^°'"iS"'] Camera Craft Notes. 233 



the road. The characteristic chuckhng note of one bird first 

 drew our attention, and we at once concealed ourselves. 

 Presently the other bird appeared, and the two fed together for 

 a time. Soon we noticed that one bird had again disappeared, 

 and as the male (the remaining bird) had twice emitted his loud 

 whip-note without receiving an answer, we concluded that the 

 female was sitting somewhere in the vicinity. Our sudden issue 

 from concealment roused the female a few yards ahead. Failing 

 to find a nest at the spot, we were in the act of moving on when 

 a faint call arrested our attention. After a few minutes' search, 

 aided by the feeble answers to our imitation of the adult calls, 

 we succeeded in capturing two well-grown chicks. The old birds, 

 becoming very excited, ran and flew around us, uttering harsh 

 cries. After about ten minutes they quietened down and began 

 to collect food. 



We had made preparations to photograph the birds in an open 

 space, but it was a considerable time before they could be induced 

 to leave the scrub. When eventually the female gained confidence 

 enough to feed the young, she took advantage of every particle 

 of cover available and carefully avoided the camera. After trying 

 many schemes unsuccessfully we at last conceived the idea of 

 keeping the young ones in the hollow of a stump near by. This 

 made it necessary for the adults to leave the ground to feed 

 them, and, after noting the spot most used by the parents, we 

 focussed the camera on that side of the stump. This proved 

 effective, and we succeeded in exposing six plates. The young 

 were exceedingly quiet, and soon after being caught appeared to 

 take no interest in the proceedings except on the near approach 

 of the adults with food. Even when handled for the purpose of 

 obtaining a picture they could hardly be kept awake. Although 

 we were on the spot for about eight hours, we observed the male 

 to feed the young on two occasions only. Sometimes the male 

 bird transferred food to the female, who in turn fed the young. 

 The male and female invariably searched for food in company, 

 being never more than a few yards apart. This was particularly 

 noticeable when the female appeared near the stump, and we 

 prepared for an exposure. The male would decide at this time 

 to move a few yards off, and the female always followed. Their 

 food was obtained on the ground, and the powerful feet were 

 freely used' among the debris. Usually the undergrowth near at 

 hand furnished their food supply, but an occasional excursion 

 further afield would keep the pair away as long as a quarter of an 

 hour. 



During all our observations we have taken particular notice of 

 the calls of male and female. It appears quite clear that the 

 whip-crack is always emitted by the male. Our observations in 

 1913 were that in ten instances where male and female were in 

 sight at the same time the whip-crack originated from the male 

 and the two answering notes from the female. In two cases also 

 there were no answering notes to the call of the male. Other 



