176 stray Feathers. [isfjl'n. 



shooters were too much for them, and now only a few pairs visit 

 it during the season. — E. M. CORNWALL. Cairns, 5/1 1/02. 



Some November Notes. — About Melbourne, this season is 

 marked by the scarcity of migratory birds. In early spring the 

 Cuckoos, of three species, arrived, though very few in numbers ; 

 but they all seem to have passed on, and the familiar whistle of 

 the Pallid Cuckoo {Qiculus pallidiis) and the high notes of the 

 two species of CJialcococcyx are seldom or never heard. Two 

 other species, however, Caconiantis flabelHfonnis and C. variolosus, 

 are not so scarce in certain localities. They are, strictly 

 speaking, mere local species, and I believe often stay the whole 

 winter with us. The Reed-Warbler {AcrocepJialus australis) 

 appeared in the willows and sedges along the Yarra during the 

 third week in September — about its usual time ; while for quite 

 two months, until about 20th November, when presumably they 

 left for some breeding haunt, a party of silvery-plumaged Marsh 

 Terns {Hydroihciidon hybrtda) were daily to be seen flying up 

 and down the reaches of the river about Burnley. This is a 

 species never before noted in this locality, and surely these 

 beautiful birds must be among the starvers driven by the 

 drought from the northern part of the State. Some of their 

 companions in their inland quarters, the White-headed Stilt 

 i^Himantopiis leucocepJialus) and the Marsh Tringa (Heteropy^ia 

 acuminata), now on its winter holiday in the Southern Hemi- 

 sphere, are also to be found not far away, on lagoons near 

 Werribee. Of the Wood-Swallow {Artanius sordidus) very {ttw 

 pairs are to be seen in the timber around Melbourne ; both the 

 wandering species, however, A. pcrsonatus and A. superciizosiis, 

 have been noted passing overhead. The Sacred Kingfisher 

 {Halcyon sanctns), always a familiar bird, is, strange to say, 

 almost absent this year, only two or three being noted, and they 

 did not arrive till the last week of October. The Oriole {Oriolus 

 viridis), whose distinctive notes are usually to be heard in the 

 secluded areas of box-tree, has not appeared at all this season ; 

 neither has the rowdy Caterpillar-catcher [Lalagc tricolor), 

 though its larger relative, Edoliisoina tenuirostre, may be noted 

 on the wooded saddles of the Dandenongs. One fine afternoon 

 a trip was made to a creek running out of the western side of 

 these ranges, where the rare and beautiful Honey-eater {Ptilotus 

 cassadix) used to have its home ; but though this was not seen, 

 another species, unfamiliar in the country near Melbourne, the 

 Bell Miner {Manorhijia inelanophrys) was identified. The clear, 

 bell-like notes of the male are frequently answered by a chuckling 

 call from the female. Near by, a Tasmanian Finch {Zoncs- 

 ginthus bellus), rare on the mainland, was seen carrying long 

 pieces of grass to its bulky nest, high up in a bunch of mistletoe 

 on a tall eucalyptus sapling. Several trips were made to some 



