210 Stray Feathers. [,sf"jan. 



breeding since end of September, and are now finished. The 

 swamp is now nearly dry. — C. French, Jun. Melbourne, 13/12/11 



* * * 



Distribution of Black-fronted Dottrel {/Egialitis melanops). — A 

 specimen in the flesh was secured in Southern Tasmania (Sandford) 

 on 20th October, 191 1. This appears to be the second record of 

 the species having been secured in Tasmania, and observed so 

 far south. Mr. W. Richardson, who forwarded the specimen per 

 Mr. W. L. May, also secured the first find in the same locality 

 about 1900. Mr. W. L. Butler handled a specimen secured in 

 1906 at the Ouse, in the Midlands. The weather and food con- 

 ditions of this spring are favourable to the wide extension of the 

 geographical range. — Robert Hall. Hobart, 23/10/11. 



* * * 



Description of Eggs of Myzantha melanotis {Emu, vol. xi., p. 

 124). — Form oval, texture fine, surface glossy, colour reddish- 

 buff, thickly dotted with small reddish-brown (terra-cotta) spots, 

 more numerous at larger end. Dimensions of a clutch in inches : — 

 (i) 1. 01 X .72, (2) 1.08 X .72, (3) 1.04 X .75. In my collection is 

 another clutch, in which the spots are fewer over the greater 

 surface of the eggs, but at the larger end are darker and thickly 

 clustered in a zone. Dimensions in inches : — (i) 1.03 x .7, (2) 

 I. II X .7. I have known of five clutches of this species, four of 

 which contained two eggs each and the other three eggs. — J. A. 

 Ross. Malvern (Vic). 18/10/11. 



* * * 



New Foster Parents for Fan-tailed Cuckoo.— I have to report 

 two new foster parents to the eggs of Cnculus flabelliformis (Fan- 

 tailed Cuckoo), (i) At Kow Plains, North- Western Victoria, I 

 flushed a sitting Hylacola cauta from her nest, which contained 

 two eggs of the Ground- Wren and one of the Cuckoo. Date, 

 30th August, 191 1. Incubation, fresh. (2) At Blackburn, Vic- 

 toria, Master Ray Tregellas found a nest of Acanthiza chrysorrhoa 

 containing two eggs of the Tit and one of the Cuckoo The nest 

 was in a gum sapling, 6 feet from the ground, and the eggs were 

 quite fresh. Date, 28th October. 1911. — F. E. Howe. Canter- 

 bury (Vic), 30/11/11. ^ ^ ^ 



Another New Foster Parent for Fan-tailed Cuckoo.— On the 5th 



of November, 1911, at Beaconsfield, Victoria, I found a nest of 

 the Emu-Wren {Stipitunts malachiiriis), containing two eggs of 

 the foster parent and one of the Fan-tailed Cuckoo, all of which 

 were fresh. This is, I believe, a hitherto unrecorded foster parent 

 to the Fan-tailed Cuckoo {Cacomantis flahdliformis). — F. Erasmus 

 Wilson Melbourne, 12/12/11. 



* * * 



The Oriole as a Mimic. — It may not be generally known that 

 the Oriole is a capable mimic. A few mornings ago an Oriole 

 (0. afmis) treated us to a display of its powers, which proved it 



