112 IN AUSTRALIAN WILDS 



sis], continued to feed quietly till the boat was within 

 thirty yards of the rushes, then they rose from 

 the water and flew over the trees beyond our ken. 



Egrets have been ruthlessly hunted by emissaries 

 of the plume trade till, in Australia and other lands, 

 they have become rare. A few years ago a rookery 

 in New South Wales was visited by plume hunters, 

 who shot the nesting birds and left their offspring to 

 perish miserably of starvation. Formerly thousands 

 of Egrets nested among the Murray swamps, now few 

 are seen. 



Continuing the voyage, we caused commotion 

 among the waterfowl. A Black Duck and a Grey 

 Teal, each in charge of a brood, dived into the rushes, 

 while a Coot paddled round the "corner." We were 

 now near the trees, which, rank behind rank, rose from 

 the water like brown pillars, supporting a dome of 

 green leaves. There was a stir in the dark colonnades, 

 and two Cormorants [Phalacrocorax melanoleucus] 

 came flying into the light; others followed until there 

 was a large number circling above the tree-tops. Poling 

 gently, Rob guided the flattie into the shadows, choos- 

 ing a channel which opened into a small basin encircled 

 by trees. Looking up, we saw the rookery, hundreds 

 of nests, which occupied most of the higher branches. 

 Deserted by their parents, scores of dusky-brown 

 chicks craned from their nurseries to watch us, in 

 fear. Some, I thought, must topple over ; but no acci- 

 dent of the kind occurred, and the nestlings continued 

 to gaze down upon us. 



None of the tenanted nests could be reached from 

 the boat, and as we lacked a rope ladder and climbing 

 irons, only general photographs of the rookery were 

 obtained. Selecting a tree, which was fairly laden 

 with nests, Rob steadied the flattie, while I fixed the 

 camera tripod in the mud. My head was under the 

 focussing-cloth when the boat shifted; I saved the 

 camera, but for a minute my body was stretched over 



