Correspondence. 71 



Partridge, I'rcnch I'.ii iridgo, I'hi-asaiit, Watcrlieii, Green Plover. 



I ani (oming home on leav^e in a few day-v and am looking forward 

 to seeing some of my old favourites again, and also dipping into the last 

 six numbers of " H.N." 



B. H.XMn.TON SCOT'l a.icul . I< .1- A.l 

 Somewhere in I-'l.indcrs, February, 1916. 



FIELD NOJES, NEW SOUTH WALES. 



Sir, The following notes will probably interest many readers. 



" Last Sunday while on the mountams, I got up at dtytight 

 " (4 a.m.;, and vveni for a I'amble down one of the deep .gullies to 

 " sec what kind of birds were there, but nothing extra choice did I 

 ■" -see. Kot anything in. the I'arrot line. A couple of flocks of about 

 " IOC each <A '^)dney Waxljills, lots of Honey-eaters, including the Hlood- 

 " bird (all red), Yellow-tufted ; Blue-faced ; Yellow-eared ; Leather-heads ; 

 " and (iuill birds, these two latter are very large birds and good eating. 

 " I saw quite a number of the Little Blue Wren (Superb Warbler) 



" and two only of Lambert Wrens, both the Blue and Lamberts are 

 ■" exceedingly pretty and just as delicate, but some day 1 'iiust have 

 " a try at sending you a pair or so. As I was working my way down 

 ■" the mcuntain side scrambling over rocks and through creepers, >tc,, 

 " 1 came upon three yt>ung Flame-breasted Robins, which had left the 

 " nest a day or so previously and were all three sitting on a low bush 

 " and it was indeed a- pretty sight to see the parent birds feeding them. 



" The old cock Robin with his extremely bright vermilion breast, jet 

 -' black and white body marking, looked some class. Have you over 

 "" hf-ard of any coming your way? 



" After leaving the Robins I came across a pair of Coach Whips 

 " (sometimes called fantails), They are a little on the large side, and 

 "" they make a noise like a coachman cracking his whip, hence the 

 ' name. 1 also flushed a few Pigeons, but the undergrowth was so 

 ■"thick I could not see to distinguish the variety. On my way back 

 "' to the house, which, by the way, was a devil of a climb. I came upon 

 " .1 fairly Large brown snake about six feet long. I endeavoured to 



" kill it, but the scrub was so thick I could not get a hit at him ; I 

 "" was wishing I had brought my gun , if I had I guess I would have 

 " settled him . also a Wallaby, two of which I saw bounding up the 

 " side of the 'mountain. .-\t f)nc time i|uite a lot of Lyre birds, fre- 

 ■ quented this gully, but of late years ' Mr. P'ox ' has either killed or 

 " hunted them further back into the Mountains. I can't make out why 



" they introduced the Fox into Australia ; they said it was to kill rabbits, 

 "and a lot of other things as well. When they can't get rabbits, or 



" want a change of diet, they try lamb's or sheep's tongues. They 

 " never bother to kill a sheep and have a feed, but just catch 'em by the 

 " throat, and chew in until they get the root of the tongue, then out 

 " conies the tongue, root and all ; then the sheep is left to go and die. 



