on Bird Life on Yanko Creek, N.S.W.



343



well developed, but the latter were not strong enough to keep the

bird securely on its perch.


This quiet reach of the creek was also the haunt of a pair of

Boobook Owls (Ninox boobook), whose nest was in a hollow of a

dead tree a few feet from the bank. It would have been pleasant to

camp there for the night, and watch the owls fitting on noiseless

wings through the shadows and moonbeams among the ancient trees.

But our plans would not permit of this. (The owlet was taken to

Jerilderie, and would have been reared as a gift to the Zoological

Gardens, but it escaped from its box one evening. While in cap¬

tivity it ate sparingly of raw meat.)


Leaving the owls’ haunt we walked to a billabong where

hundreds of budgerigars were nesting in the dead eucalypts. Many

birds were seen entering and quitting hollows, but our boat was

miles away, and all the nest-trees were in deep water. So we had to

be content with watching the Warbling Grass-Parrots. Crossing

the plains, vast flocks of these lovely birds were observed. In a big

hollow, near a wheat field, we noticed at least a thousand budgerigars

feeding on dry grass. They were so absorbed that they were un¬

aware of our presence till] we stood on the edge of the depression,

only a few feet from the nearest birds. Then some of the little

parrots raised their heads, the alarm fled like flame in stubble, and

the whole flock rose simultaneously and flew swiftly to a dead tree

a hundred yards away. When the birds settled, every branch of the

tree seemed suddenly to be clothed in green and yellow leaves, which

stood erect instead of being pendent. On the wing, budgerigars

resemble large butterflies, and a flock in flight is one of the most

charming sights I have seen in all my wanderings through Australian

wilds. Many of these birds are killed in flight by striking against

telegraph wires. On the road near Jerilderie I counted over a score

of bodies, and my companion said that this was not unusual.


In very dry seasons Warbling Grass-Parrots travel far south,

and small flocks were observed in the summer of 1915 amid the tea-

tree at Black Bock on Port Phillip Bay. “ Old Bushman,” in his

charming book, “Bush Wanderings of a Naturalist,” mentions this

species in the chapter on the ornithology of Port Phillip. “ Occa¬

sionally, but very rarely, he writes, “ a flock of the budgerigar, or



