64 THE VICTORIAN NATURALIST. (Vol. XXV. 



Island Creek, on the Victorian side of the Murray, was our 

 destination on the following day. Here we hoped to find 

 Spoonbills and Little Cormorants nesting. Landing on the only 

 dry piece of land we could find, several varieties of birds were 

 noticed engaged in building operations, among them an Orange- 

 winged Sittella, Sittella chrysoj^tera, which had chosen the side of 

 a dead limb high up in a gum-tree, and had we not seen the bird 

 going to and fro to its nest we should have been unable to find 

 it, owing to the close resemblance of the structure to the dead 

 wood. Probably it is to dodge the Whistling Eagle that the 

 Sittella has learned the necessity for disguising its nest. The 

 Black-faced Graucalus, Graucalus 'mela7io2)s, also suffers from the 

 depredations of the eagles, and I was informed that these eagles 

 have been seen to swoop down and carry off both nest and 

 nestlings. The nest of the Graucalus is usually hung between 

 the forks of some dead limb of a swamp gum. The birds are 

 often called " Cherry Hawks " in this district, owing to their 

 partiality for the cherries of the settlers. 



At length we reached the rookery of some Little Cormorants, 

 Phalacrocorax melanoleucus, and with some qualms of conscience 

 took some clutches of eggs, for the valuable work these birds do 

 in keeping down the enemies to fish ova, such as yabbies, 

 turtles, and eels, is far more than the value of any adult fish they 

 may eat. After many wanderings backwards and forwards amongst 

 the snags and shady gums, we at last observed a Spoonbill on its 

 nest, situated on a limb about sixty feet above the water. An 

 hour and a half was spent before we succeeded in getting the 

 rope-ladder fixed ; however, at length this was accomplished, and 

 the ascent made. The large stick nest contained four large 

 white eggs, and formed a pretty picture for the camera. 



A two-days' camp at Reedy Lake was the next part of our 

 programme, so the boat was loaded up with luggage, and we 

 started off up the Murray, and again pass into Island Creek. As 

 we proceeded, Musk-Ducks were heard chirping pleasantly — a 

 peculiar note, which one would not ascribe to a dnck — and we soon 

 notice a nest, situated among some rushes, containing four large 

 greenish-yellow eggs, cosily covered with soft down. Pushing 

 onwards through the flooded country we met some timber-getters 

 securing logs for the saw-mills at Echuca. They informed us 

 that every second tree around Reedy Lake was in possession of a 

 snake, but this did not deter us, and we pushed on. Luncheon 

 time arrived, but with no dry land for miles around, how was the 

 billy to be boiled ? There was nothing for it but to select the 

 broad trunk of a fallen monarch of the forest and land on it. As 

 we prepared to step on it a Tiger Snake reared up, and disputed 

 our intrusion into its abode, but a poling stick showed it we were 

 the stronger party. 



