1 o6 Legge, Birds Observed at the Great Lake. [sth'Tan 



haunts of the Black Cormorant, with a view to destruction of their eggs 

 and young, but they have been attended with but little success. It is 

 known, however, now that the species breeds on the Lake Plateau at 

 no great distance from the Great Lake. About 12 miles to the north- 

 west of the upper end of the lake lies an upper step of the Plateau which, 

 with grades and indentations into the hills to the westward, contains 

 probably some 25,000 or more acres. The surface of this area is thickly 

 strewn with one of the most remarkable groups of tarns and lakes in 

 Australia, when we consider the great elevation — 3,500 feet above the sea. 

 Among these sheets of water, known vaguely as the " Nineteen Lagoons," 

 and some of which are said to vary remarkably in level though contiguous 

 to one another, are one or two largish lakes. To the westward of one of 

 these lies Lake Ada — a small lake with a greenstone cliff at some dis- 

 tance from the shore, and on which the Black Cormorant has been 

 found nesting in numbers. Some years ago a man, Mr. Archer informed 

 me, swam out to the rock and destroyed numbers of eggs and young ; 

 and as the birds are said to resort to this spot every year, an occasional 

 visit, so as not to make the birds forsake the site, might be of much use. 



PODICIPES CRISTATUS. Tippet Grebe. 



The Great Lake is the headquarters of this species in Tasmania. It 

 is no doubt found all over the Plateau, in the smaller lakes and tarns, 

 but in less numbers than here. It is a shy bird on this lake at all times, 

 not allowing the near approach of a boat. After the manner of its smaller 

 congeners, it not infrequently resorts to flight, and gets along just above 

 the surface of the water at a good pace. The Grebes, like the Musk- 

 Duck, reappear quickly on the lake after the spring thaw. In the 

 lowlands it is by no means a common bird, but is met with unexpectedly 

 in places where its presence is a surprise. It is occasionally seen in the 

 littoral region of the east of Tasmania, affecting the tidal waters — for 

 example, at George's Bay ; and it is doubtless to be found in the coves 

 and inlets of Macquaric Harbour. The extraordinary geographical 

 distribution of this Grebe has probably come about owing to a wandering 

 propensity which has forced it to move south-eastwards through Asia 

 and by way of the Malay Archipelago to Australia. Its presence in 

 New Zealand may be due to its having crossed Tasman's Sea — a not 

 impossible feat ; or, on the other hand, if Wallace's theory of a land 

 connection between Eastern Australia and the former New Zealand area 

 be the correct one, the solution of the problem is not difficult. 



PODICIPES NESTOR. Hoary-hcaded Grebe. 



Thiscuriously-plumaged species inhabits this " paradise " of diving birds. 

 I noticed several in a flock on North Lake, whore the lake floor averages 

 from 10 to 15 feet and is much covered with that curious weed, Isoetes 

 lacustris. This Grebe is not so numerous as the next in the lowland 

 waters of Tasmania, but it is met with occasionally in tidal estuaries, as 

 well as on the smooth " reaches " of many rivers, especially those fringed 

 with the common reed {Arundo). Mr. Campbell gives instances of this 

 Grebe being found at sea. Some day, perhaps, it may make its way from 

 North-Western Australia to some of the Austro-Malayan islands, and so 

 extend its geographical distribution. 



PODICIPES NOV.i-HOLLANDL^. Black-throated Grebe. 



The Dabchick is found sparingly on the lake. It is universally dis- 

 tributed throughout Tasmania, being met with in a variety of situations 

 — rivers, lagoons, lakes, tarns, tidal waters — anywhere, in fact, where it 



