(;kus. 039 



Mr. Robt. Grant, Taxidermist of the Australian Museum, handed me the following 

 notes :— " The Native Companion or ' Urolga ' used to be very plentiful years ago on the large 

 swamps and marshes at Belaringar, and I also found them fairly common a few miles out of 

 Nevertire, in the Central Division of New South Wales. They used to assemble in the morning, 

 when two or more would go through their ' set of quadrilles,' bending and bowing to one another, 

 with wings half raised and wings and necks seemingly tied together, the others looking on as 

 spectators and evidently admiring the performance. Having seen Aboriginal corrobborees in 

 different parts of New South Wales and Queensland, I feel certain the blacks copied some of the 

 antics and poses of the ' Brolga's ' dance. 



On one occasion on the Byrock and Cobar Koad, I kept under cover to locate a small 

 flock feeding. At last one arose and flew around in circles, gradually rising higher and 

 higher, until it was a small black speck in the sky, uttering all the time harsh screech-like 

 notes. Presently it commenced to descend in circles, just as it arose, until it settled almost 

 on the same spot it had started fro.n. The remainder of the birds kept walking up and down 

 with outspread wings and heads up in the air, as if watching their companion. These birds are 

 always very wary and dillicult of approach. I found one of their nests with two eggs on a 

 small island in a backwater at Byrock. The nest was formed of dried reeds and grasses." 



From Melbourne, \'ictoria, Mr. G. A. Keartland wrote me as follows in April, igii :— " In 

 Central and North-western Australia 'Native Companions' (Gn,s anstnilasiaua) were fairly 

 numerous. Occasionally a solitary bird would be heard uttering its peculiar loud note as it flew 

 past, perhaps a mile away, while others were silently wading in the swamp in quest of frogs, 

 etc. Near the Fitzroy River, North-western Australia, I saw one capture a snake about 

 two feet long, which it beat on the ground a few times and then swallowed. On Oscar Downs 

 Station we were entertained during our midday halt by a flock of about thirty birds, which at 

 first stood in a group, but soon commenced performing all manner of antics, dancing, turning 

 round and runnmg with wings e.xtended. Although these birds were frequently seen near 

 Melbourne many years ago, they have quite deserted us now." 



It deposits its eggs, two in number for a sitting, in a slight depression on the bare ground, 

 frequently on small islands in swamps, also on the plains. When formed on the margins of 

 swamps and among reeds, it consists of a more or less thick layer of dried reeds and pieces of 

 cane-grass. The eggs vary from oval to elongate oval in form, some specimens being much com- 

 pressed at the smaller end, the shell being thick, minutely pitted all over, and slightly lustrous. 

 They alternate from a dull white to a clear cream and creamy-bufTground colour, which is dotted, 

 spotted and blotched with various shades of chestnut and dull purplish-brown, the latter colour 

 often appearing as if beneath the surface of the shell. On some specimens the markings are of 

 fairly regular shape, penumbral and evenly distributed; on others they are in the form of dashes, 

 short streaks, and small irregular patches, and often confined to one end of the shell. I have 

 one set before me taken by Mr. H. G. Barnard at Coomooboolaroo, Duaringa, Queensland, that 

 are of a uniform dull white, and entirely devoid of any markings; they measure :— Length (A) 

 3-6 X 2-39 inches; (B) 3-45 x 2-41 inches. A set in the Australian Museum Collection 

 measures:— Length (A) 3-93 x 2-22 inches; (B) 3-92 x 2-32 inches. 



In Eastern Australia the normal breeding season commences as early as August, and 

 continues until the end of December. Nests with fresh eggs have, however, been taken in New 

 South Wales and Queensland in February and March. 



