IN IDLE MOMENT 29 



hearted effort to maintain the strength of the colony, 

 the unanimous and general purpose being postponed 

 for three months, when numerous clutches and marvel- 

 lously variegated eggs embelHshed the coral. But that 

 which was a perfectly safe and wise undertaking in 

 September was a fooHsh and dangerous experiment in 

 December. The tides then approach their maximum, 

 flooding areas denied three months previously. Whole- 

 sale tragedy was inevitable. The full moon brought 

 bereavement to many parents, for the sea overwhelmed 

 the nurseries, or the best part of them. Many wise 

 birds had laid their eggs above the limit of the highest 

 , tide. Others screamed in protest against the cruelty 

 i of the sea, for eggs and fluff 3^ chicks do not surely 

 [represent legitimate tribute to Neptune. Several fledg- 

 lings were found half buried in sand and coral chips, 

 some with merel}^ the head with bright and apprehensive 

 eyes obtruding. Why were not the whole of the parents 

 of the colony prudent when in default the penalty was 

 inevitable ? Five score were wise, five hundred were 

 foolish, and the natural increase from the second brood 

 must have been seriously diminished. Several of the 

 parent birds had brooded over their eggs until over- 

 whelmed by the surges and drowned. Some on the tide 

 limit squatted buried to the eyes in sand and seaweed. 

 Of one the tip of a wing only protruded. It was alive, 

 fostering unbroken eggs. 



The metallic starlings have again built on a favourite 

 tree — not massive and tough, but a slim though tall 

 Moreton Bay ash, the branchlets of which are not 

 notoriously brittle. They withstand a certain weight, 

 beyond which they snap. Why do these otherwise 

 highly intelligent birds so overstrain branches with 

 groups of nests that "regrettable incidents" cannot be 

 averted ? First there came to the ground a group of 



