THE BIRDS OF AUSTRALIA 
distinction is the white marks on the wing-coverts, which are pear-shaped, and as the 
bird advances in age, become narrow streaks, and finally disappear when the adult 
plumage is attained ; the white margins to the feathers of the lower flanks are also 
much more strongly pronounced. 
Nestling {ten days old).* Covered with black down, with a white spot on each side of 
the flank ; ear-coverts, silver-grey. 
Young {three weeks old).* Olive-brown above ; tail black ; head streaked with black ; chin 
white^ ; throat streaked with blackish and grey ; sides of the neck grey ; a stripe of 
blackish -brown down the middle of the under-surface, on both sides of which is grey • 
the tuft of feathers on the side, buff. 
Nest. Usually placed on the bank of a stream or lagoon. Made of tussocks pulled up by 
the roots and tramped down by the birds’ feet, and lined with soft reeds ” (Fletcher). 
Nggs. Clutch, six to nine. Smooth and slightly glossy ; stone-colour, minutely spotted with 
chestnut over the entire surface, with bolder blotching of the same colour and paler 
underlying markings, sparsely distributed. Axis, 59 mm. ; diameter, 39 to 41. 
Breeding Season. September, October, and November (Fletcher). 
Me.. Feank M. Littlee, of Tasmania, to whom I am indebted for skins of this 
species, sends me the following notes : ^ “ These birds are very common on the 
flats by the river. In September, 1904, two nests were found, one in the centre 
of a clump of broad-grass, some three feet from the water’s edge, composed 
entirely of grass stems ; its diameter was about a foot, and it contained seven 
eggs fairly well incubated. The second nest was also this season’s, but empty. 
It was placed on the top of a pile of rubbish some forty feet from the water, 
and was composed of the same material as the first. The birds ran about freely 
in the open, but were quite silent. Some of the birds among the reeds were making 
a noise like the low rumbling bellow of a bull heard from a distance. Some low 
grunting sounds also emanated from the same localities. They run in a very jerky 
fashion, the tail is jerked up and down, both when standing still and running. 
“ This species is distributed more or less over the greater part of the Island, 
being particularly plentiful where the nature of the country allows the 
formation of marshy land in the vicinity of slow-running streams and also where 
the land is devoted to agriculture. So plentiful is it in some districts that it is 
considered a pest, and every effort made to reduce its numbers by poisoning, 
trapping and shooting. No protection is afforded it under any Game Protection 
Act. It is during the breeding season that it becomes the greatest pest, for 
whenever practicable it constructs its nest as near as possible to a grain field, so 
that when hatching and rearing its young it may not have far to go for food. 
The havoc that it makes among young grain is very great. A small flock of 
Native Hens are capable of doing more damage in a given time than double the 
number of farmyard poultry. When a number of birds of this species are feeding 
in a grain field there is generally, if not always, one or more birds acting as 
* Given me by 3Ir. Swindells of Tasmania. 
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