160 IN AUSTRALIAN WILDS. 



eggs, was chosen, and the camera erected five feet 

 away. Then I hid behind a box at a distance of 

 thirty feet, and waited. For ten or twelve minutes 

 the birds were highly suspicious. The male was the 

 first to gain confidence, and when he alighted on the 

 rim of the nest I pressed the bulb. The click of the 

 shutter made the bird spring into the air, ruffled and 

 puzzled, but it was soon back on the nest, and another 

 plate was exposed. The female Chat had been 

 hovering around, mostly on the other side of the hedge. 

 Content for half an hour, at least, to let her mate face 

 the apparent danger, she took the opportunity to 

 enjoy a quiet meal, gleaned amid the stubble in a 

 neighbouring paddock. The sun was so powerful that 

 I thought the rubber tubing would melt, and the heat 

 did actually damage the camera, causing a crack in 

 the wooden base. Often, on the open plains, it was 

 necessary to leave the camera standing in the sun 

 for an hour or more, in order to obtain a photograph 

 of some wild creature, and as a result all my dark 

 slides were slightly warped. Riverina sunshine in 

 November is nearly strong enough to boil a billy. 

 Under a verandah in Jerilderie one day the ther- 

 mometer registered 110 degrees. 



Wood-Swallows of several species were nesting 

 in the hedges and street trees, among bushes in the 

 gardens, and in many odd places. Walking along an 

 old post and rail fence, I counted seven nests, some of 

 which were in danger of being wrecked by a gust of 

 wind. A pair of White-browed Wood-Swallows 

 [Artamus superciliosus] had selected as a nesting 

 site the top of a coil of wire-netting, standing in a yard 

 at the rear of the Mayor's house. Though the netting 

 was needed for repairs to a fence, the birds were left 

 in possession until a brood had been reared. I spent 

 several hours with these enterprising birds, and 

 secured a series of photographs. The male Wood- 

 Swallow was much annoyed on seeing the camera 



