ANSKKANAS. 0/ 



made by bending each individual stallc towards a common centre; in both cases much labour 

 was expended in placing a nice crown on the foundation, the outer part of the structure consisting 

 of reeds strongly woven together, while the inside was neatly lined with dried grasses, etc. In 

 each instance where the nest was the sole work of the Magpie Cioose, that is where the clump 

 of reeds was used for a foundation, an elaborate gangway or stairway had been built from the 

 water at about an angle of 45' to the top of the nest. Where the Swan's nest had been utilised, 

 tlie sloping sides rendered this unnecessary. The greatest number of eggs discovered by me in 

 one nest was fifteen, in another fourteen, and so on down to six. Some of these I hatched under 

 hens, and have reared the young ones. The laying season must extend over a long period, 

 probably beginning in June and extending well into the summer months, for I found a new nest 

 at the end of last month (October)." 



Mr. George Savidge wrote me as follows from Copmanhurst, New South Wales: — "The 

 Semipalmated Goose (A nsei-anns seniipdlmata ) is a very scarce bird on all parts of the Clarence 

 River now. About twenty years ago it could be seen on the large swamps below Grafton in 

 many hundreds; so plentiful was it that I have seen seven brought down at one discharge of 

 the gun. It used to breed occasionally, constructing a large nest of rushes and herbage, etc. 

 A clutch of fourteen eggs in my possession was taken from the Ulmarra swamps." 



Tlie late Mr. K. H. Bennett, writing while resident in the Mossgiel District, New South 

 Wales, remarked : — " Anscranas iiielanolcuca was extremely numerous in the large swamps and 

 reed-beds bordering the lower part of the Murrumbidgee and Lachlan Rivers, in which places 

 I am informed on good authority that it bred in large numbers, and that the breeding season of 

 this bird was a kind of harvest to the .\borigines, similar to that when the Straw-necked Ibis 

 laid and their eggs were collected. I say ' was numerous,' as owing to the increase of population 

 in the above-mentioned localities of late years, the chances are that so Ime a bird as an article 

 of food has met with continual persecution, and been reduced in numbers if not entirely driven 

 otf. In the year 1862 it was extremely numerous in the localities I have mentioned, for I saw 

 the birds there in great numbers at tliat time. It is \ery rarely met with on the plains." 



Mr. Joseph Gabriel wrote as follows from Abbotsford, Victoria; — "After wading for a 

 considerable time in depths varying to our middle, we were fortunate in finding two nests of the 

 Semipalmated Goose, one containing five and the other ten eggs, and a third nest shortly 

 afterwards with six. The nest was well constructed with the bent down reeds of Jypha an<;usti- 

 folia : these were brought down so as to form a common centre and were interlaced ; short pieces 

 were added so as to form a slight concavity ; an approach gradually arising from the water is 

 built in with the nest, and usually faces the south-west. After alighting on the water the bird 

 ascends the nest by means of this approach, thus avoiding the risk of breaking the eggs. The 

 nest measures three feet across, with approach four and a half feet, height two feet above water ; 

 so strongly is it constructed tliat it will bear the weight of a fair-sized man." 



From Western Australia Mr. Tom Carter wrote me: — "On i8th September, 1S92, a small 

 flock of the Pied Goose f .(4 ;;.';<'('(;/;(7,'; S(7;«'/>(7/);;(7('(!^ was resting on the beach near Point Cloates, 

 and allowed me to ride within a few yards of them before taking flight, when they settled on 

 the sea. In igoo numbers of them freijuented Hooded flats, thirty miles inland from Point 

 Cloates. At Broome Hill one bird was seen at one of my stock' tanks in November, 1905." 



The eggs vary in number for a sitting, five to eight often being found, but Mr. J. A. Boyd 

 took a set of twelve in the Herbert River District, in North-eastern Queensland, and Mr. G. 

 Savidge has a set of fourteen taken at Ulmarra, on the Clarence River, New South Wales. 

 They are oval or elongate oval in form, coarse grained, with numerous pittings, of a creamy or 

 dull yellowish-white, lustrous, and usually more or less clouded with yellowish-brown or brown 

 nest stains. A set of five taken by Mr. J. A. Boyd measures as follows : — " Length (A) 2-86 x 



16 



