312 Stray Feathers. 



1st April 



Spotted Crake in a Grass Crop.— I was mowing a field of 

 Sudan grass the other day, and the machine cut the head off a 

 bird, and on examining it, it proved to be Porzana flumiiiea 

 (Spotted Crake). I was surprised to find this bird so far from 

 a swamp : the nearest swamp is some miles away. Has this bird 

 been found in a similar situation before? I also found some 

 time back a nest of the Coturnix pectoralis (Stubble Quail) 

 containing 16 eggs. As these eggs are large considering the size 

 of the bird, it is always a puzzle to me how the bird covers them. 

 — N. Geary. R.A.O.U., Mount Pleasant, Dalbv, Queensland. 

 27/2/1922. 



* * * 



Australian Majrpie and Sparrow.— While the bandsmen were 

 ]M-actising in the mill one day in February, 1922, they were eye- 

 witnesses to bird cannibalism. A White-backed ]\Iag])ie swooped 

 down on a Sparrow, killing it by picking its head, and then going 

 behind a post tore open the Sparrow's breast and commenced to 

 eat the flesh. When disturbed, the Magpie carried its lepast to 

 a safer distance. No doubt, owing to the dry weather and the 

 scarcity of grubs and insects, Magpies, for the sake of susten- 

 ance, take on Sparrows or any other small birds they can get 

 their claws on. — J. M. Sexton, State School. Henty, Vic. 



* * * 



Nankeen Nig:ht Herons and Young Ducks. — It is an mterest- 

 ing fact that as far as T can remember, for fully forty years 

 past, and probably a great deal longer, Nankeen Night Herons 

 (Nycticorax caledonicus) have been roosting during the day in 

 the Melbourne Zoological Gardens. It is quite likely they were 

 nesting here in days gone by, but now only roosting. As soon 

 as it gets dusk, the birds fly ofif in comi)anies, sometimes two or 

 half a dozen, as the case might be, apjiarently to the mouth of 

 the Yarra, and there they evidently feed. The number varies 

 according to the time of the year; just now there are about 

 eighteen, that being the number that passed over in various-sized 

 companies last evening. WHien the nesting season is on, there 

 are only seven or eight birds, these being the young of the last 

 season, and therefore, not old enough to nest. Another interest- 

 ing point is that they are very keen on feeding on any young 

 Ducks they can get hold of. One of our Ducks brought out 

 five young ones last October; we did not know they were there, 

 but the Nankeen Herons found out very (piickly and ate the lot 

 before we could stop them. Therefore they probably also take 

 the young of many different kinds of waterfowl. Another fact 

 of interest is that the Eg>'ptian Nankeen Night Herons roost in 

 just the same way during the daytime in the Zoological Gardens 

 at Cairo. Their habits there are practically the same as ours 

 here. I remember seeing them on several occasions. They also 

 have a habit, in common with oiu^s, of hunting rtnind open en- 



