Vol 



1905 



J Stray Feathers. ^7 



We shoot one or two Hawks here every week — last week the 

 number rose to three. At some pkiees the fowls are said to have 

 hardly any feathers left on their baeks, but I have not heard of any 

 being killed. Goshawks {A. approximans) are the chief offenders, 

 but Brown Hawks, Spotted Harriers, and Sparrow-Hawks all join 

 in, and I have even seen the little Kestrels hovering over the fowl- 

 yard. \\'hy they all do it I can't make out, as the bush is " chock- 

 full " of small birds, and grasshoppers are in thousands. 1 shot 

 one Brown Hawk and found nothing but grasshoppers in his 

 craw. Wood-Swallows (White-browed and Masked varieties) 

 seem to be also following the " hopj)ers," as they are in countless 

 flocks, but at present seem to have no intention of building. Here 

 is a Wren {Malurus melanocephalus) note that may be useful : — On 

 the 25th of February I found a nest just outside the garden con- 

 taining four eggs. I took them, but the birds stayed about, and 

 on 2 1st of this month (]\Iarch) I found a second nest with three eggs. 

 On looking at them the next day, I was astonished to find that 

 they had hatched. Quick work, wasn't it ? There were only two 

 birds to be seen at any time, and they were both " browns." Was 

 one an immature male ? I think so, because in all the other 

 families that I see about there is always one red and black bird, 

 so I concluded they were not laying out of season. If there had 

 been a I'ed and black male with these I must have seen him, as 

 they were close to the house for over a month and are still here. — 

 Ernest D. Barnard. March, 1905. 



" The School in Wild Life." — The publication of Mr. F. M. 

 Littler's article on " The School in Wild Life " {Emu, vol. iv., 

 p. 57, 1904) induces me to forward the following notes of my own 

 experience of birds and their songs. They hardly support the 

 theory that the song of a bird is instinctive, and I am led to con- 

 clude that birds do learn their song from their parents, and that 

 in many cases their schooling occupies a fairly long time. 



The Long-tailed Blue Wren [Malurus gouldi), I have found, 

 acquires its notes from its parents by degrees, and is at least nine 

 months old before its song is perfect. A male which I kept in a 

 cage could at the end of 18 months articulate only half a bar. 



As to the Laughing Jackass {Dacelo) : every si)ring for 20 years 

 past I have observed the parents coaching their young, and noted 

 how the adults wt)ul(l sit on a branch with the learners and 

 encourage them by many prolonged laughter-like notes. Little 

 by little the notes of the young birds changed from " Yah ! yah ! 

 yah ! " to the cackle with variations. Until the full song is 

 acquired the noise of the " school " is very trying to one working 

 in the vicinity. 



So with the Magpie {(JymnorJiina). The various calls and 

 singing notes are learned piece by piece ; the alarm note first, 

 then a note of anger, afterwards fragments of song, until the whole 

 song is acquired. In this connection 1 may record an incident 



