THE VICTORIAN NATURALIST. 125 



(12) Close by a belt of scrub we heard the wailing cry of the 

 Australian Thick-knee ((Edicnemus grailarius), the so-called 

 Southern Stone Plover, or Curlew, and its two eggs were found 

 laid on the bare ground. They were not easily detected, being 

 of a similar colour to their surroundings ; but their young, which 

 lie perfectly still on being frightened, are more difficult still to 

 find. 



The Pomatostomus ( Pomatostomus superciliosus ), or Barking 

 Birds, were very numerous about here, and their bulky nests 

 plentiful on the bull-oaks and thick shrubs. (13) The one shown 

 was built near the top of a Eucalyptus sapling, close by the river 

 bank. These active little birds go about in small flocks of about 

 twelve, and they generally alight on the lower branches of a bush, 

 and hop from branch to branch till they reach the top, when off 

 they go again to do the same thing on another. Like the 

 Corcorax, they all seem to help in building the nests, and on a 

 small tree I have seen as many as five, which were built about 

 the same time ; the birds frequently roost at night in them, as I 

 have on several occasions disturbed two or three old birds in a 

 nest after dark. The two dark brown eggs were too far in to 

 show in the picture. 



That lively little bird, the White-shafted Fantail (Rhipidura 

 albiscapaj, was occasionally seen in scrubby places, and one of 

 their nests (15) was found on the branch of a small shrub on the 

 river bank. All the Fantails seem to use cobwebs, more or less, 

 for covering the outside of their nests. 



On the topmost branches of a dead tree a pair of White-eyed 

 Crows (CoTvus coronoides) had built their nest (16) and reared 

 their two young ones, which at the time of my visit were just 

 ready to fly ; but my black companion was anxious to secure 

 them, so he climbed up the tree as far as the strength of the 

 boughs permitted him, and then cut the branch with the nest on 

 down ; the young bird?, flying to the ground, were easily secured. 



On several occasions we saw the nests (17) of the Grallina, or 

 Magpie Lark (Grallina picataj, and their mud nests were always 

 built near the water, and frequently on a branch overhanging the 

 stream. The nest shown was built on a dead branch, and it is 

 not often that one is found built on a bough with so much incline, 

 and the wonder is that it was not blown off". The old nests are 

 occasionally used by other birds to build their nests in. 



The next view (18) shows the nest of the Wattled Honey-eater 

 (Anthochcera carunculata), built near the top of a bull-oak ; it 

 looked very pretty, with the two pink-coloured eggs. The birds 

 had lined their nests with sheep's wool and feathers. Another 

 nest of the same bird is here shown (19), which I found in a 

 very thick Melaleuca bush, growing close to the water's edge, and 

 I had some difficulty in taking a photograph of it, although it 



