64 Bryant, Holiday Trip to Far Upper Murray. [.^t^'juiy 



J4th March. — In the morning I shot three more Cormorants 

 and caught five rainbow trout averaging about i lb. in weight 

 each. These fish gave wonderful play considering their poor 

 condition, and some of them were scraped about the tails, 

 evidently the result of Cormorant attacks. At Christmas time 

 a friend of mine from Melbourne was fishing in this stream, and 

 he said he had the best trout-fishing he ever had, and could fill 

 his creel at any time of the day. I was informed by several of 

 the local residents that the Cormorants first came in numbers in 

 January, and that they quickly thinned the stream. The oldest 

 resident informed me that he had taken careful notes of their 

 system, which was as follows : — A dozen or more partially sur- 

 rounded the deeper pools and then started diving and splashing 

 with their wings, and l)y this means they drove the fish up the 

 gravelly shallows on to the banks, where they devoured them at 

 their leisure. 



25th March. — Up at 6 o'clock, being called by our old friend 

 " Jack " Kookaburra, wliose hearty laughter makes one ashamed 

 to stay in bed. Took the gun and went for a walk up the road 

 to a small pond, where I was informed I might get some Black 

 Duck {Anas superciliosa). The people of the house, without a 

 gun, used to pass them frequently without disturbing them ; 

 however, they got up from a small swamp just alongside the road, 

 and like a flash of lightning a Little Falcon (Falco luniilatns) was 

 after them, and he darted at two that were close together, but 

 they separated at the critical moment, and dodged him and escaped. 

 In relating this to the oldest inhabitant, he stated that he had 

 seen the same kind of Falcon catch a full-sized rabbit and take it 

 away. The Falcon would be considerably less than a quarter 

 the weight of a rabbit ; it shows what wonderful strength there is 

 in this little bird. 



Late in the afternoon I went for a walk up the hill at the back 

 of . the house. There were plenty of rabbits and many Tree- 

 creepers and Flycatchers [Rhipidura albiscapa), and I also saw 

 a Bronzewing Pigeon [Phaps chalcoptera). The trees are various 

 — peppermint gum, messmate, blackbutt, and white gum. So 

 far I had not seen any currajong about, but saw some on the 

 journey out growing on the sides of the hills. The hills around 

 are heavily timbered, and on the flat in front of the house were 

 some very big white gums which are well used by the Cockatoos, 

 Pied Bell-Magpies, and Black-backed Magpies. 



26th Marcli. — Shot a Pied Cormorant this morning, and saw 

 a large flock of Spur- winged Plover [Lobivandhis lobatiis), also 

 a number of Black Cockatoos, which were screeching a great 

 deal ; also saw numerous King Parrots. These two latter birds 

 are said to indicate rain. In tlic afternoon took gun and fishing- 

 rod, &c. After crossing tlic cicck I had a tramp to llie head of 

 the valley, where I was told a creek came in and some fine fisli 

 might be cauglit, l)ut found that it was imp()ssil)le to fish tlie 

 creek with flies, as the scrub was too thick. On the wa\- I saw 



