216 



THE AUSTRALIAN MUSEUM MAGAZINE. 



There being an absence of trees for many 

 miles, a crow builds its nest on a tele- 

 graph pole. 



I Photo.— H. O. Fletcher. 



A iiuiuber of very peculiar nesting- 

 places of crows were noted and photo- 

 gra])hed, nests being found built on the 

 iron standards carrying the wires of 

 the Trans- Australian Telegraph, which 

 spans Australia from Adelaide to 

 Darwin. No doubt the crows thought 

 these ideal posi- 

 tions, as trees are 

 few and far be- 

 tween in that dis- 

 trict. The 

 smoothness of 

 the poles also af- 

 forded the birds 

 and their homes 

 great protection 

 against possible 

 raids by small 

 mammals, go- 

 anas and other 

 reptiles which 

 are known to be 

 fond of eggs. 



When crossing 

 one of the larger 

 bridges we were 

 astonished to see 

 a crow fly from 

 almost under the 



trolley, and, on stoj^ping to investigate, 

 we found to our great surprise that the 

 bird had almost completed building a 

 nest on a sleeper between the two lines. 

 Whether the nest was ever completed 

 we cannot tell, but probably, after the 

 bird had survived the experience of a 

 train thundering over the line, it thought 

 less of its choice, and hurriedly left for 

 a quieter and safer position. 



After walking a distance of about 

 three miles we arrived on the shore of 

 the lake, and, much to our surprise, 

 found that although we sank in the 

 salt crust and mud for a few inches, it 

 held our weight and allowed us to walk 

 almost a quarter of a mile into the lake. 

 As the water was only a few inches 

 deep and did not appear to get any 

 deeper, no attempt was made to float 

 either of our boats. After getting a 

 number of water sanijjles for the Mel- 

 bourne University, we returned to 

 Maree. 



LAKE LETTY. 



Hearing from residents of Maree that 

 a large number of birds were to be seen 

 at Lake Letty, a freshwater lake about 

 fifteen miles from the town, we decided 

 to make an excursion there. Getting 

 provisions for a week's stay, we made 

 arrangements with the camel team 



On the shore of South Lake Eyre. The foreground is salt, not sand. 



[Photo. — S. M. R. Sharland. 



