Vol. XIV. 

 1915 



'•] Cheney, Birds of Wangaratta District, Victoria. 201 



trees bordering a busy road, where traffic was constantly passing 

 to a creamery near by. Quite unconcernedly, the birds began to 

 build a nest, but after three weeks they disappeared. 



Hypotaenidia phiiippensis. Pectoral Rail. — Along Reedy Creek 

 these birds nested every year in the rushes, but the young constantly 

 met with accidents from dogs. One bird sustained a broken leg, 

 but managed to get its living comfortably, the bones knitting together 

 somewhat. 



Porzana fluminea. AustraUan Spotted Crake.^Twice only re- 

 ported — 28/1 1/13 and 24/3/14. They were running through the 

 long grass in a swamp. 



Porzana palustris. Austrahan Little Crake. — One came into a 

 garden for a few hours. 



Gallinula tenebrosa. Black Moor-Hen. — Occasionally seen along 

 the middle reaches of the Ovens River. 



Porphyrio melanonotus. Bald-Coot. — These birds were often seen 

 wading in the reedy back-waters of the Ovens. 



Podiceps gularis. Black-throated Grebe. — Although a widely- 

 spread species, many people do not know this bird, owing to its habit 

 of diving and swimming under water. It rises quietly among some 

 plants, where it remains almost motionless until the danger is past. 



Podiceps poliocephalus. Hoary-headed Grebe. — I know of only 

 one of these birds. It became tame, swimming about in an anabranch 

 of the Ovens, in the Whorouly school-ground. 



Lobivanellus lobatus. Spur-winged Plover. — Driving along the 

 side roads, one disturbed numbers of these fearless birds. During 

 the breeding season the male makes a feint of driving one away from 

 the half-grown chicks. Their nests are very hard to find ; one has 

 almost to stumble into the liitle hollow on the ground before the 

 eggs are seen. The birds do not seem afraid to hatch out their young 

 close to a road. 



Zonifer pectoralis. Black-breasted Plover. — Their incessant alarm 

 call frightened other birds away when one was out on an excursion 

 along the creeks. One usually saw more of this species than of the 

 Spur-winged Plover. 



^gialitis nigrifrons. Black-fronted Dottrel. — Several pairs of this 

 species nest along Clear Creek. Some specimens had scarlet legs 

 and red bills. The children took a great delight in hunting for their 

 nests in order to note the protective colouration of the eggs, which 

 were usually somewhat like those of the Rufous-breasted Whistler's, 

 but varied according as they were placed on yellow sand, grey 

 earth, or on the greenish slime that grows near the creek. The birds 

 bred very freely, which is a good sign of the care Australian children 

 are showing for their local birds. 



Himantopus leucocephalus. White-headed Stilt. — One was seen 

 several times on the Ovens at Tarrawingee last December. 



Pisobia acuminata. Sharp-tailed Stint. — One or two visited the 

 Carraragarmungee district twice a year when migrating. These were 

 seen at the same water-hole for three successive years in March and 

 September. In 1914 they were late, not appearing until November. 



Gallinago australis. Australian Snipe. — This species appeared in 



