230 Queensland Notes. [isfTrii 



River is not far away, but is only a series of shallow pools just 

 now, so they will probably fall a prey to the foxes, which have 

 unfortunately reached us. Until their arrival, three or four 

 years ago, there were always two pairs of Bustards {Eitpodotis 

 australis) nesting in the paddock, but they never come near now, 

 and in many of the large station paddocks in this locality scarcely 

 a bird now is to be seen where we used to see dozens. Kangaroo 

 rats {Bettongia penicillata) have completely disappeared. Opossums 

 {Phalangista vulpina) are on the decrease ; I find them frequently, 

 when riding about, headless under the trees. The foxes have also 

 taken to killing lambs in these parts, due probably to the scarcity 

 of their natural food. 



Two old friends of eight years' standing, in a pair of House- 

 Swallows {Hirmido neoxena), have commenced to get their nests 

 in order, but birds appear to be very irregular in their nesting 

 habits in these parts. I saw a Chestnut-breasted Finch [Munia 

 castaneithorax) building last week. 



In spite of two weeks of frosts, we still have the Pallid Cuckoo 

 {Cuculus pallidus) with us ; he, however, is very silent, and 

 appears to spend most of his time dodging other birds. The 

 quiet and busy Caterpillar-eater {Campephaga hnnieralis) appeared 

 in numbers about the beginning of the year, and cleared a small 

 lucerne patch I had in the garden of green grubs ; they stayed 

 on for several weeks. 



Regarding the fox, I do not think they would bother with a 

 small Duckling ; I really believe they would wait until they were 

 a decent size before interfering with them. I notice here that, 

 as the stream becomes shallow, the Ducklings about the " flapper " 

 stage make for the long grass or any cover there may be on the 

 banks, and are then, of course, an easy prey for the fox. A colony 

 of Fairy Martins {Petrochelidon ariel) made their nest this year 

 in a recess in the river-bank, and I kept a good look-out, expecting 

 that when the eggs were laid the foxes would break them down, 

 and, as I could trace the animals easily, I began to think that 

 they were not going to molest the' birds ; however, about a week 

 after the little ones were hatched I found one morning that every 

 nest was broken down and nothing but feathers to be seen. This 

 makes me think that these animals bide their time, and may 

 therefore turn up their noses at a tiny ball of fluff in the shape of 

 a young Duck. With the disappearance of the kangaroo rat and 

 the scarcity of Bustards {Eitpodotis australis), the monitor lizard 

 (iguana) can be pressed on to the list. They may be a tough 

 morsel, but apparently nothing comes amiss to the fox. 



I once shot a Musk-Duck {Bizinra lobata) with two small ones 

 on her back in a lignum swamp, near the Kow Swamp, in the 

 Terricks district, in Victoria. I spent my boyhood's days on a 

 property we had on the Pyramid Creek, which was filled from the 

 Kow Swamp, and, after travelling in New Guinea, Northern 

 Territory, North Queensland, East, West, South, and North Africa, 

 I have yet to find a place that abounded with wfld-fowl as plentiful 



