168 THE VICTORIAN NATURALIST. 



Friar Birds, and several Finches were seen, and some taken, 

 during the last week of November ; and the birds were busy with 

 domestic duties till well into December, but owing to the dense- 

 ness of the foliage nests are very much harder to find than in 

 Victoria. At the beginning of December young Orioles were 

 found in a nest, and a pair of little Mangrove Bitterns built in a 

 tree near the house, which could be easily climbed. Brown 

 Hawks were laying in a giant Melaleuca, far out of reach A 

 Jabiru's nest then found was described as an enormous structure 

 of coarse sticks, bark, and grass, occupying a horizontal branch 

 of a Leichhardt tree. A pair of these birds, which had been 

 frequently noticed feeding round a small lagoon near the railway, 

 were absent for some weeks, until the rains came, about the 

 middle of December, then they again stalked proudly through 

 the shallows, not even deigning to look up as their old 

 acquaintance — the train — went by. Kites go away for some 

 months also, but towards the end of the year return in large 

 numbers. Their absence can hardly be, as first thought, for 

 breeding purposes, since their nests were found close at hand. 

 To preserve in some measure the balance of Nature, Nankeen 

 Kestrels, which were plentiful during October and earlier months, 

 take a Christmas vacation, supposed to be spent on Mount 

 Stewart or Castle Hill. During January, in an ordinary season, 

 the flats between Roseneath and Townsville are covered with 

 water, when " Pelicans perch with stolid unconcern close by the 

 belt of Mangroves, whilst White Cranes and Grey Herons dot 

 the ground and trees alike." Ducks abound. About the 

 beginning of the rainy season it is noted that, on sultry days, the 

 birds hide in the trees till the sun is well on his downward way, 

 and even then are not as noticeable as a month or so before, the 

 reason assigned being that food in the shape of insects, &c, is 

 then so abundant as to require very little search. Of parrots 

 there is not much mention in the letters, but Mr. C. says of one 

 in captivity: — "There is one remarkable fact about a Goolah 

 Cockatoo belonging to a friend, which must be told. It last 

 week managed to injure its wings when flapping them, as birds 

 love to do after a shower. The wound bled profusely, causing 

 the bird, judging from his screams and contortions, great pain. 

 The tip of the wing was broken, and hanging only by a thread of 

 skin. His mistress, full of compassion for poor cocky, cut off 

 the injured portion and dressed the wound. The bird seemed 

 better after this; but it was soon noticed that the whole of one 

 side of his plumage was becoming a darker colour, and two days 

 after the injury the pink of the injured side had turned a dark 

 red, and the grey of the back was distinctly darker on that side. 

 What is most remarkable is the fact that the eye on the injured 

 side (usually of a beautiful light pink) turned a dark blood red, 



