Vol. X. 



IQIO 



Outings. 173 



Perched on snags or on a mangrove tree here and there were a 

 few Darters {Plotus novce-hollandice), silent and indifferent, or 

 moving their snake-hke necks and heads to gaze at the passing 

 boat. But the most characteristic bird of the river banks, and 

 one that haunted the stone training walls, was the Yellow-necked 

 Mangrove-Bittern (Dupetor gouldi). At first the birds did not 

 attract attention, sneaking silently along below the crest of 

 the piled rocks, with which their slaty-grey plumage harmonized. 

 But the skipper of the Teal, familiar with the river and its birds, 

 pointed out a Bittern which was taking pains to be unobtrusive, 

 and thereafter one was seen every few minutes. Rarely would 

 the birds walk along the crest of the wall to be silhouetted against 

 the sky. They had evidently learned the lesson of concealment 

 well. The launch did not greatly disturb them, but at its 

 approach they would fly a few yards, alight, and, crouched up 

 like a whipped dog, slink away. The attitude and general 

 behaviour of the Bitterns reminded the launch party of those 

 undesirables among men who frequent public gatherings " after 

 no good." It was most interesting to watch the shy, slinking 

 birds. 



At the mouth of the Brisbane the launch was anchored in the 

 lee of an island formed of mud and shell material dredged from 

 the bed of the river. Several of the party went ashore in the 

 dinghy, with cameras. A large flock of Pelicans had been ob- 

 served as the Teal came down stream, and it was decided to have 

 some " shots " at them with the camera. Dr. W. Macgillivray, 

 with his " Naturalist's Graflex," crept painfully over a hundred 

 yards of mud and shells, under shelter of a low ridge formed of 

 the same materials. The Pelicans were fishing, close inshore, upon 

 the other side ; but the big birds were wary, and after an hour's 

 stalking the Doctor gave up the game, content with a dozen 

 hazarded exposures. It was impossible to approach the Pelicans 

 closely, and the flocks of Terns (several species) and Dottrels 

 camped on the sand-spits were shy of the human form. The 

 beach of this artificial island was strewn with the dead bodies of 

 the Pharsalia, or " Portuguese men-o'-war," fleets of which had 

 been noticed drifting down the river with the tide. The coloura- 

 tion of these delicate organisms is brilliant, the float-bladder being 

 pale transparent blue, deepening to purple or violet on the crest, 

 which is also tinged with carmine. 



After dining with the main body of excursionists on the 

 Champion, the launch party began the return voyage to Brisbane, 

 stop]iing en route for a brief run ashore at a spot where the man- 

 groves looked inviting and a jetty facflitated landing. Nothing 

 of special interest was noted, and the mosquitoes were so abundant 

 and aggressive that none of the ornithologists was sorry to leave 

 the noisome spot. The run up stream was also without incident 

 of note : but as the busy part of the river was reached, with the 

 " black wharves and the ships " (including the fine new steamer 

 Levitka. in charge of Captain W. C. Thomson, F.R.G.S., who had 



