Vol.xviii.-j L^ SouEF, Queensland Notes. 45 



was that flocks of the Lesser Egrets, from one pair of birds to 

 about thirty, were continually flying from the swampy ground 

 towards the sea coast ; the total would run into thousands. We 

 determined to follow these birds down, and if possible find their 

 nesting rookery ; so, taking our lunch and the camera, we started 

 off on foot. We found the level country much interspersed with 

 water, and in such places long grass usually grew, therefore much 

 wading had to be done, which, of course, we could not undress 

 for. The heavy rain the day before had filled up most of the 

 shallow depressions. We frequently heard the double note of the 

 Brown Quail. When disturbed at close quarters they flew up 

 with a whirr. They came into the garden of the homestead and 

 were easily called up by imitating their call. We also saw a few 

 King or Chestnut-bellied Quail {Excalfactoria australis). On the 

 ridges of the higher land Eucalyptus trees grew, but on all the 

 low-lying country belts of paper-bark {Melaleuca). About one in 

 fifty of these had a flange on the trunk varying in size and height 

 from the ground, which always contained a certain amount of 

 sweetish-tasting water close to the outer edge, so that if a shallow 

 cut is made the water, which is quite good to drink, squirts out. 



We passed a post of a fence, and from it ants were swarming 

 and hundreds flying away. The birds had found them out, and 

 thirteen Black- and- White Fantails [Rhipidura motacilloides) , two 

 Restless Flycatchers {Seisura inquieta), many Welcome Swallows 

 [Hirundo neoxena) and Fairy Martins [Petrochelidon ariel) were 

 busily catching the flying ants. We noticed two dead cows, and 

 Crows were naturally not far off. The cattle may have died from 

 the result of ticks, these animals being very numerous in this 

 country, and the cattle have to be regularly dipped in arsenic and 

 soda every month. You sometimes see a beast with many 

 thousands of ticks, especially on its head. Pigs have gone wild 

 in many parts of Queensland, and we saw a mob of 20, and 40 had 

 been caught not long before our visit. In the Cooktown district 

 they are accredited with rooting up the Scrub-Turkeys' {Cathetiirns 

 lathami) nests and eating the eggs. It was interesting to watch 

 the wonderful flight of flocks of Straw-necked and White Ibis as 

 they slowly circled round and round, gradually getting higher all 

 the time, and rarely flapping their wings. Egrets occasionally 

 did the same thing, and got so high up as to be hardly visible. We 

 saw a few kangaroos, and tracks of dingoes. Butcher-Birds (C. 

 destructor) were seen, and I was informed that a person had seen 

 five small dead birds hanging in the forks of branches of a shrub 

 close together, waiting to be made a meal of by one of these birds. 

 A Little Falcon {Falco liimdatus) flew past, and Mr. Barnard 

 informed me that he had seen one of these birds chasing bats in 

 the evening, but that as the Falcon sought to seize them they 

 dodged below and escaped the clutches of the bird of prey ; but 

 one bat kept above, and was promptly caught. I saw three 

 Crows hustling a Whistling-Eagle, and one pecked him on the 

 back, which made the Eagle cry out, and, turning round, he chased 



