60 
The Queensland Naturalist. 
Feb., 1922 
concealed under a tussock of grass. A few days ago I 
found a nest of the latter bird, with two fat young ones 
almost ready to move out. 
A harsh note now breaks in from the Butcher-bird 
( Cracticus destructor ) , well known as Jacky. He sits on 
some bean-sticks and scolds — a saucy bird and one who has 
a great fancy for tiny chickens. I'm afraid I have had 
many shot, and mostly as they danced nimbly after a chick 
that had run out of the coop and from its mother’s pro- 
tecting wings. Jacky is well worth some attention for his 
cleverness. Once, when in the Central district, and bent on 
getting some sphinx moths that hovered round a honey- 
suckle creeper at dusk, I found that Jacky often got in first, 
and with his catch would fly away to his nest in some high 
brigalow trees. Later, I found him busily inspecting the 
honeysuckle and taking from the twigs green caterpillars 
of the sphinx tribe. It was during a mouse plague that 
we learned to appreciate Jacky, as for most of the day he 
and some fellow-workers could be seen flying down among 
the garden plants, and mice were soon seen on the railings 
and wire-netting — evidently -put there to “ripen” for future 
use. Later on, when the apricot tree shed its leaves, we 
were able to account for a former objectionable smell; 
skeletons of mice were to be seen in every available fork. 
The familiar Shepherd’s Companion ( Rhipidura mota- 
cilloides), of course, is not absent from the garden. In one 
of the large Pepperina trees near-by the mother bird is 
patiently sitting on her eggs, the second lot in the same nest. 
The first family was left very early to fend for themselves, 
their rusty-brown colour and the white mark on the head 
showing their youthful stage. In the same Pepperina the 
Magpie-Larks have two strong mud nests, and out on a 
further limb the beautiful little black and white Shrike* 
has its tiny cobweb nest built across a fork. Last summer 
also a pair of these birds — maybe the same two — built in 
this tree. In another Pepperina tree close by can be seen a 
nest of the “Grinder” ( Seisura inquiet a ), and though these 
birds are shy they are often about the garden and buildings, 
much like the Shepherd’s Companion. Nor is this the first 
season they have bred here. 
These different birds, all seeking the close vicinity of 
the homestead, are secure in their belief of the kindness of 
mankind and in the knowledge that their hated foe, the 
“goanna,” seldom, if ever, visits the locality. Even should 
one of these reptiles venture so close, the long teeth of the 
half-bred cattle-dog quickly ensure the safety of the won- 
derful little homes built so high among the swaying boughs. 
* White-shouldered Caterpillar-eater, Campephaga humeralis . — Eds. 
