When flying at only a moderate distance from the ground, the action of the wings is very laborious 

 and heavy, bul when soaring up in the blue atmosphere, the Native Companion moves most gracefully, 

 but its hoarse cry conies down to you with a harsh abruptness that is decidedly startling. 



The nests made by these birds are merely slight depressions on the bare plains; and sometimes the 

 low swampy lands in the neighbourhood are resorted to for the purpose of depositing the two eggs. They 

 are cream colour blotched all over, particularly at the larger end, with chestnut and purplish-brown, the 

 latter colour appearing as it' beneath the surface of the shell. Length, inches ; breadth, 2\ inches. 

 Should any daring intruder attempt to attack the eggs, these birds fight desperately in defence of their 

 property, and inflici Buch wounds with their sharp bills as induce him to beat a speedy and undignified retreat. 



The natural food includes insects, lizards, bulbous roots and other vegetable substances that are 

 sought for and torn from the earth by the aid of its powerful beak. 



The sexes are alike, except that the female is slightly smaller than the male. 



The genera] plumage, deep silvery-grey ; the feathers of the back, dark brownish-grey with silver- 

 grey edges; lesser wing-coverts, dark brown; primaries, black; crown of the head and bill, olive-green, the 

 bill becoming lighter towards the tip; hides, fine orange-yellow; raised papillae surrounding the ears and 

 back of the head, tine coral-red, passing into an orange tint above and below the eye, and becoming less 

 brilliant on the sides of the face, which together with the gular pouch is covered with fine black hairs, so 

 closely set on the latter as almost to conceal the red colouring of the skin ; upper part of the pouch and bare 

 skin beneath the lower mandible, olive-green; in old males the gular pouch is very pendulous, and forms a 

 conspicuous appendage; legs and feet, purplish-black. ((rould.) 



Habitats: (X.W.A.), Gulf of Carpentaria, Rockingham Bay, Port Denison, Wide Bay District, 

 Dawson River, G.B., Richmond and Clarence River Districts, New South Wales, Interior, Victoria and 

 South Australia, Tasmania. (Itamsay.) 



