18 
The Queensland Naturalist. 
VoL. 2 
and his amusement. His flight always reminds me of a 
sea bird, not a land bird ; wings long, well out, and rounded. 
On a small scale I liken him to a petrel like the Cape pigeon. 
Cranes I have not seen, and then we come to Order 12 — 
Ardeiformes. Here I know well the straw-necked Ibis, 
friend of the farmer, foe to grasshoppers, and all the insect 
tribe. Two waders, Herodias alba and Ardea novce-hollandice , 
are common. One is the White Egret and the other the 
Blue Crane. The egret I have only seen in the winter, but 
the blue crane both winter and summer. How they love 
stalking about the shallow pools. Their elegance, their 
dignified carriage, the ornament they are to our rivers, 
should save them alive, but man with a gun and a lust for 
useless slaughter is stronger than any love of beauty or 
fair play. 
A friend of mine has seen the Jabiru— not the Jabber- 
wock— on the river, but so far my only view of this noble 
bird was at Caloundra one fine Sunday morning. 
Order 13 is Anseriformes — Ducks and Geese. The 
Black Swan is here (rarel) ) shot at sight, as the only one we 
had here this spring was. Useless slaughter of a noble 
bird ! Mobs of Black Duck are very common, but hard to 
shoot. Their call note rings out clear during the night at 
odd times. 
Under Pelccaniformes. We have two Coimorants. if 
not three, the Australian Darter and the Pelican. The two 
black cormorants, little and big, and the white-breasted, are 
to be seen on every snag and dead branch. You see also the 
Darter, the sole one in Australia, sitting even in the live 
blue gums. I saw two pelicans, full-grown, sitting on a log 
early one morning. Both cormorants and darter spread 
their wings and remain so for hours, sunning and drying 
themseh'es. This sun bath is their sole amusement early 
in the day. They let us bathe some 200 yards away, and 
take no notice. 
Of the Diurnal Birds of Prey, Eagles. Falcons and Hawks. 
I have nothing to sav. Now and again yon see them wheeling 
in the blue, or hovering or harrying, but they are not common, 
and save tlie Kestrel or Harrier, hard to diagnose even with 
glasses. The sole Nocturnal Bird of Prey I know about here 
is Ninox Boobook, the Boobook Owl. whose Morepork 
note has been credited to the Podargus, a far-removed bird. 
The native Boobook is a far toner call note any time than 
Morepork. 
Next we have the Psittaciformes, the Parrot order. 
Australia can boast of her parrots as well as her pigeons. 
She comes easily first in the world so far as I know in both 
these big orders. The scarlet-shouldered parrot, Ptistes 
