1.62 Stray Feathers. [xsf'jan. 



March (Mr. W. Duffy) ; the earhest date in spring is 21st August 

 (Mr. A. R. Reid). 



Fan-tailed Cuckoo {Cacomanfis fiaheUiformis). — The latest 

 autumn record is 27th February (Mr. W. Duffy) ; earliest spring 

 record is 4th September, on which date a bird was seen by myself. 

 It permitted a near approach, and I was able to perceive the 

 rufescent tinge on the breast and the toothing of the tail feathers. 

 When at rest on a branch the bird maintained an erect position, 

 with the tail pendent ; when it alighted it jerked the tail upwards, 

 but not so much as the Pallid Cuckoo does. 



Silver Gull {Larus novce-hollandice) . — One was observed feeding 

 on small crabs, which were swallowed whole. It obtained them in 

 shallow water, either by dipping its head into the water or by 

 jumping out of the water and taking a little dive. As is the case 

 every winter, many Seagulls visited the grass fields, but this did 

 not occur in stormy weather only. Thus on the loth of July about 

 100 Seaguhs appeared in a field on a tine morning with a 

 gentle southerly breeze blowing. Adolescent birds, having the 

 wing coverts more or less speckled with stone colour, accom- 

 panied the adults, but were fewer in number than these. 



Little Penguin {Eudyptiila minor). — I take this opportunity of 

 qualifying some of my remarks regarding this species which 

 appeared in The Emu of April, 1904.* The downy covering of 

 a pair of young birds, which I called " nestling down," might be 

 better named a second growth of down. It is what Gould has 

 called " the downy dress of immaturity."t This down grows 

 among the blue feathers of the back, and conceals them wholly or 

 partly. But I do not think that the down in question has its 

 origin earlier than the blue feathers, for the dorsal surface even of 

 the foetus has a covering of embryonic feathers which have some 

 resemblance to the feathers which cover the back of the perfect 

 bird. I have read that at the time of moulting the plumage of 

 Penguins sloughs in patches, so that in not a few respects the 

 processes connected with the growth and moulting of feathers 

 differs amongst Penguins from these processes amongst other birds. 

 The latest date on which I saw Little Penguins in the Derwent 

 was the 17th of July. On the nth of the same month I had seen 

 two birds swimming side by side and diving simultaneously, and 

 had inferred that the mating season had commenced. 



Shieldrake {Casarca tadornoides). — A duck was shot at Pipeclay 

 Lagoon, South Arm, about the nth of March (Mr. W. Richardson). 



Grey Teal {Nettion gibberifrons). — One bird (a drake) had the 

 stomach full of the shells of a minute mollusc resembling a 

 Cantharidns. 



Freckled Duck {Stidoneita noevosa). — Two birds (duck and drake) 

 were shot near South Bridgewater in the third week of March (Mr. 

 A. Dickenson). — James R. M'Clymont. Sandy Bay, Hobart. 



* Vol. iii., p. 237. 

 t " Handbook to the Birds of Australia," vol. ii., p. 521. 



