1 68 Stray Feathers. [ , 



Emu 

 St Jan. 



{XeropJiila leucopsis), and the Cockatoo-Parrakeet {Calopsittacus 

 novcB-Jiollandice). This Cockatoo-Parrakeet, Hke the pretty little 

 Shell-Parrot, is, I regret to say, not nearly so plentiful as 

 formerly ; probably the destruction of so much of the big timber 

 is a cause for this. A friend recently told me of a curious 

 practice of the Cockatoo-Parrakeets. Generally during the 

 warmer months, a number of the birds — perhaps about eight or 

 ten — will gather together on the horizontal branch of a tree, and, 

 sitting quite closely together, caress each other in a most engag- 

 ing manner, meanwhile chattering away in a low musical tone. 



Sundry Hawks and Kestrels, Crows, Plover, White-fronted 

 Herons, and a flock of the handsome Galahs were among the 

 larger birds met with on the trip. — A. H. Chisholm. Mary- 

 borough (Vic), 22/11/09. 



* * * 



The Helmeted Honey-eater (Ptilotis cassidix) as 

 Foster-parent to the Pallid Cuckoo (Cuculus 

 PALLIDUS). — On the loth of October, 1908, at Cardinia Creek, 

 Beaconsfield, I made my first acquaintance with this rare and 

 beautiful member of the genus Ptilotis. Seeing a pair or two of 

 these birds flying about near the creek, and being ignorant as to 

 the position favoured by them as a building site, I made an 

 unsuccessful search for a nest I decided to sit down and watch 

 them, and this time saw a bird fly down to a tea-tree bush 

 growing out of the creek bank. In this shrub I discovered an 

 unlined nest, and, curiously enough, there was interwoven in the 

 exterior texture of it two pieces of newspaper about 3 inches 

 square. 



Again, on 26th September of this year, in company with a 

 young friend, Mr. W. Walton, I again visited the locality, and 

 was on the point of turning back when I saw a golden flash in 

 the sunlight, created by the passage of one of these birds from 

 a tall white gum tree close by to a neighbouring wattle. 

 Motioning my friend to sit down, I soon brought three pairs to 

 within a few feet of us, and we beheld a sight rarely witnessed 

 by human eyes. The whole six birds sat upon a small branch 

 of the bush where I had found the nest in the previous year, and 

 from time to time uttered a quaint little call, somewhat like one 

 of the notes of the Yellow-faced Honey-eater {^Ptilotis cJirysops). 

 Giving my friend instructions as to the position where they were 

 in the habit of building, I went to search a small patch of scrub 

 a few yards further down the creek before attacking the portion 

 where we had seen the birds. He, on the other hand, walked 

 over to the bush which I had pointed out to him as their last 

 year's nesting site, and quickly summoned me with the informa- 

 tion that he had found a nest. On reaching his side I beheld a 

 sight that filled me with admiration ; for there, suspended about 

 ^Yz feet above the creek level, and not more than a couple of 



