188 Birds in the Melbourne Zoological Gardens.


same thing; there the Nankeen Herons ( N . griseus ) roost all day on

the trees in the Gardens, and at night go to the Nile swamps to

feed. Our birds usually go to the low-lying grounds and shallow

water near West Melbourne ; they leave the Zoo just at dusk.


The graceful Pied Grallinas, which assemble in flocks during

the winter, come from the districts around Melbourne into the

Zoological Gardens in the evening to roost, about an hour before

the Herons leave. Two pairs of wild Grallinas have for years nested

in the Zoo, but each pair has its own restricted area. The same

applies to two pairs of White-backed Magpies (Gymnorhina leuco-

nota), except that these birds have a battle royal should one pair

seek to poach on the other’s ground. On several occasions pinioned

Magpies were liberated in the Gardens, but they were all attacked

by wild birds sooner or later, as they unwittingly trespassed on their

area. They seemed to be frequently getting on the prohibited

ground of one pair or the other, and found it a difficult matter

when they were attacked by the wild birds. As they could not fly

away, they simply lay on their backs and fought with beak and

claws, often effectively.


Three pairs of Black-and-White Fantails (Bhigndura mota-

cilloides) nest in the Gardens, also many pairs of White-plumed

Honey-eaters, and these, also, each have their separate parts. All

these birds drive away their young as soon as they are able to look

after themselves ; therefore our wild breeding stock never increases.


In the Gardens there is a Queensland Cassowary (Casuarius

australis), which, when about seven years old, laid two eggs. Before

that it had always been regarded as a male bird, but the male and

female are practically identical in appearance. The same applies to

the Emu, but the male Emu drums and the female makes a grunting

noise, whereas Cassowaries are very silent birds, and one cannot,

therefore, easily identify the sexes by the sounds uttered.



