36 Chandler, Bird-Life of Kow Plains. [isf Till - 



Accipiter torquatus. Collared Sparrow-Hawk — Two nests, ready 

 for eggs, were found about a week before we left the district, but no 

 eggs had been laid up to 15th October. Each of these nests was 

 built in a Murray pine and lined with green eucalypt leaves. 



Uroaelus audax. Wedge-tailed Eagle. — This fine species is very 

 rare in the district, and only old nests were observed. One nest had 

 evidently been tenanted in the previous season. 



Hieracidea berigora. Brown Hawk. — Three nests of this species 

 were seen. On several occasions, just at dusk, a bird would fly 

 swiftly throiigh the timber, uttering loud cries. After this per- 

 formance the following day would invariably be windy and stormy. 



Cerchneis cenchroides. Nankeen Kestrel. — A rare bird ; seen only on 

 two or three occasions. 



Ninox boobook. Boobook Owl. — Seen and heard in five places. 

 The bird in the Mallee calls more rapidly than its representative in 

 Gippsland forests. 



Glossopsitta porphyrocephala. Purple-crowned Lorikeet. — Wherever 

 the mallee gums approached any size suitable for nesting purposes, 

 these handsome little birds were seen in dozens. Nests were found 

 in every stage. Some contained fresh eggs, while others held 

 incubated eggs and young. Any convenient hollow is made use of, 

 and nests were observed at heights which varied from 5 feet to 40 feet. 

 It was noticed that from nearly every nest which contained eggs, if 

 the tree were tapped in the late morning or early afternoon, two birds 

 were flushed. While the breeding season was in full swing the male 

 birds of this species congregated in the mornings and feasted on the 

 nectar in the mallee blossom. 



Cacatua leadbeateri. Pink Cockatoo. — A bird well distributed, 

 and a number of nesting-hollows were found. A curious coincidence 

 which we noted about the nesting of this bird was that a nest of 

 Barnardius barnardi was invariably found in the same or an adjacent 

 tree. This bird has keen ears, and will slip off the nest when one 

 is 50 yards or more away. 



Cacatua roseicapilla. Rose-breasted Cockatoo. — A flock of 

 -' Galahs," about two dozen birds, was observed on a few occasions 

 on the plains, at the end of August and early in September Later, 

 the birds disappeared, possibly to nest further north. 



Platycercus eximius. Rosella. — My father one day reported that 

 he had seen a pair of birds of this species about a mile north of the 

 railway line. 



Barnardius barnardi. Ring-necked Parrot. — A number of nesting 

 hollows of this species were chopped out. With a few exceptions, 

 they contained either an incomplete clutch or were being cleaned 

 out preparatory to egg-laying. This Parrot is noisy when about the 

 nest. 



Psephotus multicolor. Many-coloured Parrot. — This magnificent 

 bird was fairly plentiful, and several nests were chopped out, which 

 were ready for eggs. Two nests contained respectively four and 

 five eggs to the clutch Tn a hollow stump a brood of five young 

 birds was found a few days before we broke camp. About a foot 

 below the Parrots' nest, in (he same hollow, a marsupial mouse had 

 made her nestt 



