THE BIRDS OF AUSTRALIA. 
Eggs. Clutch five to seven, smooth and glossy in texture, ground-colour pale green, 
minutely spotted over the entire surface with brown dots, with a few large, bold 
blotches of chestnut-brown, as well as paler underlying spots of a lavender -grey. 
Axis 43 to 46 mm ; diameter, 29 to 32. 
Breeding season. October to January or February ; one clutch taken at Cooper’s Creek 
20th June, 1887 (Campbell) ; July and August (Carter). 
The appearance of this bird, suddenly in large numbers, has been recorded by 
many writers. Sturt* mentions it, writing: “The line on which this bird migrates 
seems to be due north. It was never seen at the Depot, or in any of the creeks 
to the west, excepting Stizelechi’s Creek, and a creek we crossed on our way to 
Lake Torrens, when on both occasions they were migrating southwards.” 
Mr. J. P. Rogers, writing form Wyndham, North-west Australia, on 
November 25th, 1908, says : “ These birds are in small flocks on the banks 
of some of the swamps. In April, 1909, they all disappeared, the last being 
seen on the 14th.” 
Mr. P. T. Sandland says that it only appears near Morgan, in South Australia, 
after very heavy rain, and never stops for more than a week or two. 
Mr. Tom Carter sends me the following note from North-west Australia : 
“ This species was very common in wet seasons, almost every little water hole 
having some feedmg round it. The birds appear all at once and vanish almost 
as suddenly. And although great numbers remain for some months in some 
seasons, comparatively few appear to breed. Several clutches of eggs were 
observed between July 13th and August 3rd in different years. Seven was the 
greatest number of eggs seen in a nest. Immediately after the heavy rain 
which terminated the drought of 1894 to 1897, countless thousands of these birds 
appeared at Geraldton, and although some of the corn fields were absolutely 
black with their numbers, they were very wary and not easy to shoot.” 
Captain S. A. White says : “ This bird visits us in South Australia once 
in every few years, coming from the North and remainmg generally from July 
to November. Their food seems to consist almost entirely of vegetation, grass, 
thistles, etc. I have never known them to nest down South.” 
Mr. Charles Belcher observes : “ The distribution of this species in Victoria 
depends almost entirely on the wetness of the season. When water becomes 
plentiful, this species is one of the first of the larger water-fowl to appear in 
any numbers. Riverina must be looked on as its stronghold in Southern 
Australia, whence it makes excursions into the drier parts whenever the season 
is sufficiently good. In the County of Rodney (Victoria) it makes its appearance 
yearly in the month of October, probably flying at night, for though great numbers 
are seen running along the irrigation channels and dams, during the day time the 
♦ Narr. Exped. Centr. Austr., App., p. 54 (1849). 
228 
