Vo J o nL ] Stray Feathers. I I 3 



" Laughing Jackasses." — On a farm near Bayswater these 

 birds are so tame that they take worms from a ploughman's 

 hand, and one recently was so keen in his pursuit of upturned 

 " treasures " that a plough-horse stepped on him. — H. K. 



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Effect of Drought on Birds. — I think a great many of our 

 feathered friends must have died during the drought, as there 

 are very few to be seen here this season, so far. The clutches 

 of eggs I have noticed were all very pale in colour, not like those 

 of other years, excepting the eggs of Waders, which remain 

 normal in their colouration. — Sep. Robinson. Condamine River 

 (Q.), 24/8/03. 



Owl and Great Kingfisher. — A correspondent, under date 

 6/8/03, Toowong (Queensland), sends the following note : — 

 " On Sunday last, while looking through a patch of scrub, I dis- 

 turbed an Owl. As it flew away, the partly eaten body of the 

 common Laughing Jackass fell to the ground. It was quite 

 fresh, and had evidently been killed on the previous night. The 

 Owl was too wild to allow of anything like a close observation, 

 but appeared, although of large size and strong flight, not quite 

 large enough for the Great Owl. I have seen the latter in pos- 

 session of the body of a large flying squirrel, but that the Jackass 

 should be a victim seemed unusual." 



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Owl in Curious Plumage. — The accompanying photograph is 

 of a Chestnut-faced Owl (Strix nova-hollandice) , which was killed 

 in a barn at Coombank, 1 1 8 miles out of Launceston, Tasmania. 

 As will be seen, it is a young bird, but for some reason or other 

 the nesting down does not seem to have been shed from its legs, 

 which gives the bird a very curious and striking appearance. It 

 would be interesting to know if anyone has noticed a similar case. 

 The bird also has a small amount of down on its head. The 

 photograph of the bird, and also some of the down feathers, 

 were kindly sent over to me by Mr. H. C. Thompson, of Launces- 

 ton. — D. Le Souef. Melbourne. 



Emu Bones on King Island. — Of no small interest is the 

 decision of the Melbourne Museum that two bones (a thigh and 

 a portion of a pelvis) from King Island belong to the Emu (Dro- 

 mceus novce-hollandice). The remains, in a fair state of preserva- 

 tion, were found on the margin of a lagoon on the east coast. 

 In other parts of King Island, and also on other large islands in 

 Bass Strait, notably Kent Group, sand-drifts sometimes expose 

 remains of the Tasmanian wombat, now extinct on all islands 

 but Tasmania itself, but this is the only occasion on which the 

 Emu has been associated with them in the dune sands forming 

 the land surface of to-day. It is significant that the specimens 

 show no difference from the corresponding bones of the mainland 



