sides of its body. I knew the bird 

 was there, for I had not taken my eyes from the spot ; even then I was some seconds before I 

 located it. I pulled my boat away, and left it undisturbed. No doubt when danger threatens 

 it often assumes this position. I once found a nest and took the eggs of the Little Mangrove 

 Bittern, and about a month after noticed a Bittern fly from the clump of trees, and on 

 searching the old nest, found it contained four eggs o{ Dupctor gonldi, hnt they had been robbed of 

 their eggs previously. As soon as these birds are robbed they start to build again, that is how 

 I obtained so many sets in 1894. They are very fond of building in a willow tree hanging over the 

 water. During the dry season of September, October and November, 1895, a large number 

 disappeared at breeding time, but came back again after the end of the year. Several pairs are 

 about here now. After being rolibed a time or two, they build further back from the water, 

 which makes it harder to find them. 



" On the 2nd March, 1895, ^ found a nest of the Yellow-necked Mangrove Bittern containing 

 three half-grown young ones, and on the 6th November, 1896, a set of three eggs of the same 

 species. The bird had put a few fresh sticks on the top of a Little Mangrove Bittern's 

 nest, from which I had taken three eggs of the latter species about six weeks before. This is 

 the second time I have known Dupetov goiildi to do this, and on both occasions it had 

 appropriated old nests of the Little Mangrove Bittern. The Yellow-necked Mangrove Bittern 



