VoL Xiv.-j Howe, Notes on the Genus Pycnoptilus. igQ 



a Cuckoo had taken an egg out of the nest before we found it, and 

 possibly the same bird had returned for the other egg when ready 

 to foist her own on the foster-bird, but the rightful owner had 

 returned in the nick of time, and a fight had taken place, causing 

 the Cuckoo's egg to be broken. 



A few of the foregoing observations have been recorded Ijy me 

 in The Emit.* and some of the opinions then expressed have been 

 modified and corrected, and, I hope, something more of the bird's 

 economy added. In conclusion, I must state that, although 

 bush-fires and clearing is undoubtedly driving these birds farther 

 back into the ranges, they are still very common all througlf the 

 Dandenong Mountains. 



Birds of Wangaratta District, Victoria. 



By (Miss) Gladys M. Cheney, R.A.O.U. 

 In March, 1912, I took charge of the school at Carraragarmungee, 

 which is situated between Wangaratta and Beechworth, about 

 five miles from the Ovens River at Tarrawingee. The district 

 consists of a plain, bordered on the east by the hills around Beech- 

 worth, on the north by a line of low hills and a valley widening 

 out and running away to the Murray River, on the west by the 

 Warby Ranges and Morgan's Lookout, and on the south by the 

 Black Range and Mount Buffalo. Near the school occurs the 

 junction of Clear Creek with Reedy Creek, where is a rushy 

 swamp backed by a large orchard and vineyard. Following these 

 creeks back into the hills, one finds fairly thickly timbered country, 

 with pretty guUies and occasional waterfalls, while the scattered 

 dwellings along them are surrounded by weeping willows and 

 groves of Pinus insignis — a paradise for birds. To the west is 

 wheat country, backed by the winding reaches of the Ovens, with 

 pretty billabongs, wherein grow water-lilies and reeds, banked by 

 acacias and flowering gums. One species of eucalypt is par- 

 ticularly beloved by the Honey-eaters and Lorikeets. Locally 

 it is known as the wild apple, on account of the strong apple 

 perfume of the flowers. 



Growing more and more interested in bird study, I visited 

 surrounding districts in the holidays, but found that the richest 

 variety of bird Hfe occurred near home— in fact, at least 140 of 

 the birds listed were seen within two miles of the school. This 

 may be due to the overlapping of the different areas of bird- 

 distribution. From the north-west of Victoria we had such 

 visitors as the Black-eared Miner, the Redthroat, the Orange- 

 fronted Chat, and the Black-tailed Parrot, while from the central 

 plains came the Austrahan Bustard and the Rose-breasted 

 Cockatoo, from the south the imported Indian Turtle-Dove and 

 the European Blackbird. Ten miles further away in any direc- 



* Emu, vol. vi., pp. 183-185 ; vol. ix., pp. 41-43- 



