WHERE THE PELICAN BUILDS 



155 



He entered the water, and explored the reeds without 

 success, except that he found the nest from which he 

 had taken five eggs a few days previously. As stated 

 in another chapter, aborigines are fond of Swans' 

 eggs, and probably thousands are gathered every 

 season in localities where the birds are numerous. 



BLACK SWAN AND CYGNETS. 



Leaving the Swans' haunt, we drove to a little bay 

 where, to my delight, a flock of Cape Barren Geese 

 [Cereopsis novx-hollandide] was seen. This remark- 

 able bird is rare, though formerly it was abundant, 

 especially among the Bass Strait islands. The genus 

 Cereopsis was founded by Latham in 1801 on a single 

 specimen. He included it in the order Grallse, but it 

 has long been recognised as a true Goose, and is the 

 only living representative of the sub-family Cereop- 

 sinx. The extinct Cnemiornis, of New Zealand, was 

 a near ally of the Cape Barren Goose. Two young 

 Geese, which were captured by a naturalist in Bass 



