THE VICTORIAN NATURALIST. 



(sp.), from Domain-road sewer and Yarra improvements ; also 

 Dyke Rocks, from sewer, Flinders-street and Jolimont. 



By Mr. E. H. Swan. — Curious nialfoimation of a lemon grown 

 in the Dandenong Ranges. 



After the usual conversazione the meeting terminated. 



AMONG THE WATERFOWL IN RIVERINA. 

 By D. Le Souef, C.M.Z.S. 

 {Read hef ore the Field Nuturulists' Cluh of Victoria, llth Feb., 1901.) 

 In December last I was enabled, in company with another 

 member, Dr. C. Ryan, to visit some of the swamps in the 

 Riverina district of New South Wales, situated not far from the 

 River Murray, and, although late in the season, we were fortunate 

 in finding many waterfowl nesting, but most of the nesis had 

 young birds in. The most interesting sight was a small colony of 

 the following birds : — Black Cormorants, Phalacrocorax carbo, 

 Little Black Cormorants, P. sulcirostris, Nankeen Herons, 

 Nycticorax caledonims, Plumed Egret, Mesopltoyx plnmifera, 

 White Egret, Herodias timoriensis, Yellow-billed Spoonbill, Plat- 

 ibis Jlavipes, White Ibis, Ibis molucca, Straw-necked Ibis, Carfh- 

 ihis sphiicolUs, and a single nest of the Wedge-tailed Eagle, 

 Aquila audax, from which the young had flown. All these birds 

 were nesting together over the space of about an acre, and it was 

 an exceedingly interesting sight, and shows how the large majority 

 of birds prefer building in company, hawks included, even to the 

 little Yellow-rumped Tit, Acantliiza cJirysorrhoa, which often builds 

 in the lower portion of the nest of the Wedge-tailed Eagle, prob- 

 ably in most cases for self-protection. The site of the rookery was 

 not far from the River Murray, on swampy land on which tall, 

 smooth-barked red gum trees grew thickly, and it was in the 

 slender upjjer branches of these trees that the birds nested, which 

 consequently, in most cases, made it impossible to get at them. 

 Much dead wood lay on the ground, and a few aquatic plants 

 grew in the damper places or in the water, but no grass. The 

 locality had a strong fishy perfume, from the excreta and the 

 remains of dead fish, small crayfish, &c. 



The Little Black and the Pied Cormorants were, as is usually 

 the case in these colonies, by far the most numerous, and they 

 built their nests close together, often getting as many as possible 

 in one tree. Some were built over loo fe.t from the ground, 

 but they seem to prefer nesting on low trees if they are to be 

 obtained, and occasionally on the dead timber lying on the 

 ground. The two kinds have their nests together ; it is practically 

 impossible to distinguish one from the other, or the eggs either. 

 The nests are large, with very little depression in tlie centre. 



