^"'/o-o^ ] CiiANULiCK, 11'//// Camera in Xortli-West Victoria. I3 



iirouiul with a curious iloatiu,^ llij^ht, tlu; tips oi tlic wiu.^s l)cing 

 much lower than the body. The notes emitted while Hying were 

 remarkably sweet. This habit of returning to a chosen roosting- 

 site is mentioned by Mr. C. F. Cole.* 



Mr. Thompson says that many years ago a smaller type of Wild 

 Turkey, or Bustard, than the well-known form (Choriotis aiistralis) 

 lived in the Mallee. He frequently found the nest, and the single 

 egg was about the size of that of a Black-breasted Plover. He 

 saw the last of these birds about 30 years ago. Is it possible that 

 such a bird has passed out, unrecorded by science ? 



The Black-cheeked Falcon {Falco mdanogenys), he observes, 

 usually kills a Duck with its breast, and he has often secured a 

 free Duck by rousing birds from a lagoon when the Falcon was 

 in tlie vicinity. It flies under the Duck, and, swooping upward, 

 strikes the bird on the abdomen with its breast. The Duck is 

 usually killed outright, and on skinning the abdomen is found to 

 be greatly bruised. If the bird misses with its breast, it occasion- 

 ally uses its talons and carries the Duck to the ground, when it 

 nearly severs the head in killing it. I saw the Falcon on only 

 one occasion, and was not able to watch it hunting. 



Cockatoos, apparently without harm to themselves, eat the 

 seeds of a small hairy melon which is said to cause blindness in 

 horses. This is another point in favour of the Cockatoo. 



Mr. Thompson has had unlimited opportunities of watching 

 Cormorants, and, while he considers most of them destructive 

 to fish, he states that the Little Cormorant {Phalacrocorax melano- 

 leuciis) hves largely on yabbies. If it is a fact that yabbies 

 destroy fish ova, then the Cormorant is probably a necessity in 

 fish preservation. Such a vexed question should be thoroughly 

 investigated. 



I must apologize for the incompleteness of this paper, but my 

 object in deahng with only a few birds was to avoid going over 

 ground already covered by other observers. In conclusion, I 

 must offer my best thanks to Messrs. Chas. Thompson, H. Balmain, 

 D. Otey, and others at Kulkyne for their great kindness ancl 

 hospitality. I am indebted also to the staff at the National 

 Herbarium, Melbourne, for naming the l:)otanical specimens sub- 

 mitted to them. 



Albino Laughing Kingfishers.— On the farm of Mr. Alf. Lukins, 

 at Colac Colac, near Corrycjng, there are now to be seen four 

 " white Jackasses." Mr. Lukins informs me that the number 

 varies, and that there were si.x a short while ago. Though I have 

 travelled much in Victoria and liave always been interested in 

 bird-hfe, I have not previously seen or Inward of a pure " white 

 Jackass." Emus are still to be seen about the Xarit'l Creek, 

 20 miles from Corrv<ing.— J. (r. Easton. (icol. Surve\- Camp, 

 Corryong. 



* See Eiini, vol. xv., p. 184. 



