34 ORGANIC LIFE ON THE RIVERINE PLAINS 



latter bird, and it lays fewer eggs in a clutch — usually not 

 more than six, and never more, in my experience, than 

 eight, though I have found as many as a dozen in a white 

 swan's nest. The nest is placed in different situations, 

 according to circumstances. I have found the nest of the 

 white species among rocks on the coast ; and they often 

 breed on rocks at a distance from the shore. I could never 

 ascertain that the black swan has this habit. In the 

 Riverine the nest is usually placed in the midst of an 

 impenetrable marsh ; and I have found one or two 

 hidden in the thick rushes of the Bogan and other 

 large rivers. The plumage of the young bird is of a grey 

 colour. 



The nest of the native companion {Grus australiacd) I 

 never succeeded in finding. The crane is a fine, handsome 

 bird, standing sometimes nearly five feet high. The 

 plumage is a handsome blue-grey in colour. These birds 

 never assemble in flocks. Four or five are sometimes seen 

 together, but pairs are often met with ; and I think it may 

 safely be asserted that the union of the male and female is 

 for life. Like that of other species of cranes, the attach- 

 ment of these birds for each other is very great. If one is 

 killed, the other will come back and hover about the dead 

 bird ; so that the sportsman is sure of the pair if he 

 succeeds in shooting one. The chief food of the native 

 companion is eels, lizards, frogs, and snakes ; and, as they 

 destroy many poisonous snakes and other troublesome 

 vermin, they ought to be strictly protected. I do not think 

 they catch many fish (eels excepted), but they have been 

 seen by me to devour rats ; and they often destroy the 

 young of marsh breeding birds. They have a peculiar 

 habit of prancing to and fro — dancing, I suppose some 

 naturalists would call it. This only happens when several 

 pairs are together ; and the object of the exercise I could 

 never discover. Their movements on such occasions are 

 not very quick, but are rythmical and graceful. 



The Australian bustard is also a prominent object on 

 these plains, as well as the swan. I will defer describing 

 the latter bird for the present. 



