Vol. xyiii.j g^^^y Feathers. 205 



Stray Feathers. 



Rare Birds. — One Painted Snipe was seen on the Purrumbete 

 estate, Camperdown, early in November, and a pair on Marida 

 Yallock estate, near Terang ; also a Little Bittern (very rare here) 

 at Forest Park, Naroghid, the first noticed for over twenty years. 

 — L. BucKLAND. Camperdown, Vic, 25/11/18. 



Bustard and Mice. — During the mouse plague here I shot a 

 large Australian Bustard or Plain-Turkey {Chorioiis anstralis). 

 When cleaning it I found it had two complete Quail in perfect 

 condition, and the hair from innumerable mice which it must 

 have devoured. The Quail were in immense numbers about the 

 same time as the mouse plague. On one occasion I flushed a 

 bird from its nest, which contained eleven eggs. — -Arthur C. 

 Bligh. Condamine Plains, Brookstead (Q.), 11/11/18. 



Lyre-Bird's Nest. — The Lyre-Bird {Memira victorice), for- 

 tunately, has not yet been killed out by foxes, for I had the 

 pleasure of listening to four male birds lately at Porepunkah ; 

 also, a few days ago I saw a nest on the side of the cutting near 

 Eurobin Falls. The coach to Mount Buffalo passes within a few 

 feet of the nest, and yet the sitting bird was not disturbed. This 

 shows that this bird is not as shy at times as it is made out to be. 

 It is one of the earliest nesting birds we have, and begins to sit 

 about the middle of July. — -Thomas Bell. Porepunkah (Vic.) 



A Dance of Coots. — Mr. L. W. Thniston, of Devonport, tells 

 me that when at Campbelltown, in the Tasmanian midlands, he 

 surprised, among the tall tussocks at the edge of a swamp, a party 

 of Bald-Coots {Porphyrio melanonokis), which were apparently 

 occupied with some kind of social gathering or dance. Four of 

 them were standing together, with the wings half-elevated, and 

 one of these had its foot partly raised as if about to strike it on 

 the ground. About half a dozen others were standing round 

 looking on. He had a few seconds to observe them before they saw 

 him, when the party immediately dissolved. The incident was 

 forcibly recalled to his mind recently when looking through 

 Hudson's "Naturalist in La Plata" by the illustration in that 

 volume of the dance of Jacanas. — H. Stuart Dove, F.Z.S. West 

 Devonport, Tas. 



An Extraordinary Accident. — A mishap of a most unusual and 

 curious character befel Mr. Howard Dimmock, of Glendonbrook, 

 on Thursday evening, 24th October. He was coming into town 

 (says the Singleton Argus) in his motor-car early in the evening, 



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