224 



Willow l;iowiiij; in the water of the homestead dam ; another was built on land, under tin; wire- 

 fence enclosure of the dam, at the foot of a I'epper-tree (Scliiiiiis mollc), from which four e},'gs 

 had been previously tak-en ; a tliird nest was built on debris on top of a lot; in the water; another 

 was built ei.t;ht feet up in the hrst fork of a ]:!ox-tree ( Euuihftin, spj overhanging' the water; 

 while yet another, just ready for eggs, in the homestead dam was built in a clump of rushes 

 growing in the water. One was found by Mr. Austin in the woolshed dam on the 17th October, 

 1909, after swimming for about half an hour in search of the nests of the ISlack-throated Grebe 

 (PodiiCps uov.r-lioUandicr). This nest Mr. Austin informed me was simply a .^rass-lined depression 

 in the roots of a dwarf Willow growing out in the water, and contained eight fresh eggs, which 

 the swimmer brought ashore in his handkerchief. For convenience sake this set of eggs was 



removed to the last referred to nest in the 

 homestead dam, where we waded out, and 

 eventually I photographed them, and this 

 nest and eggs are here reproduced. 



The nest is an capen, deep, saucer- 

 shaped structure, and is formed of \arious 

 materials, according to the locality in 

 which it is built; some are constructed 

 of rootlets and pliant plant stems and lined 

 with dried sedges and grasses; others are 

 formed almost entirely of rushes, many 

 of them green, and portions of them being 

 used as an inner lining, and usually at 

 the bottom are some dried grasses. As 

 pre\iously pointed out, they may be built 

 anywhere in a thick tree or bush, bunch 

 of reeds or rushes growing in or near the 

 water. When built in the latter situation, 

 many of the rushes are often partially 

 broken and drawn over, possibly to pro- 

 tect the sitting bird, but more likely 

 to shelter the eggs from the prying eyes 

 of the Crow, or other egg-eating species, 

 when the bird leaves the nest. As a rule, 

 too, there is a stairway leading to the 

 latter formed of bent or broken rushes, 

 like that found in the nest of the Aus- 

 tralian Coot (Fidica aiistralis). An average nest measures e.xternally twelve inches in diameter 

 by four in depth. 



The eggs vary from live to eight or nine in number for a sitting, but the former . is 

 more frequently found. Typically they are oval in form, some specimens being somewhat 

 compressed towards the smaller end, the shell being comparatively close-grained and more or 

 less lustrous. They vary in ground colour from a dull light green to a pale sage-green, are 

 more beautiful just after they have been emptied of their contents, and are sparingly and evenly 

 dotted and spotted with purplish-brown, intermingled with fainter underlying markings of the 

 same colour, or of a dull violet-grey ; as a rule the markings are rounded or oval in form, and 

 approach in size small blotches, on others may be found a few short purplish-brown hair lines, 

 particularly on the larger end. In no specimens examined was there a tendency for the markings 

 to assume the form of a zone. i\ set of seven, taken by Mr. C. \\". Watson on the iSth 



NEST ANIl EGGS OF THK Br>ACK-TAILKIl NATIVE HEN. 



