158 Stray Feathers. [,,f7^„. 



on the 14th November I noticed a pair of fresh eggs of the 

 Bron/.e-wing Pigeon {Pliaps cJiakoptera) in the same nest. On 

 the loth October I took one fresh q:^% of the Goshawk {Astnr 

 aphroxiinans)\ on the 15th November I took one heavily incu- 

 bated ^zs^ and one addled ^^^ of same bird from the same nest. 

 The White-browed {Artamus superciliosus) and Masked {Arta- 

 n?us persoiiatiis) Wood-Swallows are now visiting us in thous- 

 ands, and placing their nests in all sorts of curious places. The 

 Dollar-Bird {Enrystomus austrah's), usually very plentiful 

 here in summer, is very scarce this season ; I know of one pair 

 only in the vicinity. Friar-Birds or Leatherheads {Philewoii 

 corniailaUis) are breeding very freely ; the same applies to the Pied 

 Crow-Shrike [Strepera gracuHna). I never knew Ephthianura 

 ^/(^//"r^wj- so plentiful before ; they have been breeding since June. 

 I saw one full clutch of four eggs. I have seen one only 

 Scyihrops novce-hoUnndicE this season ; this bird is usually 

 plentiful here. On the i8th September, at Belltrees, found an 

 eg;^ of the Black-eared Cuckoo {Misocalius paVioIatiis) in the 

 nest of the Little Field-Wren {ChtJioiiicoIa sagittatd) along with 

 a pair of eggs of the last-named bird. — H. L. W?IITE. 17/1 1/07. 



Launceston (Tasmania) Notes. — While returning from a 

 long ramble down the banks of the Tamar, at the end of 

 October, I was fortunate enough to come upon a small party of 

 five Sandpipers or Sharp-tailed Stints {Heteropygia aainimatn), 

 feeding quietly upon a little mud-bank at the edge of a swamp. 

 They were by no means wild, and allowed me to approach 

 within a few yards before taking wing with their plaintive cry. 

 This was within a mile of Launceston Post-Office, which is 

 unusually close to town for these long-distance migrants to 

 appear. The same afternoon I heard great numbers of Grass- 

 Birds {Megahirus graiiiineus) uttering their weird little calls, 

 and saw one or two. This interesting little bird, although shy 

 in the sense of keeping itself out of sight, yet does not at all 

 object to the proximity of human beings, so long as there is 

 cover for concealment. One is calling frequently in a thin 

 patch of reeds close to the Tamar ferry, just opposite the wharf, 

 and with people passing to and fro within a ^cw yards ; there 

 are dozens in the reeds alongside a footpath which caps the 

 embankment. I have frequently brought them up almost to my 

 feet by imitating their call, and then have not been able to see 

 them, owing to the thick growth of reeds. The call is usually 

 a plaintive double whistle, hut some individuals use three or 

 even four notes instead of the usual two. 



The Reed-Warblers {Acrocephalus mistralis) were much in 

 evidence that same day, flying excitedly from the dense growth 

 of the riverside into the wattle trees, then chasing each other 



