Readers Nature Notes and Queries 



Maternal ffot0& 



This inle.-estmg note comes from 

 N|l , llihirv RaJl of Somes m Vie- 

 nna, 



A lortniuht aco it Voting man I know 

 Mill was drivtlU W work along a couti- 



„v load He saw a y<WBH magpie in 



llt „ihlc in the grass, lis parens were 

 *MChta from a pinctrec where he 

 tonc lude<J there tnust be a iwsl Be 

 . K ,p PL ,l and look it home lor his Chil- 

 ton wJli) wee ncH vet about. He told 

 hi* wife lo keep an eye on it ami hui- 

 iied awav. Very soon after, two uduh 

 maepies 'appeared, and perching on a 

 .,, : y i r.cc. von . brvd the situ: 

 ,j„ n Through the window of the 

 MKhcn .he following scene was qu.tc 



hJm had Hew down, It peeked and 

 peeked at the baek of the hahy's neck 

 IS ihom'h attacking it. Ote other bird 

 etched until the iirsl one pot a satis- 

 f.uloiv hold on the serutT of the nesk 

 mine' to lift it into the air. Of course 

 1 1, 0 squawking little one shot out its 

 wines, whereupon the other parent 

 SCtttd the neatCSI WMlg and ihey lifted 

 oil the gionnd and canicd il away, 

 the nest was about a mile away by 

 ,„r I wish 1 had seen il. ' . 



Have any other "held Nar- had 

 such luck'.' 

 AnIMtcr's Diet? 



Ellen Lyndon ol l.eoiigatha in Vic- 

 toria, supplied these two nature 

 notes. 



In il patch of low seruh by the road 

 $k near k'ongvw.k. in South O.pps- 



l.ind, last autumn, we disturbed an 

 1 ehidna, a big one. It had been pdkiflS 

 in loose .soil under a dark object in 

 the undctgiowth, a tuny patch that 

 piescntlv resolved itself into the car 

 case of a very defunct domestic cat. 

 hint; half out of the canon ill which 

 it had been hurled into Ihc bush. I hi.- 

 Anleatcr's lootings had scattered big 

 white blowfly larvae all around. Al- 

 though it did not dig in il ceased 

 operations and did not resume them 

 during the lime we wcie w.dching. so 

 we did not actually see it pick up any 

 Ihing. Ihc question js, (fid I'achvglossus 

 mistake those while grubs foi loVffUt£$ 

 or docs he enjoy a little sanation in 

 his diet when (he opportunity nlfcrs? 



Bird Hehnviur 



Walking home from the shops one 

 bright Minny alternoon recently, a taint 

 cheeping from the sky made me look 

 up to see two white hud*, lescmbling 

 &CaaullS coming in 1roni the south, a 

 little higher than the power lines Ihc 

 leader appeared lo be nearly exhausted 

 and somewhat battered, with leathers 

 misMiij: here and there. It called rcgu 

 larly and weakly. As they passed over 

 I >aw they were a pair of Bbck- 

 shouldcrcd Kites. 



They proceeded over the town, the 

 rearmost bird diving c.lten at the lead- 

 Iflg one which managed to evade it. 

 ifnallv they grappled and lell. locked 

 together, and rolled over and over out 

 ul Ihc sky just us if ihey had been 

 shot down, and disappeared from view 

 among the rooftops and shrubbery, 



Field Naturalists Club of Victoria 



ANNUAL MEETING 



The Annual Meeting will be held in the National Herbarium on 

 WEDNESDAY. 10 MARCH, 1971 



Writ 1971 



