26 [page number] 
[16 th October 1948] the others had either one or three young 
in them. The [?] nests were indescribably 
dirty as were the young themselves. One filthy 
nest was lined with young gum leaves and had 
a clean egg in it. It almost looks as if 
that was the first egg of a second brood. 
Also I found a Swan's egg lying 
chipped on the horizontal trunk of a gum 
just above water. It contained a well advanced 
but dead young one in it and was 
surrounded by other chippings of Swans eggs. 
It made me wonder if those eggs had been 
taken there by a Whistling Eagle (virtually the 
only bird of prey hereabouts) and that 
trunk formed a meal table, rather like 
that of a Swamp Hawk. 
I cruised round for a bit visiting 
trees and stumps but found nothing more 
of interest. The wind made the going hard 
as did water which came into the boat 
via many leaks, so I made for home 
for some mid-morning tea, after which 
believe it or not, I rested on my back 
