316 Stray Feathers. [Ts^'ap"?." 



Starlings roost in the Zoological Gardens at night in many 

 tlKHisands n(A\- that the breeding season is over. They come in 

 companies of from live to forty odd birds from dift'erent points 

 of the compass, where they have been feeding during the day. 

 They very often fly round the Gardens a good deal at first, and 

 finally settle among the trees or shrubs for roosting. Now and 

 again they are disturbed by some Hawk, although Hawks find 

 it easier to catch a Dove than a Starling. In the morning you 

 can easily find out on what shrubs these birds have roosted in 

 their huge numbers by the mess made on the ground. I do not 

 know whether any of our friends livmg in Melbourne who have 

 similar gardens have the same trouble, if it can be so called. The 

 birds all turn out in the morning a little after davlight. — Cecil 



Lie SouEF, R.A.O.U. 



* * * 



Abnormal Clutches of Eggs. — Eopsaltrio aiistralis. Yellow- 

 breasted Robin. — Four eggs taken by Mr. D. Floter at Cape 

 Hawke, N.S.W., November 10th, 1921. Three is the usual clutch, 

 four rarely. 



Grallina picata. Magpie-Lark. — Six eggs, one of which was 

 quite empty, though the shell was intact when taken by Mr. H. 

 Gogerly at W'allis Lake, N.S.W., on December 4th, 1921. The 

 eggs were apparently laid by one bird. 



Philemon argenticcps. Silvery-crowned Friar-Bird. — Two 

 clutches of three eggs each taken by Mr. W. McLennan near 

 Coen, Cape York Peninsula, during January, 1922. This is the 

 first recorded occurrence of three tgg clutches. — Henry L. 

 White, "Belltrees," N.S.W. 6/3/22. 



* * * 



Birds on Kosciusko. — During a walk from Corryong to Kosci- 

 usko. \ ia Tom Groggan's, at the end of December, 1921, I saw 

 the nest of a Ground Lark (.In thus austral is) at approximately 

 7000 feet. 'J'here were four eggs in it. For shelter that night 

 we dropped a few hundred feet to a quiet corner. We were 

 still above the timber line, so you may imagine our surprise 

 to be wakened next morning by the musical crooning of a con- 

 tented Magpie. Later some Gang-gangs and a few Crows were 

 heard on the skyline, a Sni])e was flushed on the last slopes of 

 Mt. Townsend (7260 feet), and about a dozen Ducks were no- 

 ticed on Lake Albina (6340 feet above sea level ). On the Blue 

 Lake (6150 feet) were also several Ducks. There was still a 

 good deal of snow about. — R. H. Ckoi.i,. 



* * * 



Bold Stone-Curlews.— On November 10th, 1921, I was cross- 

 ing a paddock at Sherwood, near Brisbane, when I noticed a 

 ]iair of Stone-Curlews. They were not so timid as usual, only 

 running a short distance and stopping to look at me. Later in 

 the afternoon, when it was getting dusk, I returned past the 

 same spot. To my surprise the two Curlews came running to- 

 wards me, and when I stopped to watch them, the one in ad- 

 vance, which I took to be the hen from her slightly duller 



