Vol. XVIII 



] Fletcher, Bird Notes from Boat Harbour District. qy 



back at the same tree, doubtless another season would be added 

 to its record. Another nest of these birds was in a broken limh, 

 which fell wliile the l)ird was sitting, and the fine eggs were 

 found smashed. 



I have been told that the Little Falcon nests in a tree along 

 the cliffs, but have not been able to verify the statement. 



On the edge of the shore there is a mimosa scrub, and whilst 

 searching for nests of Sericornis I came on the nesting tree of a 

 pair of Spotted Owls {Ninox maculata). Whilst the female was 

 sitting the male bird (presumably) sat on the branch of a tall 

 mimosa close by. In this locality I found a nest of young Shrike- 

 Thrushes {Colluricincla), nearly fledged by the end of August 

 (1916). The parents of these built last year in the crown of a 

 tree-fern, but deserted and rebuilt in a prickly shrub. These 

 young were reared except one, which overbalanced and was 

 impaled through the side of the head or cheek by a prickle, and 

 thus I found it, dead — a sad little tragedy. 



Quails are wonderfully plentiful, natural conditions for them 

 being of the very best, and doubtless their presence accounts for 

 the numbers of Hawks. They appear to be all Brown Quail 

 {Synoicus diemenensis), but in the clutches brought to or seen by 

 me there are the two distinct types — viz., the larger, darker, and 

 heavily-marked variety, and the shghtly smaller, faintly marked 

 — in fact, almost white — ^variation. Both are found in crops or 

 swampy localities, but paddocks under peas are the favourite 

 nesting-grounds. As might be expected with a plentitude of 

 food, the clutches are large, averaging about eleven, constantly 

 fourteen, and up to nineteen. 



Painted Quail {Tiirnix varia). — Heard calling. 

 Bronze- winged Pigeon {Phaps chalcoptera). — Seen on the mimosa 

 and wild clover tree areas. 



Most of the creeks drain to the Flowerdale River, and some, 

 in their swampy courses, are the haunt of the Lewin Rail {Hvpo- 

 tcBnidia hrachypus) and of the Spotless Crake {Porzana immaciilata) , 

 and I was successful last season in finding their nests and adding 

 further to my knowledge of their economy. In both species I 

 found birds sitting on clutches of from two to four eggs. In this 

 warmer district the nesting begins much earlier, and eggs may 

 be taken in August. Illness prevented me working these stretches 

 later than September, for which I was sorry, as I was anxious 

 to see if the second clutches would be larger. 



On the banks of the Flowerdale River was a possum's nest, 

 built in the willows, but which, judging by the quantity of down 

 at its entrance and- a feather caught below, had been used by a 

 Duck — probably a Black Duck {Anas superciliosa), as a nest 

 containing three eggs of a pair of these, built in tussocks, was 

 reported to me by a schoolboy who was fishing along the banks 

 of this river. 



One of the nests of the Tabuan Crake contained a clutch of 

 four, and all the eggs had a dark brown cap on the larger end. 



