Vol. XIV. 



1915 



I Fletcher, Further Field Notes on the Emu-Wren . 217 



From the figures quoted above it could be imagined that the 

 Stipituri were the commonest of our birds, but so dense are the 

 swamps which they frequent that only a bird observer would 

 notice the birds. 



Note re Food in i?us/i6\s.— Examined at my request by Mr. 

 Frank Littler, F.E.S. : — Spiders ; ants ; coleopterous larvae, 

 probably aquatic ; remains of coleoptera (fragments too small 

 to identify with certainty) ; evidences of lepidopterous larvae, 

 belonging to either or both the families (Ecophorida; or Elachis- 

 tidae. 



Stray Feathers. 



Maternal Instinct Strong.— Some years ago I mentioned in 

 The Emu the fact of a Black-and-White Fantail {Rlnpidura 

 motacilloides) being found dead on her nest, which contained 

 young ones, after a flood had subsided, in the Western District, 

 Victoria. The parent bird would not desert her young as the 

 flood rose, and she therefore died with them ; her claws were 

 fastened into the web of the nest, which kept her from being 

 washed away. A similar instance was noted not long ago by 

 Elwyn Allender, of Mount Cole Creek, near Ararat, Victoria. 

 It is interesting to note the strong maternal instinct in these 

 birds : possibly some members know of similar cases. I am 

 reminded of a hen, which was found sitting on the ground, dead, 

 after a bush-fire had passed over the country. She was partially 

 burnt, and when she was picked up her little chicks were found 

 under her, uninjured. She had given her life to save her brood, 

 as she could easily have escaped herself. — D. Le Souef. Mel- 

 bourne, 5/1/15- 



* * * 



Nankeen Night-Herons.— I have perused Mr. H. L. White's 

 "Notes on the Nankeen Night-Heron [Nydicorax caledonicus)." '^ 

 This bird has been a visitor for years past to the JVIaitland district, 

 coming from Cabbage-tree Island, Port Stephens. I have 

 frequently seen Nankeen Night-Herons on branches of trees, 

 particularly willows, growing on the river banks, near the town of 

 West Maitland. They have never, however, assembled in such 

 numbers as Mr. White observed. In a boat I have approached 

 them very closely. I think that all the swamps between the 

 Hunter River and Port Stephens have been drained, and the 

 swamps between Maitland and Newcastle would be nearer to the 

 Heronry than the Myall River swamps. We have this year been 

 visited 'by many wading birds that have not been seen around 

 here for very many years. Amongst them were the Greater and 

 Lesser Bitterns and the Pacific Heron.— W. J. Enwright. West 

 Maitland, N.S.W., 13/3/15- 



* Ernit, vol. xiv., part 3, pp. 174. 17 5- 



