VI. PREFACE. 
From North Queensland and the Gulf of Carpentaria Messrs. C. Woop.tanps and E, Drew 
forwarded a number of rare and interesting specimens, while Mr. L. Dumas in North-west, and 
Mr. S. Hatt in South-west Australia, filled my Western Australian wants. 
Eggs from the southern and central portions of the continent reached me from Messrs. 
A. J. Camppecy, G. A. KEARTLAND, D. Le Souer, T. A. BrirTLesank, and other well-known 
collectors, while Mr. M. W. Harrison was largely instrumental in supplying my Tasmanian 
desiderata. 
As regards my own work, I may say that it has always been a labour of love, and I can 
linger over every detail of it, from the primitive methods of 1883 to the elaborate apparatus of 
the later years, with affectionate remembrance. The work was dangerous, yet in all my experi- 
ence there is only one accident to recall, and that to myself. In the season of 188g I fell from 
a tree at Toowoomba, Queensland, and sustained a compound fracture to my right shoulder. 
From 1883 to 1889 our climbing was done without any adventitious aids, and we simply 
“ scrambled ” our trees, but in the latter year we took to ropes, poles and climbing spurs (see 
page 161), while from 1891 up to 1895 my brother did much climbing after the manner of the 
aborigines, by chopping steps into the tree with a tomahawk, and holding on by a strong green 
vine placed around the trunk (see pages 28, 126). Wealso used a strong rope fitted with a 
boatswain’s chair, by means of which the climber was slowly and laboriously hauled to the 
desired spot. This method was not altogether satisfactory, apart from the hard work it entailed, 
as the rope frequently cut into the soft bark of the branch over which it was running, and 
jammed fast—an awkward predicament for the unfortunate left suspended in mid-air. (See 
page 43). 
From 1895 onward use was made of a ladder specially designed by myself, which was over 
one hundred feet long, and proved of the utmost value tous; with it we could tackle and conquer 
the tallest giant of the forest. 
As mentioned before, my brother, Mr. Frank T. A. Jackson, did most of the climbing on 
the ladder, which was made in two sections, to be coupled together by hooks when the full 
length was required. This ladder was made of Manilla rope, rove through holes made at the 
ends of strong cedar rungs, the latter resting on knots or Turks’ heads worked into the rope. 
(See pages 7, 11, 15, 45,47). The means adopted for placing the ladder in position were, in 
theory, very simple, though in practice complications often arose. A fine line, weighted with 
an ounce of lead, was fired from a catapult over a limb to the required height, and on recovery 
of the loaded end it was attached to a stronger line, and then to a rope one inch thick, which 
was hauled over the limb to the ground. The ladder was then attached and drawn up into 
position, the end of the hauling or guy line being made secure to a heavy log or tree butt. 
The limb from which the ladder was suspended was always thoroughly tested by four 
times the weight of the man it had to carry, in order to ensure safety to the climber. 
The ladder rolled up and fitted into a waterproof bag which, with the camera and other 
paraphernalia, was strapped upon a stage behind a vehicle, which we had specially built for 
nesting purposes. (See page 85.) 
Each set of eggs in the collection has been carefully numbered and ticketed, and corres- 
ponds with the numbers given in the following pages. All doubtful eggs have been discarded, 
and the fullest possible data has been set forth in connection with each clutch of eggs. Those 
taken by myself, or under my personal supervision, are in many cases very fully treated, and 
especially those that were worthy of minute description, for I kept careful note books with 
abundant details. In the first part of the volume the descriptions are in some instances rather 
