;,„? ] stray Feathers. igy 



Matlifws * (juoles an extract ivcordiiif^' llu> captuic of a l)ii"fl of this 

 species at Fremantle. The writer states : — " Two islands liere are 

 tlie liome of the (liant Petrel." It certainly seems prol)al)le that 

 the sjiecies nests somewhere off the coast, as it is fre(}uently met 

 with. We have in the Museum specimens from Busselton. Hunl)ury. 

 Fremantle. Cottesloe, and the Abrolhos Islands. 



Species of Prion. — When writing my note on Heieroprion 

 desolatus I had not noticed that under Prion vittatus missus Mr. 

 Mathews states that there are two other Prions shot in Western 

 Australian waters in the British Museum, " one of which seems 

 to be an immatme specimen referable to H. desolatiis, but not 

 agreeing exactly with H. d. mattingleyi, while the other is near 

 H. belcheri, but again not exactly matching the type of that 

 species." The four Prions referred to above are almost certainly 

 referable to two species, there being two specimens of each. Of 

 these, the broader-billed form is referable to H. desolatiis, and 

 the other appears to be near H. belcheri, but the bill is not quite 

 so narrow (lo mm. In-oad against 8 mm. in belcheri). 



It is obvious, as Mr. Mathews has frequently insisted in his 

 book, that the Petrels found on the Western Australian coast 

 would well repay study, and it seems quite probable that nesting 

 colonies of some of them awa:it discovery. — W. B. Alexander, 

 Keeper of Biology, Perth Museum. 17/8/15. 



From Magazines, &c. 



Cuckoos in New Zealand. — " The Shining Cuckoo. api)arently, 

 is plentiful in many parts of the Dominion now" (writes Mr. J. 

 Drummond, F.Z.S.. in the Lyttelton Times of 30th October, 1915). 

 " Mr. W. W. Smith, curator of Pukekura Park, New Plymouth, 

 writing on 2()th September, reports that the tirst specimen noted 

 this season sang in the park at i p.m. on 24th September. ' I 

 have been waiting for this bird's arrival this season,' Mr. Smith 

 states, ' in order to ascertain if the remarkably early and warm 

 spring we have experienced here would bring it earlier than usual. 

 As you will see by reference to your records, it is three weeks to 

 the day earlier than in any other season during the past seven 

 years. Nests of several native and naturalized birds have been 

 obtained in the park for nearly a month. Many species of native 

 plants are flowering about two weeks earlier than they have 

 flowered in any previous year since I came here, seven years and 

 a half ago.' " 



* * * 



Magpies in England— In the May, 1915, issue of the Avicultiiral 

 Mci'^azi)u' Mr. P). Theo. Stewart writes interestingly on " The 

 Australian Piping ("row." which, he says, figures so largely in prose 



* ■ Birds of Austr.ilia," vol. ii., p. 188. 



