318 Camera Craft. TstApdl" 



Camera Craft 



The Yellow=tufted Honeyeater.— On (Jctober 1st, 1922, I 

 found the nest of a pair of Yellow-tufted Honeyeaters (Mcli- 

 phaya melanops), containing three eggs, one of which was that 

 of a Pallid Cuckoo (Cucuhis paUldus). V>\ October 7th there 

 were three young birds in the nest, but on the next day the young 

 Cuckoo reigned supreme. 1 secured six photos, only one being 

 a failure. The accompanying photo is the best of the five. The 

 Honeyeaters, which were very tame, visited the nest in turn, 

 and supplied the gluttonous Cuckoo with food. The nest was 

 situated in a small shrub alongside a gum sapling. By bending 

 the sapling out of the way, I obtained a good light, had the nest 

 free from shadows, and avoided the risk of a too dark back- 

 ground. There were several pairs of Honeyeaters chasing a 

 Cuckoo, which had evidently made the paddock her nursery. ( )n 

 several occasions I visited this place, intending to attempt a 

 picture of the Cuckoo laying in a Honeyeater's nest, but al- 

 though I spent many afternoons watching, as far as possible, 

 both the Cuckoo and Honeyeaters, I was unsuccessful in finding 

 a nest. That there were several nests, and that the Cuckoo used 

 them, I feel quite sure. — Marc Cotix, R.A.O.U., P.endigo. 



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Silver Gulls — While in South Australia last year. Air. H. i). 

 Fletcher, from the Australian Museimi, Sydney, and I visited 

 one of the Adelaide beaches, and noticing a fairly large flock of 

 Silver Gulls on the sand decided to try and obtain a picture of 

 them. They api)eared tame, so we ]HU-chased some sponge cake 

 at a neighbouring tea-shop, and sitting down on the beach dis- 

 tributed it over the sand in view of the birds. Presently they 

 realised it was food, and the whole flock commenced gobbling it 

 up as fast as they could. We remained quite still, and over- 

 coming their shyness, the birds came very close to us, ate up 

 the crumbs close by, and literally asked for more. \\'hen they 

 were about four feet away a couple of exposures were made. The 

 l)icture depicts them waiting for more cake to be thrown. — M. 

 S. R. Sjtaklaxd, P.A.O.U..' Plobart. 



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The Red-kneed Dotterel (Eryt/trof/onys cinctus). — During 

 vSeptenihcr, 1''22. I spent a week-end at Bendigo as the guest 

 of Mr. Marc Cohn, a new member of the Union and an enthusi- 

 astic photographer. The i^revious year T obtained ])ictures of 

 the Black-fronted Dotterel (Charadriits niclanops), and in the 

 hope of further obser\ ing these interesting birds we walked along 

 the pebbly margin of the Bendigo Creek at Golden Scpiare. Not 

 more than two hundred yards from the tram-line we found 

 several Dotterels feeding along the creek, but Mr. Cohn was first 

 to notice that there were three or four pairs of birds of a difTerent 



