A. J. 
Data Campbell’s No. of 
No. 
No. in 
Book. 
Eggs. 
fHE JACKSONIAN OOLOGICAL COLLECTION. 
the world. The Parra is also found frequenting the swamps on the coast of Queensland, and was 
plentiful at one time about Rockhampton. In the Clarence River district I found that it starts to lay 
in October, and the breeding season lasts on up till the end of January, but there are times when it is 
somewhat altered, as often the general conditions of the rains have much influence in that respect, and 
thus govern the seasons to a certain extent. The Clarence River is its most southern limit. 
The nests are difficult to find, notwithstanding their conspicuous situation, and I have sat for hours 
at a stretch watching the birds’ manceuvres as they walked about on the reeds and floating vegetation 
in the swamp. We have seen them try to sink their nest a little, and the eggs are then resting quite in 
the water, and to do this both birds stand on the nest together as they see you approaching it. After 
they have accomplished this remarkable performance one bird (¢) flies away to the very end of the 
swamp, uttering his cry “ wis-wis-wis-wis ” as he proceeds ; the other bird (¢), in the meantime, walks 
along in a crouched position on the reeds and floating leaves, etc., flapping her wings on the water as 
she proceeds, and thus giving a person the impression that they are broken. We have also noticed 
that the Parra, when sitting on the nest, pretends to be feeding if any person is near, or cattle wade out 
near her. The nest is 
not built in reeds, but 
on thick clumps of float- 
ing agquatic plants and 
Water Lily leaves, and 
mostly along the edges 
of the swamps, about 
twenty or thirty feet from 
the margin; yet there 
are times, however, when 
they are placed almost 
in the middle of the 
swamp, and itall depends 
on the positionand quan- 
tity of the vegetation 
therein. The nest is a 
small structure, com- 
posed of fresh green 
herbage and weeds, and 
measures nine inches 
THE HOME OF THE COMB-CRESTED PARRA. 
across, and is much (Note the Nest and Bird among the large Water Lilies.) 
smaller and cleaner than 
is the case with those of the Black-throated Grebe (Podicifes nove-hollandie.) ‘The eggs are always 
placed with the pointed ends turned inwards, and are usually four in number for a sitting, though on 
two occasions we have taken five eggs from each nest. One of the illustrations accompanying this 
description shows an unusually large and elongated egg of this species, and is one of a set of five (No. 
238A); the ground colour, instead ot being yellowish-olive, is of a dirty or dull white, like that of a 
Grebe, but is covered with the same characteristic black wavy lines as those of the Parras. Iam of 
opinion that this egg is probably the result of a cross between a Parra and a Black-throated Grebe, as 
the latter were breeding on the same swamp as the Parras. This large egg measures = 1°47 X 0°93. 
The eggs are hard to see even when you are quite close to them, and it is the intense gloss they possess 
that first catches your eye, and thus assists you in their location. The bird sometimes selects swamps 
during breeding season, which are covered with the large and superb Blue Water Lilies (Nymphaea 
' 
stellata), the large floating leaves of which are ample foot hold or “stepping stones” for it; it is not 
web-footed, yet I have never seen it leave the swamps ; and the most remarkable feature about it is the 
37 
