g6 Le Souef, Birds'-esigs from Noi'thern Australia. ist'oct 



25th April and 9th March, and contained 10, 8, and 6 eggs. 

 The clutch of 10 measure — (i) 1.85 x 1.52; (2) 2.1 x 1.54; 

 (3) 1.88 X 1.46; (4) 1.89 X 1.50; (5) 1.90 X 1.52; (6) 1.93 X 1.5 1 ; 

 (7) 1.92 X 1.54; (8) 1.94 X 1.52; (9) 1.91 X 1.50; (10) 1.9IXI.50 

 inches. 



Tadorna RADJAH (White-headed Shieldrake). 

 Cat. B. Brit. Mus., vol. xxvii., p. 175. 

 The eggs of this splendid Duck are very light in colour, being 

 of a very pale cream. They are smooth and slightly glossy. 

 The birds usually lay in a hollow in a tree, but not invariably. 

 The dates on which some clutches were found are 2nd February, 

 4th, 6th, and 24th April, ist and 21st May; and the number of 

 eggs varies from 4 to 11. Two small clutches measure — 

 A, (i) 2.28 X 1.64, (2) 2.34 X 1.55, (3) 2.34 X 1.61, (4) 2.41 X 

 1.64, (5) 2.32 X 1.62, (6) 2.37 X 1.64; B, (i) 2.31 X 1.68, (2) 

 2.28 X 1.65, (3) 2.29 X 1.68, (4) 2.31 X 1.66 inches. 



Tasmanian Birds at Home, 



By J. R. M'Clymont, M.A., Brown's River Road, near 



Hobart. 



The birds which first attract one's notice in approaching 

 Cascades (Tasman's Peninsula) are the Gannets {Sida serrator) 

 and White-breasted Cormorants {Phalacrocorax gouldi). The 

 Gannets keep to the deep water ; the Cormorants often 

 approach close to the shore, and are to be seen at rest on the 

 old jetties in great numbers. In the winter season flocks of 

 Duck {Anas siiperciliosd) and Teal {Nettwn castanemn) frequent 

 the shallow water of two or three fathoms in depth ; and, lastly, 

 the shore-line and the mud-flats adjoining it are resorted to by 

 White-fronted Herons {Notophoyx novcs-hollandzce) and Silver 

 Gulls {Larus novce-]iolIandic2). Both Herons and Gulls seek 

 their food in the neighbouring paddocks occasionally, but the 

 Gulls and Lesser White-backed Magpies {GymnorJdna Jiyper- 

 ieiica) do not agree well, and the former have to yield pride of 

 place to the Magpie. Small crabs form a portion of the food of 

 the White-fronted Heron ; countless numbers of these Crustacea, 

 with blue carapaces and yellow extremities, perambulate the 

 sandbanks left bare at low tide, and create a swishing sound 

 with their multitudinous movements. In addition to the 

 Anatidse above mentioned, the Shoveller {Spatida rJiynchotis) 

 has been shot (1/6/93) in the vicinity. 



When we arrive at the road which leads from Koonya to 

 Impression Bay, we have on our left a rocky ridge terminating 

 at a clump of blue gums which marks the site of an old burial 

 ground, a locality much resorted to by the two Tasmanian 



