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T^!-c r Kmu 



vroin Magazines, •^c. I ,^( j^i 



Regurgitative Feeding. — Mrs. Irene G. Wheelock, who con- 

 tributes a paper on " The Regurgitative Feeding of Nestlings" to 

 The Auk, Jan., 1905, has records of 187 broods of young birds 

 she has had under observation, which show that in every case 

 where the young were hatched in a naked or semi-naked state 

 they were, for a period varying from one day to four weeks, 

 fed by regurgitation — i.e., the parents swallowed the food, carried 

 it in their craws to the young, and then disgorged it, sometimes 

 partly digested, into the latter's mout]is. Young birds, however, 

 which when hatched are covered with down were found by the 

 writer to be fed directly with fresh food from the time of hatching. 



* * * 



Duck and Eagle. — In The Geelong Naturalist (Dec, 1904) Mr. 

 J. F. Mulder has the following observation : — " In going over one 

 of the forest rises I came suddenly on a Mountain Duck {Casarca 

 tadornoides), which was standing about forty yards away, in front 

 of me. It appeared hurt, for as I rode on it flapped along the 

 ground, dragging its legs behind it, the acting being so clever that 

 I really thought it had been shot. I was not the only one deceived. 

 A pair of Whistling Eagles [Haliastitr sphenurus) kept swooping 

 down on it as it was fluttering along the ground. When the Eagles 

 darted down the Duck lay flat in the dust, but started on again 

 when I approached. My suspicions were aroused by its getting 

 gradually further away. At last it rose straight up in the air, 

 I'ivalling the Eagles themselves in vigour of flight, and disappeared." 



A Nature Calendar. — Mr. James R. M'Clymont, M.A., supplies 

 The Zoologist (April) with " Monthly Notes for 1902, taken in the 

 South of Tasmania." Not the least interesting, albeit brief, are 

 the bird observations. On the 17th August he notes " Eucalyptus 

 globulus in flower." The following day " Swift Lorikeets appear." 

 About the end of November " Swift Lorikeets disappear." In 

 the interim did the Lorikeets breed ? Or were the^^ merely attracted 

 by the flowering blue gums ? These are interesting questions. 

 Some records kept during November proved that the Magpies 

 {Gymnorhina) commence carolling about one hour before sunrise, 

 although in one instance a bird was heard i hour 18 minutes before 

 sunrise. Of course the dawn is comparatively long in November. 

 Would the Magpies commence so early beloie sunrise, say, during 

 a winter month ? 



Sub-species.— A paper in Tlu- Auk for January., by Dr. Jonathan 

 Dwight, on " Plumage Wear in its Relation to Pallid Sub-species " 

 holds out some j)rospect of relief from the interminable splitting of 

 species. To establish a new " geographical race " it is necessary, 

 says in effect the writer, to show that the difl'erence relied on exists 



