228 Tasmanian Nofes. [isfXprii 



Great Lake. I questioned Miss Wilson about the behaviour of 

 the Black Magpies, and she gave me the following information : — 

 The tame birds prefer sweet food, such as cake, but when the 

 ground is frozen hard they will eat anything. Sometimes they 

 go into the stable loft and catch mice in the hay. They are very 

 fond of chickens while they are small, and these have to be kept 

 shut up till they are feathered, after which the Magpies will not 

 touch them. They prefer young Ducklings to anything, and it 

 is almost impossible to keep them. As the wild Ducks breed in 

 this locality, I expect many of the Ducklings furnish a meal for 

 the Black Magpies and their young. Young Turkeys are also 

 favourites. When a Magpie attacked a Turkey and her brood, 

 the mother would give the alarm, the young ones would lie flat 

 beside a stone or tuft of grass, and the old Turkey would go and 

 fight the Magpie. In their wild state these Magpies eat a great 

 many common red berries which grow amongst the rocks. When 

 the young ones are in the nest the old birds seem to have a hard 

 time hunting for them, and get very shabby and rusty-looking. 

 Sometimes they alight on the roof of the porch with a load of grubs 

 and beetles in their bills. They put their load down and have a 

 feed of bread or cake themselves, then pick up their load and fly 

 straight off to their nest. They do a lot of good killing the grass- 

 grubs. On the marshes some miles back, flocks of these Magpies 

 gather, all hunting grubs. Those coming round The Steppes 

 homestead seem rather more kindly disposed to each other than 

 most wild creatures, judging by their treatment of a one-legged 

 Magpie in their company. This one is always given a larger share 

 of the dainties than the others, and in no way have they ever 

 molested it. — (Miss) J. A. Fletcher. Boat Harbour, Tasmania, 

 16/9/17. 



Queensland Notes. 



Finches. — I have reared young Gouldian {Poephila goiildicB), 

 Black-throated (P. cincta), Plumhead [Aidemosyne modesta), 

 and Banded {Stidoptera hichenovii) Finches in my aviary, and 

 was most interested in the markings in the mouths of the 

 young Gouldians, or Painters, as we call them. I thought they 

 might be for the protection of the young when disturbed, opening 

 their mouths wide and wagging their heads and showing all their 

 spots, with their naked neck behind, in a fearsome manner, which 

 gave me the impression that they were reptiles peering out of the 

 entrance to the nest, as I never saw other young Finches do this 

 when alarmed ; they usually cower down and remain still. I 

 have never noticed any signs of bright spots or colouring in the 

 other young Finches reared in captivity. Many Finches build 

 family nests to play building with by day and sleep in in cold 

 weather. I always keep a supply of dry grass for them, and 

 after every rainy day they have a building fit, but when they mean 

 to nest for young ones each pair builds separately, and fiercely 



