\6 O'DonohuEj Wanderings on the Murray Flood-Plain. [vokxxxh 



within twenty-four hours. I will undertake to kill and skin 

 the young ' roo ' which Johnny has just brought in to demon- 

 strate the correctness of my statement." When we declined 

 to agree to the poor creature being sacrificed, even in the 

 interests of science, our friend offered to bet us that the young 

 "roo" would be found dead in the morning, despite the care 

 the children would lavish upon it. The following morning, 

 whilst viewing the colour scheme of early dawn, one of the 

 children approached us. and in an awed way intimated thai 

 the young " roo " had died during the night. Here, then, is 

 the bald fact, that the young kangaroo's vacation of the pouch 

 during the mother's wild career from her pursuers is not 

 broughl about by an act of maternal solicitude, as is alleged. 

 but by an accident which is beyond the mother's power to 

 avert or control. 



Among the many highly interesting facts respecting the 

 habits of birds and animals that were elicited during our but 

 too brief association with Messrs. Thompson and Briggs was 

 the mode of procedure adopted by the Duck-Hawk in attacking 

 and killing it> prey. In a few briei sentences the two divergent 

 views held by ornithologists were placed before our hosts. 

 Though both were in accord that the hawk attacked from 

 above, it was maintained, firstly, that the death-Stroke was 

 administered with the wing, and secondly, thai it was with 

 the talon, the fleeting victim was killed. 



One oi the few pastimes indulged in by the Kulkyne 

 naturalists during their leisure hours was "hawking." When 

 the dams were full, and they desired to vary the monotony of 

 sail meal by a fal duck, it was their custom to proceed on 

 horseback to a water-hole, in the vicinity of which a Duck- 

 Hawk was invariably to be found, and induce the ducks to 

 take flight. "This was always a tough proposition, lei me 

 assure you," said Mr. Briggs, in a reminiscenl tone, "more 

 particularly il the hawk was cruising around. However, when 

 the ducks decided to quit, they simply cul streaks in the air 

 for the nearesl pari ol the river. No soonei had they attained 

 some little distance from the dam than the hawk was to be 

 erved approaching .it express speed, and close to the 

 ind. The instanl it attained a position immediately 

 beneath its quarry it rose up like a flash, and. striking the 

 fleeting duck .it the base oi the tail with its brea t, enl it 

 somersaulting to earth. When neai al hand the impacl sounds 

 like a pistol shot, and may be heard three hundred yards off. 

 \\v have robbed the hawk oi its prey hundreds oi tune., and 

 often, when galloping beneath the pursuei and the pursued, 

 have been alrnosl struck by the falling duck; bul we have 

 never picked up a bird minus it- head or mutilated in any way, 



