VoK Xiv.-j 5^y^y Feathers: I73 



by the Council of the Royal Zoological and Acclimatization Society 

 of Victoria as to that State, and the Government has })romised 

 to bring in a bill dealing with the matter and making it illegal 

 to have in possession the })lumes of Egrets and other birds. The 

 Council is of opinion that only such legislation will prevent the 

 wearing in hats of the feathers of our useful birds. Other scientific 

 societies in the different States have been written to, and they 

 will probably endeavour to get their Governments to pass a 

 similar bill. 



Painted Honey-eaters. — While riding through one of the 

 paddocks of the Cobborah estate, on 24th September, 1914, I saw 

 a pair of Painted Honey-eaters (EntomopJnla picta) fly into a pine- 

 tree, and then into two other pine-trees. In the third tree was 

 their nest, on to which both birds went for a few seconds, one 

 after the other ; then both flew away. The nest appeared to 

 be practically completed, so T visited the tree again on the 27th. 

 For a few minutes 1 could see neither nest nor bird, and was just 

 starting to ride away when the male appeared, and went to the nest 

 for about one second, then flew off. I sat down about 10 yards 

 from the tree, in a position where I had as good a view of the 

 nest as I could posibly get. After watching it for a few minutes 

 I thought that something moved on it, and upon closer inspection 

 there seemed, to be a bird sitting in the nest. I started to climb 

 the tree, and when I was within about 10 feet of the nest the 

 female bird hopped oft, but did not fly away. She came a little 

 closer, had a good look at me, and went back on to the nest. 

 Then the male appeared and fed her (that, evidently, is what he 

 was doing when I saw him go to the nest at first). The nest was 

 at the extreme end of a thin branch, about 30 feet from the 

 ground, so I had to scoop the eggs. While I was doing this the 

 two birds were hopping about, sometimes in the nesting-tree, 

 but mostly in a dead box-tree a few feet away. Both birds 

 uttered a peculiar, plainti\e kind of a whistle the whole time. I 

 cut off the branch containing the nest. I shot both birds, and 

 when skinning them found the stomachs full of mistletoe berries. 

 — Thos. p. Austin. Cobborah Estate, Cobbora (N.S.W.), 



4/10/14. 



* ^ ^ 



Extension of Localities. — During my recent visit to Northern 

 Queensland, Mr. • Isaac Henry informed me that he had on more 

 than one occasion observed an Emu-Wren {Stipitunis) on the 

 Bellenden Plains (Cardwell district). S. malachuriis has not been 

 previously recorded for Northern Queensland, but whether it be 

 the same as the southern form or not remains to be proved. 



Mr. E. M. Cornwall, R.A.O.U., presented me with a skin of a 

 male Regent-Bird [Sericulns chrysocephalus), taken above the 

 line of Capricorn, in the mountain range behind Mackay. The 

 furthest north recorded for this species is the Mackenzie River 



