ii8 Kersha-W, A Naturalist in Northern Queenslaftd. \yo\^^xi 



of the island, opposite the mainland, is a short beach of pure 

 white sand, on which, in a well-sheltered position, is Mr. 

 Giblett's home. This consists of a two-roomed galvanized 

 building, behind which, at some little distance, are the numerous 

 mia-mias of the blacks employed on the beche-de-mer boats. 

 These mia-mias are the usual low, dome-shaped structures, 

 consisting of a framework of long twigs stuck into the ground, 

 the tops bent over and tied together, and the whole covered 

 with broad sheets of paper-bark. Many, however, consist 

 simply of a rough lean-to, with two or three sheets of paper- 

 bark, in the shelter of which lounge the gins and their picca- 

 ninnies. 



The mangrove forms the roosting-place of countless numbers 

 of the Nutmeg or Torres Strait Pigeons, Blue Mountain Parrots, 

 and the Shining Starling, which depart for their feeding grounds 

 on the mainland in the early dawn, returning again late in the 

 evening to roost. The cooing of the pigeons is heard on every 

 side, making a continuous and very montonous murmur, which 

 continues all day long and far into the night. As the birds 

 arrive in the evening or depart in the early morning in an 

 incessant stream, this noise is increased until the whole air is 

 filled with it, and when combined with the shrill screeching 

 of the mja-iads of Blue Mountain Parrots and the loud and 

 sharp chirps of the Starhngs which pour into the mangrove 

 in incredible swarms, it is indescribable. Dr. Macgillivray's 

 description is worth quoting. He says : — " This large stream 

 of screeching and cooing creatures continues to pour into the 

 mangrove patch until it can hold no more, and the noise is 

 almost deafening. The overflow occupies the trees on the 

 side of the island, until not every tree, but every limb, has its 

 quota of either pigeons or lorikeets, the pigeons making the 

 dark mass of the mangroves to appear as if covered with great 

 white blossoms. The lorikeets take longer to settle, rising 

 ■ again and again in vast flocks, whirling and screeching over 

 the trees ; but when they are all settled their \'oices are the 

 first to quieten, the cooing of the pigeons lasting about an hour 

 longer. Then, with darkness, all is quiet till the moon rises, 

 when a few pigeons can be heard until dawn. ... At 

 earliest dawn, when the mangrove belt is still a dark mass, 

 the lorikeets bestir themselves and begin their screeching 

 again. With a very little more light they are all astir, and, 

 rising in a dense, wheeling, whirling, and screaming host, soon 

 head off to the mainland. As the last lorikeets are leaving, 

 the advance guard of the pigeons begins to move off in small 

 flocks — threes, pairs, or singly at first, and then in larger 

 numbers." The pigeons nest here in the mangrove, their 

 shallow nests of small sticks and twigs, containing a single 



