Emu 



Q02 Correspondence. [21^"}' 



ornithology than the editors of The Emu. All they desire to 

 obtain are facts. They thank Mr. Carter for his correction 

 regarding the finding of the bird, but they submit that the 

 criticism Mr. Carter particularly objects to is reasonable, which 

 time alone can prove, or otherwise. Mr. Carter must be aware 

 that the bills of the young of the TJialassogeron ( T. caiitus) which 

 breeds in Australian waters are dark, and that specimens of birds 

 and eggs of the Albatrosses of Gough Island were collected and 

 described as far back as 1895 {vide Verrill, Trans. Connect. Ac, 

 vol. ix.)— Eds.] 



Bird Observers^ Club. 



At the Athenaeum Hall, Melbourne, on 13th December, 1910, the Bird 

 Observers' Club gave a unique entertainment. A fine series of lantern slides 

 was displayed, illustrating the recent expedition of members of the Royal 

 Australasian Ornithologists' Union to the Capricorn Islands, at the southern 

 extremity of the Great Barrier Reef Mr. A. J. Campbell, C.M.B.O.U., 

 presided, and made a short introductory address. Mr. Chas. Barrett, hon. 

 secretary Bird Observers' Club, gave an account of the expedition, describing 

 different islands that were visited and the experiences of the naturalists in 

 camp and on reef and forest rambles. Mr. D. Le Souef, C.M.Z.S., dealt 

 with the bird life of the coral islands, and Mr. J. A. Leach, M.Sc. , gave a 

 most interesting account of the vegetation and of the life of the reef and 

 lagoon. He also touched on the theories regarding the formation of coral 

 islands. During an interval refreshments were served. Among those 

 present were : — Mr. F. Tudor, Minister for Customs ; Mr. N. C. Lockyer, 

 Acting Comptroller-General of Customs ; Mr. Theo. Fink and Miss Fink ; 

 Mr. J. W. Israel, Auditor-General, and Mrs. Israel ; Mr. J. A. Kershaw, 

 F.E.S., Curator of the National Museum, and Mrs. Kershaw ; Mr. W. A. 

 Kendall, M.R.C.V.S.; Mr. H. C. Dannevig, Director of Fisheries.— //^ra/^, 

 14/12/10. 



Under the auspices of the Bird Observers' Club, Mr. Edgar F. Stead, 

 R.A.O.U., delivered, at the Independent Hall, on i8th November, 1910, a 

 lecture on " Bird Life in New Zealand." Mr. A. H. E. Mattingley, C.M.Z.S., 

 presided, and there was a large attendance. Mr. Stead, who for many 

 years has been a student of the avifauna of the Dominion, illustrated his 

 lecture with a series of lantern slides from his own photographs, taken in the 

 wildest parts of New Zealand. Some of these pictures rival in interest and 

 beauty the best work of the Kearton Bros., in England, and Radcliffe 

 Dugmore, in the United States. Mr. Stead has undertaken so many 

 adventurous expeditions that he was able to relate stories not only of the 

 birds, but also of exciting incidents by flood and field. With two com- 

 panions he navigated, on a frail raft, whose floats were kerosene tins, several 

 of the big cascaded rivers of the South Island. He spoke of the Weka Rail, 

 the Kea, the Kiwi and other species, and told the story of his trip to an 

 almost inaccessible rock in the ocean, where the Spotted Cormorants nest. 

 Regarding the Kea, Mr. Stead stated that the bird does indeed kill sheep, 

 but is not nearly so black as it has been painted. Only when frozen out of 

 the mountains does it come seeking animal food in the lowlands and among 

 the foothills. The Weka Rail, he was pleased to note, was holding its own 

 against stoats and weasels. Mr. Stead was accorded a hearty vote of 

 thanks, on the motion of Mr. A. J. Campbell, Col. M. B.O.U., seconded by 

 Mr. D. Le Souef, C.M.Z.S., for his lecture. 



