134 Slray Feathers. [^^J 



Emu 

 Oct. 



appropriately the " whisper song." Allusions to many kinds of 

 birds which have been heard singing thus in various parts of 

 North America maj' be found in the organ of the Audubon Society 

 —Bird-Lore. My introduction to this class of song took place 

 years ago, while living to the west of Table Cape, North-West 

 Tasmania. One warm afternoon I was spending an hour in the 

 garden which we had planted " on our selection," and in which 

 the fruit-trees had grown to a fair size. A sweet melody, con- 

 taining some rich notes, fell upon my ear ; it gave the impression 

 of a rather large bird singing in the distance, and I had listened 

 to it for some time before it struck me that the performer might 

 be closer at hand. I- then traced it to a nut-bush only a couple 

 of yards or so away, and on peering into this saw, ensconced in 

 the shady centre of the bush, a White-eye {Zosterops coendescens) 

 warbling away as if purely for his own enjoyment. So wrapped 

 up was he in this quiet, inward melody that he took no notice of 

 my presence, and I was able to enjoy the song for some minutes 

 longer. — H. Stuart Dove. West Devonport, Tas., 14/8/18. 



Maternal Courage, — While walking at the Mersey Bluff, North- 

 West Tasmania, during the first week of January, I noticed the 

 nest of a Wood-Swallow {Artaimis sordidus) in a small fork near 

 the end of a pine branch, and went under the branch, w^hich was 

 10 or 12 feet above the ground, to inspect. The sitting bird 

 immediately left the nest, rose up in an oblique direction to a 

 distance of about 15 feet from the branch, then swooped toward 

 me, passing over my head and just missing the white helmet 

 which I wore. The impetus of the descent carried her a good 

 distance in the opposite direction, whence she returned to the 

 first aerial position, swooped again (just missing my hat), and 

 continued the manoeuvre until I left the spot. This is the first 

 time that I have known an Artamiis come near to making an 

 attack on a human being, much in the same way that the Skua 

 does in the Shetlands of the north. A pair of Superb Warblers 

 {M alums longicaitdits) built in my garden during December in 

 some long grass about the stem of a small cherry tree, and laid 

 four eggs during successive days. After incubation had pro- 

 ceeded awhile something disturbed the nest during one night, 

 and in the mornmg the eggs were out on the grass just beneath. 

 When I stooped to replace them, the female Warbler perched on 

 the nest close to my hand, scolding away very heartily, and 

 remained there until my retirement. — H. Stuart Dove. West 

 Devonport, Tasmania, 27/2/18. 



^ "^ "^ 



White-tailed Black Terns {HydrochcUdou Icucoptcra) in Western 

 Australia. In 'riic Emu, vol. xvii., p. 95, I recorded the visit of 

 large- nunihcrs of these birds to South- Western Australia in March, 

 April, and Meiy, 1917. I described tliis t)ccurrencc as " a remark- 



