Voi.^ xix.-j siyay Feathers. 313 



Stray Feathers. 



Nest of the Brown Hawk. -Has any observer autlieiilic e\i(leiue 

 of the Brown Hawk, eillier Hicracidca vricntalis or hcri'^oiui, hniUl- 

 ing its own nest ? In 20 years I have never known either to do 

 so, always occupying tlie disused nest of some other bird. — F. C. 

 MoKSE. R.A.O.U. Carah, N.S.W. 



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Pratincoles. I lately saw a small ilock of Pratincoles in fhis 

 district, the lirst for 30 years. I wonder if these birds are nu- 

 merous anywhere, possil)ly in the southern plains. 1 ha\-e spint 

 the best part of my hfc in the centi'al regions, ;uid have seen 

 them only once before, and that 30 years ago. I also saw num- 

 l)i>rs of Bustards, counted 40 in one lot ; so the fo.xes have not 

 accounttnl for them all yet. - 1'. C. Moksk. Garah, N.S.W. 



* * * 



Starling Mimicry. — I noticed in thi- last issue a note l)y A. \i. 

 Kodda on the mimicry ])y tlu' Starling of the Pee-wit call of the 

 iMagpie Lark. I can add another striking case of mimicry l)y 

 the same bird. The Californian Quail, fairly common in this 

 country, cries " Come-back-quick " very distinctly (to my ear at 

 least), and lately a Starling has puzzled me greatly on several 

 occasions by giving the exact call. I could not understand the 

 Quail's presence in a town garden, until I " spotted " the mimic. 

 — Dr. T. J. Ick-Hewins. Marton, X.Z. 



Parras and Little Crakes. When recentl\- on the Queensland 

 coast I made two trips to the Sandgate Lagoon, which our mem- 

 bers visited during the late Congress. I noted about twenty 

 species of aquatic birds there, the most interesting to me being 

 the Parras (Lotus-Birds) and Little Crakes {Porzana palmtris), 

 both of which were represented by three pairs. I saw a pair of 

 these latter also on one of the ornamental lily ponds in the Bris- 

 bane Botanical Gardens. It was interesting to find theni thus 

 right in the town. — F. L. Berney. Barcarolle, Longreach (Old.) 

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Black-and- White Fantail in Tasmania. — Your correspondent, 

 G. Murray Anderson, in last issue of TJie Emu, asks if the Black- 

 and- White Fantail has been seen in Tasmania before. I can in- 

 form him that such is the case. In November, 1914, I \\as 

 visiting the neighboiirhood of Swansea, on our east coast, and 

 saw one of these birds hopping about in a clear paddock close 

 to Caml)ria homestead, the old home of the Merediths. The bird 

 was quite a short distance from me, and as I am well acquainted 

 with it on the mainland I could not be mistaken. I drew atten- 

 tion to the occurrence in the Tasmanian Naturalist shortly after, 

 but have not a copy at hand to give the reference. Now we 

 have a second record in a distant part of the island. It is re- 



