Vol. VII 

 1907 



J Stray Feat her s> q-3 



first ? " I think I can answer both queries. They certainly 

 did not kill the first, nor yet the second, as I believe that I can 

 claim the doubtful honour, at any rate as far as being one of the 

 first two recorded specimens — vide a paper read before the 

 Victorian Field Naturalists' Club, 12th November, 1883, by Mr. 

 A. J. Campbell, and also published by him in " Nests and Eggs 

 of Australian Birds," and later on again included in his 

 completed work and published in 1900. So much for the first. 

 As to the " last of the tribe," that has not been killed yet, and 

 I hope will not be for many years to come, as will be seen from 

 the following notes : — ^In the early part of last December I was 

 staying for a week at Glenora, and on several occasions I saw 

 AcantJioniis magna — one pair feeding three young ones who had 

 left the nest within a day or so, both male and female being 

 busily employed bringing grubs and small bettles to help to fill 

 up those three little yellow caverns which seemed to lead to 

 unknown depths, as I counted 83 trips for both parents in 

 20 minutes, and, like Oliver Twist, they still "asked for more." 

 It was most interesting to watch these proceedings. There 

 were the three little hungry creatures sitting huddled close 

 together on a bough of native musk, and as soon as they heard 

 papa or mamma calling in the distance each would give a little 

 " cheep " as though to guide them to where their hungry 

 children were ; when they came near there was such a bustling 

 and pushing amongst the three to get the coveted morsel, such 

 fluttering of wings and wild cries, then a gulp, a sort of satisfied 

 gurgle, and then silence. This performance was repeated every 

 time either of the parents brought anything edible. Only once 

 did I see the larger of the three snatch the tempting morsel from 

 his brother's or sister's mouth ; the number of times each 

 nestling was fed being 28, 26, 29, and yet the father and mother 

 were not present together and did not see which young one had 

 been fed last. Sometimes they would both feed the same one, 

 but more often would feed the one on either side and then the 

 middle one. Several times the mother remained with the 

 young while the male bird was away hunting, and it was a very 

 pretty sight to see how she attended the little ones, preening 

 their feathers and pulling off little bits of fluff, and generally 

 making them look smart against their father's return. In 

 conclusion, I may state that Acantliornis magna is not a rare 

 bird, in my opinion, if one knows its habits and where to look for 

 it ; but, being a scrub bird, it naturally retreats farther away as 

 the land is cleared, especially the creeks and gullies, which are 

 its natural haunts. In a former paper read by me before the 

 Tasmanian Field Naturalists' Club, and published in The Emti, 

 vol. i., page 157, I gave a list of places where I had noted 

 Acanthortiis magna which covered a wide area of the south of 

 Tasmania. — A. L. Butler. Hobart, 10/7/07. 



