Vol. IX. 

 lyoij 



1 FLKr(.:HEK, Biyd Notes from Cleveland, Tasmania. 8l 



would do, also how long she would continue to sit. As soon as 

 I was apparently out of sight she returned to her nest, and had 

 such faith in the eggs that she continued sitting for some weeks. 

 The Christinas holidays intervened, and when I looked at the 

 nest early in February there were no traces of shells. Probably 

 the eggs were eaten by Crows after the Hawk's desertion. An 

 interesting fact in connection with this bird was that close at 

 hand was a second Hawk's nest from which at sundown I 

 sometimes flushed a Harrier, but in it eggs were never laid. So 

 I came to the conclusion that the bird which was off duty slept 

 on this spare nest. I have known these Harriers to desert a 

 partly-made nest because it had been inspected. All local 

 birds look on these Hawks as enemies — even the Rosella 

 Parrots {Platycerais exiniius) chase them. Last season I 

 watched a pair of Circus gouldi attack a White Cockatoo 

 [Cacatua galcrita) as it flew across a lagoon. One Hawk struck 

 it, but it got away, uttering most discordant shrieks, and leaving 

 a clawful of white feathers behind. 



The Chestnut-faced Owl {Strix castanops) and the Spotted 

 {Nitiox maciilata) are both found in this district. The former 

 has been seen several times in the daytime. From the hollow- 

 spout of a tree I saw the dried remains of a Coot hanging, 

 while its head and feet were on the ground below ; so I con- 

 cluded the spout was the home of an Owl. 



Owlet-Nightjar {.^^gotheles novcB-hollaiidue). — Only once have 

 I seen this bird. On the 2nd October, 1907, I saw it enter 

 a hole in the trunk of a dead gum-tree. It flew out when I 

 struck the tree, but returned almost immediately. It was 

 evidently sitting, but I could not ascertain if it had young 

 ones or eggs — the latter probably, the date being early in the 

 season. 



The Pardalotes are very numerous in the forests of this 

 district, and their presence makes the bush in spring-time 

 quite noisy. Sometimes when the observer is listening intently 

 for other bird-calls the constant repetition of their rather limited 

 vocal powers becomes slightly wearying; yet they are most 

 engaging little creatures, and a tree is richer for their presence. 

 The Yellow-tipped or Allied Pardalote {^Pardalotus affints) 

 and the Diamond-Bird {P. punctatus) ane both present, but I 

 cannot say for certain whether P. quadragintus is to be found 

 amongst our gum-trees. During the nesting season of 1908 I 

 frequently picked up half-shells of the Allied Pardalote's eggs, 

 which had evidently been thrown down from the nesting-hole 

 above. On 25th October a nest was found with three partly- 

 fledged young ones. On the 9th November last year I saw 

 some indications of a young Cuckoo being the inmate of an 

 Allied Pardalote's home. On the ground, at the bole of a 

 tree, I picked up the pieces of three properly chipped egg-shells, 



