76 THE VICTORIAN NATURALIST. 



afterwards. On a subsequent occasion Billy Briggs, one of the 

 horses, dropped over the side with all his harness on, but landing 

 in the mud beneath was not hurt. 



On our homeward journey we passed a large cotton-bush plain, 

 where we saw the beautiful little White-winged Wren, Malurus 

 leucopterus. Later on during our stay we spent the best part of 

 a day in hunting this plain, but our white-winged friends had 

 apparently just paired off, and we only succeeded in finding un- 

 finished nests, several of which were destroyed, apparently by 

 crows. We, however, were fortunate in finding a fine clutch of 

 Black Duck's eggs, quite away from water. This clutch was 

 remarkable as being the only one found on the ground during our 

 trip, all others being found in hollow trees. We found many 

 nests without hunting very keenly, but as we had representatives 

 already in our cabinets we took very few home with us. The 

 ducks, Teal, Wood Duck, and swan we found with few exceptions 

 scattered about in pairs, every splash or overflow having its 

 representatives. The beautiful Wood Duck — probably called a 

 duck because it is a goose — frequently attracted our attention, 

 the gorgeous plumage of the male bird shining out with re- 

 splendent colours. We found them more sociably inclined than 

 the ducks (perhaps because they are not so good to eat), as we 

 frequently got very close and viewed them at our leisure. 



Hearing from a neighbour, Mr. Jackson, of a swan's nest with 

 eggs, we one day went to search it out, and after considerable 

 wading, assisted by two horses and a buggy, we found it ingeniously 

 placed on the leafy part of a fallen gum bough. The top of the 

 nest was about six or eight inches above the water surface. On 

 our approach the birds, true to their shy nature, made off. We 

 took an excellent photograph of the nest, our artist standing in 

 the water to do so ; but this is only one of the luxuries of an 

 enthusiastic naturalist whose ardour never damps. The next 

 day a second picture was taken, but on this occasion we were 

 assisted by the boat. On the way back to the homestead we 

 flushed a Teal off its nest, which contained twelve eggs. We also 

 flushed a Tiger Snake swimming in the water, and after bidding 

 him good morning with one of the propelling poles, we left him 

 on a stump to dry for the crows. 



The snakes are socially inclined about here, frequently coming 

 into the houses. One night I heard a noise in our bedroom 

 which I attributed to a mouse, but was assured next morning it 

 was a snake, as they were not troubled with mice. This is another 

 naturalists' luxury. 



During our stay we hunted very keenly for nests of the Spotted 

 Bower Bird, Chlamydodera macidata, but with no success. We 

 found afterwards we were far too early, the two eggs exhibited 

 to-night being found in November afterwards. We were fortunate 

 in finding six of their bowers in full working order. As usual, 



