258 AUSTRALIAN AND TASMAN1AN ANIMALS 



plumes, or " ospreys." A local naturalist, Mr. A. H. Mattingley, has given the 



following account of a visit to an egret-colony which had heen recently raided 



by a party of these plume-hunters. The writer had visited the spot some months 



previously, when all was well, but on revisiting the place at Christmas it soon 



became evident that mischief had been done. "As we drew nearer, what a 



spectacle met our gaze — a sight that fairly made my blood boil with indignation. 



There, strewn on the floating water-weed, and also on adjacent logs, were at least 



fifty carcases of large white and smaller plumed egrets — nearly one-third of the 



colony, perhaps more — the birds having been shot off their nests containing 



young. . . . There were fifty birds ruthlessly destroyed, besides their young 



(about 200) left to die of starvation ! This last fact was betokened by at least 



seventy carcases of nestlings . . . which had fallen from the nests into the water 



and been drowned ; while in the trees above the remainder of the nestlings could 



be seen staggering in the nests." Some of these unfortunates fell from time to 



time into the water, others died of inanition as they sat, while yet others stretched 



out their necks in the vain attempt to attract the attention of others of their own 



kind as they flew by with food in their beaks. 



Next to cassowaries and emeus the tallest bird in Australia is the Asiatic 



black -necked jabiru stork (Xenorhynchus asiaticus), the young of which are 



remarkable for the long period they remain in the nest. On August 30, 1908, a 



nest, at first supposed to be that of a sea-eagle, was descried high up in the scrub 



by a local naturalist, and was found to form a large flat structure composed of 



long, trailing shore-grass, and placed on a mass of creepers strong enough to bear 



the weight of the birds if they got out. It contained three young jabirus, judged 



to be about a fortnight old, which lay flat on the base of the nest, and made no 



attempt to move when handled. On September 6 and 13 other visits were 



paid to the nest, which was again inspected four weeks later, on October 11, 



when a successful photograph was obtained of the three young birds standing on 



their lofty platform. By this time they were nearly fully fledged, and it was 



judged that they would be able to fly by the end of the month, when they would 



be about three months old. 



Foremost and most striking amono- Australian water-birds is the 

 Water-birds. . T . . 



black swan (Cygnus atratus), discovered by Willem de Vlammg in 



1697 in the estuary of the Swan River of Western Australia. Despite its name, 



this swan is not, however, wholly black, since its flight-feathers are snowy white ; 



but these are seldom seen, as the birds generally endeavour to escape from danger 



by swimming rapidly rather than by flight. A far more remarkable type is the 



Cape Barron goose (Gereopsis novce-hollandice), the sole representative of its genus, 



and now rare on the mainland, although still common in Tasmania and the smaller 



islands. A greyish bird, with black spots on its wings, red feet, black toes, and 



a sulphur-yellow beak with a black spot, this goose is specially characterised by 



its short, arched, and truncated beak, covered at the base with a waxy skin, and 



its long legs. Swimming slowly, and flying heavily, the Cape Barron goose 



spends much more of its time on land than in the water. A third notable type in 



this group is the half -winged goose (Anseranas melanoleucus, or semi-palmata) 



conspicuous from its pied plumage, and oftener seen among trees than on the 



