THE VICTORIAN NATURALIST. 151 



by the water weeds, which grow very thickly here, but after a 

 little perseverance, assisted by two poles, we came to a tree where 

 we got our first take, viz. — nests of Sauloprocta motacilloides 

 (Black Fantail), three eggs ; Artamus Icucopygialis (White-rumped 

 Wood Swallow), three eggs; and Grallina picata (Pied Grallina), 

 young birds. This wood swallow, like the others of this genus, is 

 not inclined to spend much labour in building her nest, but is 

 cunning in that she selects a deserted home of the Pied Grallina, 

 •which she lines with grass, making a snug nest. We found several 

 nests of these birds during our stay in Benjeroop, and all of them 

 were built after the manner described. We then made for the Ibis 

 rookery, and were very disappointed to find we had arrived some- 

 what too early, as the birds had not started to work, so we deter- 

 mined to visit it again in ten or twelve days. We then went 

 ashore, and after lunch worked along the bank of the Murray 

 towards the homestead, our captures for the day being — 

 Biziura lobata (Musk Duck), two eggs ; Threskiornis strictipennis 

 {White Ibis), one egg ; Corcorax melanorhamphus (White-winged 

 Chough), five eggs; Ardea novce-hollandue (White-fronted Heron), 

 two eggs ; Grauculus mentalis, one egg ; Entomyza cyanotis 

 (Blue-faced Entomyza), two eggs. 



The Grauculus had chosen an unfinished nest of a Grallina as 

 a foundation for her own. On taking the eggs of the Corcorax 

 we were saluted with the cries of seven of these birds, which 

 suggests the fact that several birds lay in the same nest, and 

 further observation will probably confirm this. The nest, which is 

 built of mud, is shaped like that of the Grallina, and is of con- 

 siderable size and weight, and would entail a considerable amount 

 of labour for one pair of birds. Again, later on in the afternoon 

 I picked up a young bird, and his screams of fright soon brought 

 around no less than ten of the old birds, whose plaintive whining 

 screams were too much for me, and I soon gave the young one its 

 liberty. 



Sunday, the 6th, was passed in quiet, except that just as a nice 

 hot dinner was being served up our artist photographer rushed 

 off to photograph two passing bullock teams. The faces of the 

 ladies were pictures to see ! But later they had their revenge, for 

 the bullock-drivers were bashful, and would not be taken. 



Monday, the 7th, was very warm, and after a long tramp 

 through the Polygonum ( Muehlenbeckia muelleri) scrub, our takes 

 were few, viz. : — Malurus cyaneus (Blue Wren, or Superb 

 Warbler), several eggs ; Malurus leucoplerus (White-winged 

 Superb Warbler), two eggs ; Xerophila leucopsis (White-faced 

 Xerophila), three eggs ; Zosterops cterulescens, eggs hard set. 

 The nest of the Zosterops was beautifully placed, being protected 

 by a canopy which the bird had built over it. The eggs were 

 hard set, but if they had been fresh I believe neither of us would 



