Vol. VII 

 1907 



•1 Stray Feathers. Q7 



An Autumn Outing. — Mr. H. C. Thompson and myself 

 had an interesting afternoon among the birds in the neighbour- 

 hood of Launceston recently. Taking our way through the 

 grand columnar rocks of Cataract Gorge, we turned at right 

 angles and entered a wooded gully, down the centre of which is 

 the course of a stream. Owing to the continued dry weather 

 this autumn, the lower part of this course is now quite dry, but 

 the tree-ferns shooting up from its rocky bed do not yet appear 

 to have felt the effect of this unusual drought, but wave their 

 fronds as luxuriantly as before. From the end of the Gorge, just 

 before turning into the track alongside the watercourse, a fine 

 Shrike-Thrush {Colly rwcincla rcctirostris) flew from almost under 

 our feet and retreated into a patch of scrub ; we notice that this 

 bird, in the comparatively open bush around our town, appears 

 smaller and much lighter in tint than the same species which 

 lives amid the great timbered tracts of the north-west of our 

 island. Having entered the gully, a party of three Grey-tailed 

 Thickheads {PacJiyccpJuxla glaucnni) entertained us with their 

 tuneful whistling among the young gums just across the creek- 

 bed ; their throats were whitish, but we could not see any 

 development of the rich yellow hue which adorns the breast of 

 the matured male. A Fire-tailed Finch i^ZoncegintJuis bcllns) 

 flew along before us, and soon after we espied a beautiful 

 Strong-billed Honey-eater {Melitlireptiis validirostris) sitting on 

 the topmost peak of a small dead tree, enjoying himself in the 

 genial sunshine. This species is much more familiar than its 

 congener, the Black-headed Honey-eater (M. inelanocephalns), 

 and I have often seen it come about the gardens of the North- 

 West Coast in winter time to feed on the nectar of the crested 

 wattle, that very early-flowering acacia which has come to us 

 from Westralia. Amid a patch of bracken the Browntails 

 {Acanthiza dienienensis) were uttering their sweet wild notes, 

 and one which appeared amid the heads of the fern was a very 

 well developed specimen, seemingly larger and darker in tint 

 than the rest. Finding at length a good pool of clear water in 

 the upper part of the rocky creek bed, we camped for lunch, and 

 having boiled the billy and infused the Bohea, we fell to with 

 good appetites, as it was then after two o'clock. Mr. Thompson 

 had selected a delightful sp(^t, sheltered from sun and wind and 

 overhung with small blackwoods and wattles (acacias). Here 

 the notes of the " Ground Diamond " frequently reached our 

 ears — not the familiar " ding-dong " utterance of spring, but a 

 sequence of three rapid notes, usually answered by a peculiar 

 " purring " sound, perhaps uttered by the female. The 

 beautiful mellow calls of the Yellow-throated Honey-eater 

 {Ptilotis flavigularis) were also heard now and again, and seemed 

 to fit in perfectly with our surroundings ; somehow I always 

 think of the Bulbul, as sung by the poets of the Orient, when enjoy- 



