q5 Stray Feathers. [ 



Emu 

 ist Oct. 



"Many a year has come and gone since we first knew 

 Heidelberg, and listened to the Bell-Birds pealing their chime 

 of wood-notes wild from the huge eucalypts which, in the days 

 of Batman and Fawkner, fringed the banks of the winding 

 stream. Below the town still flows the Yarra, perennial as of 

 yore, fed by mountain streams and unfailing rivulets. But how 

 changed are the woods and fields and the reed-fringed lagoons 

 which in earlier days followed its winding course. The girdling 

 reed-beds which sheltered the wild-fowl have disappeared before 

 the encroaching live stock. A bare pond-like outline alone 

 remains where once lay the mysterious mere — haunt of the 

 Bittern, the Heron, the Ibis, and the Pied Wild Goose." — ROLF 

 BOLDREWOOD, The Australasian, Melbourne, 13th June, igo8. 



More about Cormorants v. Fishes. — I was much interested 

 in Mr. Mattingley's paper on " Cormorants in Relation to Fishes," * 

 and agree with him that the harm done by these birds is altogether 

 over-estimated. Fishermen are too prone to attribute the depletion 

 of the fishing beds and streams to the depredations of the Cormorant. 

 They will not admit that the shoals of fish taken in the nets from 

 these same fishing grounds have anything to do with the diminution 

 of their numbers. They simply scout the idea. The whole of the 

 blame is laid upon the poor defenceless bird, and the exaggerated 

 tales of its misdeeds are accepted without question by most folk, 

 either because they have no opportunities of observing the bird's 

 habits, or do not take the trouble to investigate for themselves. 

 It is man all the time who is responsible for the decrease in 

 numbers of the fish. In Tasmania there are many inland streams 

 never visited by a Cormorant, yet a wise Fisheries Board of 

 Commissioners have found it necessary to restock the streams with 

 ova and fry to prevent them being a useless asset, so far as angling 

 is concerned. Our fishermen complain of the growing scarcity of 

 the fish on the East Coast — blame the Cormorants, of course. On 

 the West Coast fish are abundant, but the West is rough and 

 stormy, and seldom is it safe for the fishing boats to venture there. 

 The East, on the contrary, is sheltered, and the waters are calm, 

 consequently, the fishing craft are always along the Eastern Coast. 

 The Cormorants are equally as numerous on the western shore as 

 on the eastern. Why, then, are fish more abundant at the former 

 place if the Cormorant is such a destroyer as they would have us 

 believe ? It is almost useless trying to vindicate the bird — one 

 invariably meets with ridicule. Few have a good word for the 

 " Shag," as it is commonly termed ; it is the most despised of birds. 

 With a companion I cycled to a swamp, some 12 miles from town, 

 to observe Musk-Ducks, but we were unsuccessful in our quest. 

 An old fence runs through the centre of the swamp, which covers 



* Emu, vol. viii., p. 18. 



