1 30 Stray Feathers. [ .^['■"j",, 



remember on one occasion a pair of them that had been domes- 

 ticated nesting in my garden, but the birds deserted the nest one 

 bitterly cold, wet evening, and the eggs were left exposed ail 

 night. In the morning they were placed under a hen, and, 

 strange to say, all hatched out. — R. V. Dennis. Warncoort, 

 November, 1906. 



* * * 



Migration of Swallows. — Many years, ago a pair of 

 Swallows {Hirundo neoxena) built their mud nest on a rafter 

 under the gable of the roof of Ellis's auction room at North 

 Melbourne. There is an unobstructed view of this part of the 

 roof, and tlie Swallows and their nest can be continuously 

 observed. Mr. Ellis informs me that for the last 12 years 

 this pair of birds has never once left the premises to migrate. 

 They have reared their young there, and when the nestlings are 

 old enough the parent birds have been observed to push them 

 over the side of the nest and so teach them to fly. They have 

 three different nests in the roof, and when the old birds consider 

 that the young birds are old enough to look after themselves 

 they desert the nest in which they reared the nestlings and 

 occupy one of the other nests. This is evidently an intimation 

 to their young to feed themselves, and also to depart from the 

 building, and should the young birds be disposed to stay the 

 old birds slightly coerce them until they leave. These Swallows 

 live principally on flies which hover around an adjoining 

 butcher's shop, and during the winter months, when flies are 

 scarce, the Swallows nearly starve. It would be interesting to 

 know if this pair of Swallows are begetting a non-migratory 

 stock.— A. Mattingley. Melbourne, November, 1906. 



^ ■^ ^ 



Pilot-Birds. — On 17th November, in the Dandenong 

 Ranges, Mr. J. A. Ross took a pair of the acorn-like eggs of 

 Pycnoptilus floccosus for his collection. Three weeks later, in the 

 same locality, I discovered a nest being built upon the ground 

 among thick scrub. I was astonished to see the greater part of 

 the bulky outer structure built when I repassed the site less than 

 5 hours later. The female alone performed this task, bringing 

 in long shreds of bark and grass and old leaves with surprising 

 rapidity ; the male accompanying her on her excursions, 

 whistling cheerily, and feeding her occasionally. 



When the two eggs were laid the female only sat upon them, 

 but she came off occasionally to feed. The male bird would 

 hop about in advance, and when he found any dainty tit-bit 

 would come running back to put it in his mate's mouth. While 

 searching for food the male whistled every few moments his 

 loud, full-throated call (so strong for the size of the bird), and 

 every call was answered quickly by the female. When she 



