^'°' i^is"'] ^A.CGlLhlVRAY, Ornithologisis in Norlh Queensland. XAJ 



flushed a white bird from its nest, placed in a sheltered crevice on a 

 high rocky point ; it contained three fresh eggs. Numbers were 

 disturbed by us when exploring the rocky shore of Haggerstone 

 Island. 



Nycticorax caledonicus {Nycticorax caledonicus austral a sice). — 

 Numerous on Raine Island. All fuUy-plumaged birds ; they would 

 soon have been nesting. We flushed one from a cave under the lime- 

 stone ledge, and in another cave found an old nest, no doubt placed 

 there to protect its contents from the depredations of the Gulls. On 

 the 9th December we flushed one from its nest — a trampled-down 

 platform of herbage on a pile of rocks in the centre of the island ; the 

 nest contained one egg, which was afterwards taken by Gulls. Many 

 Nankeen Night-Herons were to be seen every morning at davbreak 

 on the turtle-nesting ground, on the watch for young turtles making 

 their way to the sea. 



These birds were also numerous on the large sand-bank to the 

 north-west of Raine Island, on the Barrier Reef. We occasionally 

 flushed one during our wanderings in the tea-tree swamps near the 

 Claudie. 



Mr. M'Lennan noted this species as numerous on the Hannibal 

 Islands. On the western side of the Peninsula he found them to 

 be equallv common. 



Butorides stagnatilis (Butorides striata littleri). — Often noted on the 

 foreshore at Lloyd's Island in early morning or evening. During the 

 day they roost in the mangroves. We on several occasions saw them 

 flying to the mangroves when the Pigeons and other birds were 

 leaving. We also disturbed them from the mangroves on Haggerstone 

 Island, and occasionally in the swamps near the sandalwood landing 

 on the Claudie River. Mr. M'Lennan found them to be quite common 

 on the opposite side of the Peninsula in similar localities. 



Dupetor gouldi [Dupetor flavicollis olivei). — Frequently noted in 

 early morning or evening on the shore at Lloyd's Island, refuging 

 in the mangroves during the day. Occasionally seen in the tea-tree 

 swamps. Common on the Archer and Watson Rivers. 



Anseranas melanoleuca {Anseranas semipalmata). — When returning 

 up the Claudie on the i8th December we flushed a number of these 

 birds from the trees about a large hole in the river which had come 

 to be known to us as the " Lily Pool." 



Writing from the Archer Creek, off the Archer River, on the 6th 

 April, 191 5, Mr. M'Lennan stated : — " Proceeded up the creek a few 

 miles, anchored, went ashore and explored some of the swamps. 

 Went on to a big swamp about three miles from the river, and waded 

 through about two miles of it ; water waist-deep and the going very 

 heavy. Semi-palmated Geese numerous ; found several half-built 

 nests and numbers that the natives had robbed. No eggs. Returned 

 along the edge of the swamp. Several old camps of the natives were 

 examined ; the ground about them was literally paved with egg- 

 shells." On 2ist April, 1915, he wrote: — "Swamps north-west of 

 Watson River, Semi-palmated Geese numerous." 



Mr. H. G. Vidgen. writing from Paira, Cape York, under date loth 

 November, 191 5, said : — " In a dry swamp not far away some 

 thousands of Geese have been actually scratching the drying mud 

 to unearth the roots of rushes, on which they live. Boy (H. S. 

 Vidgen) said they scratched just like fowls, and the ground was 



