184 THE VICTORIAN NATURALIST. 



the dense thickets of high timber in them many birds were 

 nesting, and they included Spoonbills, Platibis flavipes, Aus- 

 tralian Egrets, Herodias timoriensis, Nankeen Herons, Nycti- 

 corax caledonicus, Glossy Ibis, Plegadis falcinellus, Pacific 

 Herons, Notophoyx pacifica, White-fronted Herons, Notophoyx 

 novcB-hollandice, Black Cormorant, Phalacrocorax carbo, Little 

 Black Cormorant, P. sulcirostris, Pied Cormorant, P. hypoleiicus, 

 and the White Ibis, Ibis molucca. Many of these birds nest 

 together in large rookeries in suitable localities, and often number 

 many thousands of birds, the Cormorants especially being 

 plentiful. Eggs of all the above have been taken by one and 

 another this season, but fortunately these nesting places are 

 difficult to get at, both in consequence of the boggy nature of 

 the ground and the way the water is obstructed with fallen 

 timber, to say nothing of the clouds of vicious mosquitos that 

 assail any who dare to invade their domains. 



Nankeen Herons generally build their stick nests high up in 

 eucalyptus trees, but last week I received an interesting letter 

 from my brother, Sherbourne Le Souef, in which he describes a 

 visit to a nesting colony of these birds on a small island off the 

 coast of Western Australia. I cannot do better than quote his 

 words, as I have never heard of these birds nesting in a similar 

 place before : — " We next went to what they told me was an Ibis 

 rookery, but the birds turned out to be Nankeen Herons, and as 

 we approached the island about a hundred birds rose up, and on 

 landing I soon came across the nests. There were eggs and also 

 young birds in all stages, but they required looking for, as they 

 were all built upon the ground and well hidden under thick 

 undergrowth. The nests were composed of a few sticks, lined 

 with roots and leaves, and were about a foot in diameter and 

 from one to two inches high. The average clutch was three, but 

 in one case I got five, and in two cases two eggs." 



But to return to Riverina. Cormorants were not often noticed 

 at the waterholes on the plains, but, curiously enough, these 

 holes or depressions frequently contain fish, even when they are 

 only filled by drainage from the plains, and have no connection 

 with any stream or overflow. The spawn of the fish is probably 

 carried on the feet of aquatic birds. We were shown a small 

 waterhole like those described, in which our informant said he 

 had found a bream weighing 5 lbs., which was floundering about 

 in the mud as the water dried up, and that the hole had only 

 had that supply of drainage water in for three years, as 

 before that it had been perfectly dry for a season. It shows 

 how fast the fish grew with the abundance of food it must 

 have had. The dried remains of other fish have often been 

 found in empty waterholes. This district has been subjected to 

 severe droughts of late years, consequently most of the Emus and 



