36 



— Owls.— 



It is more than likely that the barn or delicate owl (Strix: 

 (lelicatula), is found on Eyre's Peninsular, but did not come under 

 the notice of our party during the time we were there. The 

 mopokes, or boobook owls (Ninox boobook) were heard every night 

 calling to one another amid the timber on the creek, where no 

 doubt they had their nest in some hollow gum bough. A bird 

 closely allied to the owls and which came under our notice was 

 the podargiTS. or frogmouth (Podargus strigoides). Like the rest 

 of the genus these birds are strictly nocturnal. They sleep through 

 the day on some dead branch of a tree, across and never parallel 

 to the branch. They sit in an upright position, and so -resemble 

 llie wood on which they are perched. It is hard, therefore, to 

 distinguish them from the tree. I discovered a pair of these 

 (luaint birds in an old gnarled sugar gum. It was found that 

 the female was sitting in a loosely constructed nest of sticks, 

 carelessly interwoven and placed in a fork of the limb. Lfater 

 on several of the photographers took pictures of th,e bird on the 

 nest. She allowed one to climb within a few feet, and she was 

 almost taken in the hand. "When, however, she flew off with lazy^ 

 flight with, heavy flapping wings to a neighbouring tree, it was 

 found she had two young birds covered in the whitest of white 

 down. The food of these birds consists entirely of insects, and 

 they are, therefore, of much value to the State. Many are of 

 the opinion that this is the bird that makes the call at night of 

 "Mopoke." This is a great mistake. 



— Swallows.^ 



The welcome swallows (Hirundo-neoxena), was found to have 

 the same liking for the habitation of man as it has all over Aus- 

 tralia, and welcome it should be, for the thousands of flies and" 

 mosquitoes it devours in a day is wonderful. The tree martin 

 (Petrochelidon-nigi'icans), was observed skimming over the surface 

 of lagoons or waterholes, or hawking high up over the treetops, 

 ever on the lookout for insects. It selects the holes in trees te 

 bring up its young. Little or no nest is made— perhaps a gum leaf 

 or two, or it may be that tliree or four pinky-white freckled eggs- 

 are laid on the soft dust of the hollow limb. 



- A Lovely Bird. — 



The bee-eater (^lerops ornatus) has so many attractions that 

 doubtless it may be always regarded as a bird of prominence in 

 Australia. It is often called the rainbow bird by the settlers from 

 its many brilliant colours. The extreme beauty of its plumage, 

 the elegance of its form, and the gracefulness of its flight, all 

 draw one's attention. The eggs are deposited, and the young 



