70 J'iiid Sotrs. 



« 



on as "novelties/' It is all very well to ask the "back- 

 hlocker" to ])rotect a bird, iliat while doing him considerable 

 harm, in no way hurts the jieople of the settled areas, for they 

 liave already decided whether the Eagle is worthy of protec- 

 tion. The back-blocker would be equally justified in asking 

 for protection for Kosella Parrots ov Starlings, the latter 

 being an insect eater would be useful to him. whilst the 

 former does him little harm and would be nice to look at when 

 lie comes on a holiday. 



There are other Hawks in the interior, such as Black 

 Falcon, flrey Falcon, Little Falcon, Black-breasted Buzzard, 

 Spotted Harrier, and Collared Sparrow Hawk; but these are 

 so rarely seen that it Avould be unwise to generalise from the 

 few observations that have been made of their habits. 



Bird Notes. 



MARCH, 1921. 



Mr. L. K. McGilp, Moolawatana, Far North, South Aus- 

 tralia, reports — ^On the evening of February 14, a vei*y large 

 number of Swifts arrived here. A heavy downpour of rain 

 ceased falling about 5 o'clock, and shortly afterwards flock 

 after flock of Swifts congregated at a hut on the station where 

 I was camped. They circled round and round at a very low 

 elevation for about an hour, twittering all the while. They 

 appeared to arrive from a northerly direction and departed on 

 a south-westerly course, or towards Copley. The next day 

 on my returning to the station homestead, my brother and 

 I saw another large flock flying low and circling round; but 

 they did not remain long and T was not able to state the direc 

 tion in which they disa]ip»eared whilst I was indoors. 



Mr. J. W. Mellor, Lockleys, reports — Numbers of Tacnio- 

 pygla castaitotis Chestnut-eared Finch have been about in the 

 boxthorn bushes on the red sand hills at Mellor Park. Quite 

 a number-' of their grass nests have been built. In some of 

 them the birds simjdy roosted, but in others young were 

 hatched. The young are now about in the cover, feeding with 

 the parent birds on the fine urass seeds that are now plentiful. 



Coraciva ncvae-JwUandid'c mclanops. The Black-faced 

 Cuckoo-Shrike has been about for a long while, quietly feeding 

 and ever and anon sallying forth from a gum tree to capture 

 a grub or other titbit on the ground, but flying back to the 

 tree before eating ir. 



