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THE AUSTRALIAN MUSEUM MAGAZINE. 



He became silent, but did 

 not leave his perch on a 

 liigh bough. When nest- 

 ing cares are over, this 

 noisy and assertive fellow 

 becomes quiet and peace- 

 ful ; he is seen far more 

 often than he is heard. 



Concerning the nutmeg 

 pigeon {Myristicivora spi- 

 lorhoa), I can say little 

 from personal observa- 

 tion, for only the fore- 

 runners of the flocks had 

 arrived among the islands 

 when I departed south. 

 But my host told me that 

 the days of migrating 

 multitudes had gone, ])er- 

 haps for ever. This splen- 

 did species, once so ama- 

 zingly abundant, is threat- 

 ened with the fate that befell the pas- 

 senger pigeon of America. Nutmeg or 

 Torres Strait pigeons have been ruth- 

 lessly slaughtered for "sport"' in the 

 nesting season, on the Barnard Islands 

 and other haunts of the species. 



In his last letter to me, Mr. Banfield 

 urged the need for strong measures 

 to "save the nutmeg pigeon."* He 

 Avas ever ready to champion Avild birds, 

 and, in North Queensland, no one has 

 done more in the cause of protection. 

 I know that he had fears for the future 

 of other birds besides the nutmeg pigeon, 

 From his own island sanctuary some 

 forms have disappeared, or become 

 rare, notably pigeons and sea birds. 

 Various destructive agencies are res- 

 ponsible, including a cyclone, when the 

 tern rookeries were Avrecked by a raging 

 sea. But the man with the gun must 

 answer for the pigeons' scarcity. 



BEACHCOMBING. 



Day after day we walked abroad, 

 my host and I, and I learned a little 

 of the gentle art of beachcombing. 

 We paraded the beach in Brammo Bay, 

 from the boatshed to the point, some- 

 times gazing over the water, but more 

 often with bowed heads, scanning 



* Before he died, his efforts to gain pro- 

 tection for the pigeons were crowned with 

 success, I believe. 



Nest and egg of the White-capped Noddy (Anous leucocapillus). 

 These birds nest in thousands among the Capricorn Isles. 



[Photo. — C. Barrett. 



the sand for shells and any strange 

 creatures that the sea had forsaken. 

 Our harvest was poor one morning, 

 and rich the next. On the western 

 beaches, in our longer rambles, Ave 

 gleaned nuts and hard shelled seeds, 

 that had drifted from other isles. And 

 here we saw many birds, reef-herons, 

 and noddies and other terns. None 

 of the sea birds was nesting, l)ut the 

 croaking call of a white -capped noddy 

 {Anous minutus) brought to memory 

 the scene on Masthead Island, where, 

 in early summer, these dainty little 

 sea-swallows have thousands of nurser- 

 ies among the Pisonia trees. Bare- 

 footed, like my friend, I went on little 

 " coastal "' journeys ; but, wading over 

 the reef at low tide, I found even stout 

 rubber soles a poor protection ; coral 

 fangs cut the soles to pieces. Bare- 

 legged, but leather-booted, reef roam- 

 ing became a very pleasant occu- 

 pation. Mr. Banfield knew Brammo 

 Bay "like a book," and he guided me 

 to favorite spots in his tropic sea 

 garden. We saw wonderful corals and 

 shells, and a host of curious animals, 

 including a mantis -shrimp, which, cap- 

 tured after a chase through shallows, 

 now has a home in the Austrahan 

 Museum. In the reef pools, sea-slugs 

 or beche-de-mer (Holothurians) were 

 seen crawling over the sand. Some, 



