""%¥''■] Stray Feathers. 247 



])lace(l in the centre of a lar^e tuft of sword-f^rass near the 

 .t^round, and was composed of short lenj^ths of rush and j,n-ass, 

 and Hned with some leaves from a Callistemon or Mehdeuca tree, 

 both of which were growing handy. The longer blades (jf the 

 tuft were drawn over and down, bemg interwoven with the rigid 

 stems and shorter blades, and forming a hood over the nest 

 I^roper. giving the combined structure a tubiform appearance, 

 with the entrance at one end and the exit at the other. 



This addition to the nest afifords shelter from heavy rain, shade 

 from the scorching sun, and invisibility from enemies, especi- 

 ally the wily and ever-present Raven. 



Near liallina, one day, while walking with a local juvenile 

 through a ])artially dry swamji covered with rushes, sword-grass 

 and stunted tea-trees, we came across a dead male Coucal. My 

 companion informed me that it was shot on account of eating 

 fowls' eggs, and this was one of the culprits. A most repre- 

 hensible procedure is resorted to. A dog is sent into the swamp 

 to scare the birds into the low trees, where they are promptly 

 shot. We boiled the billy on the edge of the swamp, and, just as 

 we were about to sit down to lunch, a Raven flew up from the 

 rushes with an egg on its bill. It appears, to carry ofif a fowl's 

 egg that it thrusts its bill into the egg, and lets it remain thus 

 till a place of safety is reached, where it can devour the egg free 

 from molestation. My mate was convinced that the Coucal 

 may be \vrongly sacrificed. Whether he has convinced the ruth- 

 less destroyer or not I have never heard. — P. A. Gilbert. 

 R.A.O.U., Kalemba, N.S.W. 



* * * 



Kooweerup.— Sixty-five Magpies were counted yesterday in a 

 paddock on newly ploughed ground here ; some are busy building 

 their nests, pulling bits of cord out of the bags they find about ,- 

 they are making the nests in the pine-trees near the private house. 

 There are also Blackbirds, ]\Iagpie Larks, Butcher-Birds, Wattle- 

 Birds, Starlings, Thrushes, and Parrots, also many other kinds, 

 so we shall [)robably have a good nesting season. The ])lace 

 seems alive with birds. We also see some hundreds of Sea- 

 Gulls feeding on what they find on the land being ploughed and 

 harrowed; they are very tame. There are also numbers of 

 Plovers as well. The Sea-Gulls look very picturescjue, wheel- 

 ing about in the air, like silver and grey clouds ; our pony got 

 frightened at them, apparently taking the birds for aeroplanes. — 



1. Cecil Le Souef. 



* * * 



Birds Observed near Wellinarton, N.Z. Tn my paper on the 

 above, recently published in The Emu, I mentioned the proba- 

 bility of the Blue (Reef) Heron (Deiniec/retta sacra) nesting 

 in the harbour. I have since been informed that these birds 

 actuallv do nest in the locality sus|)ected, about six miles from 

 the citv.— RoBT. H. D. StidolVii, R.A.O.U., Masterton. X.Z. 



