116 



IN AUSTRALIAN WILDS 



A young local naturalist invited me to join him in 

 a trip to a small reedy swamp near Boga, promising 

 nests of the Coot and the Allied Swamp Hawk [Circus 

 Gouldi], with prospects of others. Of course, I ac- 

 cepted, and we drove to the swamp next morning. It 

 seemed a mere pool after Bull Swamp; but it proved 



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BURROW AND EGGS OF MURRAY TORTOISE. 



to be a case of "little and good." My friend warned 

 me to keep an eye lifting, the swamp being noted as 

 a haunt of big Black Snakes [Pseudechis porphyria- 

 cus]. A dead specimen hanging over a barbed-wire 

 fence near by served to emphasise the warning words, 

 but we did not see a living reptile that day. The reed 

 beds, which my companion had previously explored, 

 were visited, the first nest seen being that of a pair 

 of Swamp Hawks. It contained four large white 

 eggs. This Hawk, which frequents swamps, marshy 



