Vol. X. 

 191 1 



J Stray Feathers. 207 



nest. The young bushman who brought them assured me that 

 an interval of a week or more elapses between the laying of the 

 first and second egg, and that as soon as the first egg hatches 

 the birds leave ofif sitting, and the second egg is usually left in 

 the nest, infertile^ 



17th September. — The Black Duck {Anas superciliosd) had 

 eggs, and the Sacred Kingfisher {Halcyon sanctus) made its first 

 appearance this season. 



19th September. — Pallid Cuckoos began to have a break in 

 their voices. 



2 1st September. — For the first time here, I observed an 

 undoubted pair of Spotted Scrub- Wrens {Sericoiniis macnlata). 

 I observed them through my binoculars for some time. A pair 

 of Black-and-White Fantails {Rhipidura tricolor) had built a 

 nest and were sitting on three eggs on the top of a flood-gate 

 across the creek. After some trouble in locating the exact tree, 

 I found a nest of the Ground Graucalus [Pteropodocys phasianella) 

 built about 30 feet from the ground on the forked limb of a 

 York gum (eucalypt). Upon examining it, found it contained 

 two young about a week old, one of them being much larger 

 than the other. The nest was very flat, and almost impossible 

 to be seen from the ground below. It was placed in the fork 

 without any attachment, and was made of fine grass, roots, 

 weeds, and a little moss, lichen, and sheep's wool intermixed. 

 It was sundown when I first identified the tree in which the nest 

 was built, after long watching the parent birds flying with food 

 for the young. I stood below the tree trying to locate the nest 

 with my binoculars for some time before I became aware 

 that in the field of view was one of the parent birds perched on 

 a straight dead branch immediately above the nest. The branch 

 and bird were both in a perpendicular position, and the bird 

 kept motionless, stretched out to its utmost length, with the beak 

 pointed upwards, and could very easily have been overlooked. 

 I have not read of this protective pose of the Ground 

 Graucalus. 



23rd September. — Found a Bronze-wing's {PJiaps chalcoptera) 

 nest, 5 feet from the ground, in a stinkwood bush. One egg 

 was in the nest, and the other on the ground, both having been 

 pierced in several places by some sharp instrument, and as a 

 fine lace lizard (iguana) was near the foot of the bush I took it 

 to be the egg-destroyer. About lOO yards distant was another 

 nest of the Bronze-wing, built about 25 feet from the ground in 

 the fork of a sheoak tree. 



On 1 2th October a Bronze-wing Pigeon flew from the hollow 

 spout of a large white gum tree, and on exploring the hollow I 

 found there were two incubated eggs. The male bird was sitting. 

 This laying in holes was a new experience to me, and I do not 

 find it mentioned in ornithological works. 



