'^°'- ^^'-J From Magazines, &c. 215 



From Magazines, &c. 



iMr. Robert Hall, C.M.Z.S.. Hubart. has contributed an inter- 

 esting and technical article (with figures) to the Royal Society of 

 Tasmania on " The Feather-Tracts of Sphenura hroadbenti 

 (M'Coy)." 



The author deals with si)ecimens kindly forwarded by Mr. Geo. 

 Graham, Otway Forest, Victoria — [a) approximately four days 

 old, (6) seven days later, with eyes open, (c) nearly ready to leave 

 the nest, and {d) an adult male. Mr. Hall regards the Sphenura 

 as a disappearing genus. The species under consideration, how- 

 ever, seems to hold its own in its Httoral habitats from the region 

 of Geelong to well over the South Australian border. 

 * * * 



Ducks Nesting in Rabbit-Burrows. — Mr. James Drummond, 

 F.L.S., in the LvttcUon Tunes, of New Zealand, for nth Novem- 

 ber, 1911, writes of Paradise Ducks using unoccupied rabbit- 

 burrows as nests. On the Waitangi Station, South Canterbury, 

 he states, three instances are reported to have occurred : — " All 

 the nests were fairly close to the homestead. One was near the 

 woolshed, and, as it was conveniently situated, it was frequently 

 visited. The parent birds, both duck and drake, sat very tight, 

 and did not seem to resent the presence of onlookers, even when 

 approached for a close view. The owners of that nest, probably, 

 are a pair which frequent the homestead and are acquainted with 

 their visitors, and know whom they can trust. The burrows in 

 use are on rising ground, and the nests were near enough to the 

 mouth to allow the tenants a glimpse of the outside world. ' I 

 found a good many nests of the Paradise Duck,' Mr. J. W. Mur- 

 dock says, ' and they were all, with one exception, in somewhat 

 inaccessible places. Some were on rough and steep mountain 

 faces, far from water. One was high up on a cliff overhanging a 

 river, another was about 20 feet above the ground in an old birch- 

 tree that had been partly burnt down. The nest was in a hollow 

 scooped out by the fire. The drake takes his turn at sitting on the 

 eggs. It is a solemn business with him. Perhaps it is his 

 colouring that makes him seem so serious, so different from the 

 gay and light-hearted duck. But for all that I do not think he 

 is trusted to turn the eggs. The duck attends to that work, which 

 can be noted by observing her pretty white head quite dis- 

 coloured — greasy, in fact — from turning the eggs over amongst 

 the down. The nests are marvels of warmth. The eggs lie upon 

 and are covered with soft grey down, of which the mother bird 

 has robbed herself.' " 



To Sell. — "Nests and Eggs of Australian Birds," by A. J. 

 Campbell, is out of print, and copies are becoming exceedingly 

 scarce. A secondhand copy (in one volume), in good order, may 

 be had for two guineas. Apply Editors, The Emu. 



