PHALACROCORAX. 325 



shallow water they can dive and keep below the surface for a long distance. Although so 

 widely dispersed over the continent, comparatively few of their breeding places are known. I 

 had several clutches of their eggs taken near the Daly River, in the Northern Territory of South 

 Australia." 



From Tasmania Ur. L. Holden sent me a photograph of a nesting-place of I'lialacvocovax 

 carho he found on an island at the outlet of Lake St. Clair, Tasmania. 



Fro;n Tasmania Mr. K. N. Atkinson has kindly sent me the f(jllowing notes: — "On the 

 Sth of October, 1909, I found a number of Black Cormorants (Plui/iunnonix cai'bo) breeding in 

 Tea-trees in a secluded lagoon on I<"linders Island, Bass Strait. The nests were placed in the 

 most secure positions afforded by the trees, from about three feet to eight feet above the water, 

 and varied considerably in size and form according to their situation. The outer dimensions of 

 an average nest measured eighteen mches across, and inside eight inches in diameter by three 

 inches in depth. Some which had evidently been used for several seasons were much added to 

 where the branches were strong enough to allow of the extra weight, and with but slight increase 

 in breadth were about three feet high, and somewhat sloping to one side. One nest contained 

 a young bird and three eggs, others incubated or fresh eggs, and some were being built or 

 renewed. They were composed of twigs, lined with smaller twigs and scanty pieces of bark or 

 a few feathers, and were coated outside with excrement, which made it easy to locate them 

 from a considerable distance to leeward. The birds were very timid, and left the nests on my 

 approach, and until I was well out of sight continued to circle about the lagoon. On the iSth 

 I revisited these nests, but found them empty and deserted, no birds being in the x'icinity. 

 (.)n the 2oth of the same month I found more of these birds nesting with P. mclaiiolcucus, 

 imder similar circumstances, and it was only after standing up to my waist in \ ery cold water 

 that I could examine the nests and secure the eggs. The birds had m the meantime taken wing, 

 and I noticed amongst them a Little Blaclc Cormorant (Phahicrocovax sithii'ostris), the only 

 example of this species I saw on the island. The nests of Phalacrocorax carho contained as before 

 young birds or fresh or incubated eggs, and some nests had not been completed. In one I found 

 three young and two eggs on the point of hatching. On passing this nest a second time I 

 noticed that a young one had disappeared, and before I left all three had been taken, and I was 

 just in time to see the thief, a Ivaven or Crow, disappearing over the treee tops, carrying a tiny 

 form in its claws, no doubt the last of the ill-fated nestlings. The nests contained three to five 

 eggs for a sitting. Newly hatched young were dark brownish-black, and entirety devoid of any 

 downy covering, and made a noise like the croaking of a frog. On the 4th November I revisited 

 the nests, and found them quite empty, and except for a solitary Little Black and White 

 Cormorant (P. uiclanolcncus) the lagoon was deserted." 



From Tasmania again Mr. E. D. Atkinson writes me : — " I had a fortnight at the Furneau.x. 

 Islands, Bass Strait, in November 1910, spending most of my time among the many lagoons on 

 Flinders Island in search of eggs of the Black Cormorant (Phalacrocorax carho), but after many 

 miles of walking and wading I was unsuccessful. My son obtained some eggs the previous 

 season from two lagoons, but I found the birds had in each case forsaken the place, and only the 

 nests were there. I think these are the wariest birds in existence as regards their nesting 

 habits, and I have never yet known them to breed again in the same place after being once 

 disturbed." 



From Hobart, Tasmania, Mr. Malcolm Ifarrison wrote me: — "This Cormorant (Phalacro- 

 corax carho) is plentiful enough in Tasmania, although it is not usually seen in tlocks as is the 

 White-breasted species. 1 ha\e been more accustomed to meet a solitary bird fishing in a 

 quiet pool of one of the inland streams, and in such cases the ' fisherman ' has a particularly 

 good idea of taking care of himself, and it is with difficulty that one can get within range with a 

 shot gun. For years I have endeavoured to find out the breeding haunts in this State with 



