306 stray Feathers. [JlU 



ccerulescens, and Corone australis likewise caused trouble. The 

 imported fox was in evidence, eating water-melons, tomatoes, 

 and any low-hanging fruit ; however, a Rosella baited with 

 strychnine was irresistible, and baits of this sort soon accounted 

 for six of the animals. By the way, a Rosella is, in my ex- 

 perience, the most attractive of all baits for foxes. Foxes were 

 the means of Choughs {Corcorax melanorhamphits) learning another 

 bad habit (they already take toll of newly-sown wheat and 

 ripening maize) by teaching them the value of water-melons as 

 a food in time of scarcity. During the raid of foxes upon our 

 melons, numbers of White-winged Choughs were noticed on the 

 melon patch, but no importance was attached to the fact. After 

 the destruction of the foxes by poison, Choughs were still observed 

 feeding on something, an examination proving that they bored 

 neat holes into the fruit and completely extracted the contents. 

 About the same time they attacked fruit growing on a large 

 mulberry tree near b3^ and assisted the imported Starling {Stiirnus 

 vulgaris) in clearing the crop. Overhanging my office is an 

 immense fig-tree of the Purple Turkish variety, said to be nearly 

 100 years old. It was almost destroyed in 1901 by a gale, but 

 has since re-grown to a height of 30 feet, with a spread of branches 

 50 feet in diameter, the trunk measuring 10 feet 6 inches in girth 

 at four feet from the ground (see photo.) It bears great crops of 

 most luscious fruit, the season lasting from early in January until 

 April, and is naturally a great attraction for birds. Finding 

 that Starlings were invading the tree in numbers, I determined 

 to try the effect of poison. For the purpose I baited a number 

 of figs, tied them to sticks, and placed same near the top of the 

 tree. The first twenty-four hours gave the following results : — 

 Two possums, three flying foxes, four Magpies, two Peewits (Magpie- 

 Larks), one Harmonious Thrush, five Orioles, several Ptilotis 

 peniciUata and Zosterops, with one Starling. I abandoned the 

 experiment and resorted to the .22 rifle, which gives excellent 

 sport and results. — Henry L. White. Belltrees, Scone, N.S.W., 

 11/3/19- 



Camera Craft Notes. 



The Australian Goshawk {Astur approxiinans). — These line 

 birds are found all over Australia and Tasmania, as well as in 

 New Caledonia. The young are very differently marked from 

 the adults, and much confusion was caused in originally naming 

 them as a different species. The adult birds have fine pencilled 

 markings across the brown breast, whereas the young have 

 somewhat radiated lines, through each feather being crossed by 

 two bands of dark brown, the lower one liaving a triangular form. 

 These birds, being swift on the wing, are naturally destructive 

 to bird-life, which they frequently take unawares when swiftly 

 gliding through the timbered country where they are naturally 



