Vol. III. 

 1903 



Stray Feathers. I I g 



I observed some male Blue Wrens (Malurus gouldi) in full summer 

 plumage. On the 1st August I noticed that others of the same 

 species about Launceston gardens were attaining full plumage. 

 Round about St. Leonards, some five miles south of the city, this 

 species never moulted at all, so far as could be observed. The 

 vanguard of the Swallows (Hirundo neoxend) put in an appear- 

 ance on the 26th of last month. As I mentioned in a previous 

 note, a pair has been with us all the winter. After an absence 

 of many months a flock of White-fronted Chats (Ephthianura 

 albifrons) suddenly appeared on the outskirts of the city on 

 30th August. In all probability they came from the midland 

 districts. 



Of late years the Goldfinches (Carduclis elegans) have developed 

 the mischievous trait of destroying the buds of peach trees as 

 soon as they open. At first I was under the impression they were 

 merely hunting for aphids among the blossoms, but after long and 

 continued observation came to the conclusion the buds were wilfully 

 destroyed, for some reason or reasons unknown. In every instance 

 the petals of the expanding blossom would be pulled off and the 

 tip of the tiny embryo fruit nipped through. The thought has 

 occurred to me that perhaps the birds have cultivated a taste for 

 prussic acid, a minute portion of which poison is contained in each 

 fruit. — Frank M. Littler. 4/9/03. 



* * * 



Early Spring Notes. — I should like to place on record the 

 fact that the Swallow (H. neoxend) arrives in -pairs to take up 

 its summer abode here. This morning, while walking on the 

 Don Beach, I saw the first pair of the season, evidently just 

 arrived, and winging their way up the coast. They were flying 

 about 18 feet above the margin of the water. Later on in the 

 morning I came across a second pair sitting on a spar which 

 projected over a small creek running down the beach. This 

 pair seemed somewhat exhausted, and their plumage was ruffled, 

 the wind having been adverse as they crossed the Straits. To-day 

 I heard also the first Cuckoo of the season, the Fan-tailed (C. fla- 

 belli/ormis), trilling among the scrub near the Don River, and 

 yesterday noted the sweet, protracted call of the Grey-tailed 

 Thickhead, sounding like " Weet-weet-weet-tuee ! " in the heads 

 of some tall stringybarks which border a bush road. Some time 

 ago Mr. Hall, when writing me, expressed his opinion that the 

 females of the two Robins, the Scarlet and Flame-breasted, both . 

 had coloured breasts. This was contrary to my own field obser- 

 vations, and yesterday I had an opportunity of confirming these. 

 On the banks of the Mersey River I saw a male Flame-breasted 

 (Petrag^a phceniced) in fine plumage, consorting with a hen whose 

 breast was just light grey, as was the abdomen, without a trace 

 of bright colour. The two were evidently mated. The female 

 of the Scarlet-breasted (P. leggii) has a patch of colour on the 

 breast, and is, to my mind, of a more robust figure than the hen 

 of P. phoenicea. These observations seem to point to a difference, 



