Vol. XVI. 1 White, North Australian Birds. 1 57 



1917 J ' -J/ 



straightened his head and neck, and with bill pointing upwards 

 uttered a couple of soft cooing notes. The female acted in similar 

 manner, then gently took the stick from her lord and added it to 

 the nest, he looking on till she finished the operation ; then he went 

 off for another stick, and the same performance was enacted. He 

 brought home nine sticks during an hour. Another bird, whose 

 fragile nest near contained three eggs, returned with a stick, placed 

 it to the nest, and sat on the eggs for a while before seeking more 

 material. It returned with another stick, which appeared difficult 

 to balance. After hopping from branch to branch and juggling 

 with the stick, it fell into the water. Peering after the fallen 

 furniture, the bird started to hop down, clinging sideways to the 

 trunk of the mangrove, till it reached the water. Not finding the 

 stick, the bird went off in search of another, and added four sticks 

 to the nest during the half-hour I was watching. 



Great numbers of the young of the other three varieties may be 

 seen dead, hanging by wing, legs, or neck from the narrow forks of 

 the mangroves, but this rarely occurs with the young of N. fiavi- 

 rostris. Also, a fair number of the adult birds of the other three species 

 were seen caught in like manner, but I did not see a single instance 

 of N. flavirostris having been hung. 



The nests of Phalacrocorax sulcirostris and P. melanoleucus were 

 bulky structures of branchlets with leaves attached, about 15 inches 

 in diameter, and placed here and there about the centre of the 

 Heronry, from 12 to 20 feet from the ground. 



Perhaps it should be more particularly stated that the great 

 Heronry is situated on the north side of the Roper, about 3 miles 

 from the entrance to the sea. The rookeries extend along the edge 

 of the river for a distance of half a mile by a depth of about 80 yards. 

 At high tide there is a depth of 4 feet of water at the centre of the 

 Heronry. When the tide is out the water recedes about half a mile. 

 The country inland is intersected by water-channels and salt-pans 

 for a distance of about a mile. At high tide the vicinity of the 

 Heronry is infested by cat-fish and crocodiles, which apparently 

 feed on fallen eggs and young of the Egrets. When a crocodile is 

 startled, and, to escape, it forces its way through the small saplings, 

 its course may be traced by the vibration of the upper twigs of the 

 trees and by the chorus of cries of the brooding birds along the track. 



The food of the Herons consisted almost entirely of small fish, 

 from I to 5 inches in length. 



This great Heronry had been previously mentioned to Mr. H. L. 

 White by Mr. B. L. Jardine, in 1910, and by Mr. H. G. Barnard in 

 191 3. These observers, however, did not land, but the latter 

 supplied date of the nesting time. 



Conclusion. 

 Mr. M'Lennan having told the tale of his long and adventurous 

 expedition, w^hich ended in sore sickness — nigh unto death — 

 it only remains for me to state that the party, from the 5th to 

 the 7th April, was buffeted with boisterous weather — a gale at 

 times. The few following days preparations were made for 

 striking camp, and the Roper was finally quitted on the nth. 

 Shelter was sought at Maria Island the following two days, where 

 a few birds were noted, and Beatrice Island was reached on the 



