August, 1932 TEe Queensland Naturalisf l GM RDlffit 
Bp — : " ' “ . -• ah'd ’ 
A FEW BIRD NOTES. 
(By G. II. Barker.) 
It is not necessary apparently to go into the bush 
these days to get interesting bird notes, as this week in 
Wilston, a populated suburb of Brisbane, my wife and I 
have had two curious experiences. Our house stands on 
the skyline on the western slopes of Eildon Ilill and is 
surrounded by trees, mainly weeping figs. Nearly every 
year about this time we are visited by a Rufous Fantail 
(7 ikipidiim rufifrons ), evidently on his way south for the 
winter. This in itself is curious, as we are nowhere near 
timber and scrub country, and therefore this little bird is 
a long way off his beaten track. However, this visit nearly 
came to be his last, as by some mischance he became 
tangled in some strong spider webbing in one of the weep- 
ing figs. My wife, attracted by his persistent calls, 
found him suspended bv the tail, hanging head downwards 
and quite helpless hi one of the trees near the verandah, 
ft was an easy task to pull down the branch and liberate 
the little fellow and lm was placed in the aviary to rest 
and clean himself. When liberated iiv the evening hr 
appeared none the worse for his adventure and flew off 
quite strongly. 
The second incident concerned a Podargus (alias 
Tawny Frogmouth, alias Mopoke). We were driving 
along through the suburb of Wilston, which thereabouts is 
well peopled. The particular street is a two-level 
one and has a guard rail between the levels and on the rail 
the bird must have been sitting, Our headlights evidently 
confused him and as the car approached he dashed at the 
lights. What happened, however, was that he flopped in 
behind the windscreen, knocking mv wife’s glasses off and 
bumping into me and then subsided on the floor between 
our feet. On stopping a little further on T picked him up 
and held him out clear of the ear, when off he went' with- 
out apparently any damage. 
A REQUEST TO COUNTRY MEMBERS. 
In connection with the course in veterinary parasit- 
ology at the University, an attempt is being made to make 
as large a collection as possible of the ectoparasites of 
birds and animals. T am writing this in the hope that 
some of the country members of the club will see their way 
clear to assist me, and I* can assure you that such assist- 
ance will be most welcome. A minor hope is that some 
member will become permanently interested in the subject 
which is a particularly intresting field for naturalists. 
