^'°'ioM^'] Stray Feathers. 245 



the liird collapsed from starvation. Siinilaily, bodies of the Little 

 Penguin {Kudyptula minor) are often cast ashore in the same 

 quarter, appariMitly iminiured. Some birds, in fact, are found 

 alive, but in a stupehed state. I have also (once only) found 

 the bodies of (rannets {Siila serrator) and of Albatrosses. The 

 latter were almost buried in the sand, and decaying, but the 

 wide-sweeping pinions still held their feathers. Other avian 

 derelicts included a pair of Blue Mountain Lorikeets, with their 

 bright plumage all bedraggled through fossing in the waves. 

 Perhaps these birds, which feed much in honeysuckles on the 

 coast, were surprised by a sudden storm, in which they perished. 

 Most pathetic, however, was the discovery of a pair of Stints, 

 which lay dead side by side on a coastal bluff, huddled together 

 as tliougli for warmth. — H. V. Edwards, R.A.O.U. Bega 

 (N.S.W.) 



Economic Section. 



By a. S. Le SouRf, Taronga Park, Sydney. 



Native Birds Eating the Cattle Tick. — In countries where ticks 

 are endemic certain birds have specialized in feeding on them, 

 notably the Ox-Bird (Textor), Cattle-pecker (Btiphaga), and the 

 Cattle Heron {Bubiilcus). These birds play an important part in 

 keeping the wild animals in Africa and India free from ticks. 



Although there are native ticks in Austraha, they are chiefly 

 found on nocturnal animals and reptiles, and no birds could feed 

 upon them, and so it is most interesting to note that since the 

 introduction of the cattle tick into Australia two species, in the 

 GralUna (Magpie-Lark) and the Ibis, have found them out and 

 developed the habit of feeding upon them. 



The Gralliiia in North- West Austraha is now known as " the 

 stock inspector," for dozens of them will congregate round the 

 watering-places of tlie stock, and as the cattle come in to drink 

 they will carefully examine each beast for ticks — an office which 

 the cattle seem to appreciate. The Ibises, on the other hand, 

 congregate on the camping-places of the cattle, and pick up an\- 

 ticks that have fallen off the animals, and it is stated that the 

 ticks form the principal food of these birds in tlie district. 



Camera Craft Notes. 



The Scrub-Robin {Drxmodes briDuieopygiiis). — The accom- 

 panying photograph is one of a scries that I took on a trip to 

 Boinka with Messrs. J. A. Ross, F. E. Howe, R. Archer, and 

 J. J. Scarce. During our stay in this Mallee district we located 

 many pairs of birds, and in the finding of the nests (which all con- 

 tained a single egg, which is the full clutch) we noticed that each 

 pair of birds seemed to have an allotted area to themselves. We 



