Vol. XXII. 

 1922 



] Stray Feathers. 75 



height of not le.s.'^ than torty-h\e feet from the gnnmd. At 

 about 6 a.m. on November 20th, 1921, I noticed a Duck fly from 

 the tree in question, and upon proceeding towards it perceived 

 some object fall from the tree. It was a duckling, but recently 

 hatched. Six more followed; one in falling struck a branch, but 

 reached the ground unhurt. It was really amusing to see them 

 tumble down, one after the other, and then after a few seconds 

 commence a "queek, queek, (|ueek." I caught them and placed 

 them in my hat, and after admiring the pretty creatures, liber- 

 ated them. They were soon led off safely by the female, which 

 flew around the whole time. I watched this interesting scene 

 in a good-sized patch of bush, not far from the Ruamahunga 

 River. Te Whiti, near Masterton.— R.H.D.Stidolph.R.A.O.U., 

 Masterton. N.Z. 



A Strange Nesting=place. — Bird lore is full of stories of 

 strange nesting-places, but perhaps the most singular is that 

 chosen by two sparrows who reside, apparently, somewhere near 

 the Ashburton, X. Z., railway station fsays the " Guardian"). 

 They have selected the ventilator of the guard's van used on the 

 IMount Soniers train, and there they have built their nest, laid 

 the eggs, and hatched their young. As the van goes with the 

 Mount Somers train to Springburn (a distance of about 30 miles) 

 every evening and returns every morning, it is something in the 

 nature of a puzzle how the fledgelings were hatched. Possibly 

 the mother travelled with the eggs. At the moment, the guard 

 says, the youngsters are very well \-oiced, and make a chatter on 

 the journey to Ashburton each morning but are quiet at night. 

 Full crops is his explanation of the peace at eventide, and hence 

 he deduces that the parents' permanent place of residence is at 

 Ashburton, X.Z.— R.H.D. Stidolph, R.A.O.U., Masterton. N.Z. 



The Red=cro\vned Pigeon in Tasmania.— On May 15th, 1922, 

 a specimen of the Red-crowned Pigeon (Ptilinopiis reg'uia) was 

 received at the Tasmanian Museum. As far as we are aware 

 there is no previous record of its occurrence in Tasmania, and 

 it would at first appear as if it was an escapee. It must be re- 

 membered, however, that the Purple-crowned Pigeon {Ptilinopus 

 SHperba) appears as an "accidental" on the Tasmanian avifaunal 

 list, and the Top-knot Pigeon (Lopholaimus antarcticus) as a 

 "casual." Certain storms may cause these forms to be blown 

 far from their natural geographical habitat, and a percentage of 

 such may reach Tasmania. Unfortunately, the particular si)eci- 

 men which was forwarded to the Museum had been considerably 

 damaged when it was shot and some days elapsed before it was 



