TAWNY FROGMOUTH. 
Securing a long stick from the ground, I endeavoured to push the Podargus off 
the nest, but it stubbornly refused to move. Of course, had I used it roughly, 
no doubt it would have flown, but I did not wish to hurt this curious creature. 
While engaged with the stick I noticed a curious fact. The bird took scarcely 
any notice of the stich, but all the time kept its great staring eyes on my face. 
It made no attempt to peck at the former. My next action was to climb along 
the limb to the nest and see if I could handle the owner. I had scarcely started, 
when the Podargus raised itself on its short legs. It had worked itself at last into 
a perfect furv* Extended to its full height, with wings outstretched and its 
large yellow eyes glaring with looks of deadliest hatred and enmity, it looked 
a perfect picture of defiance. I was filled with admiration, and sadly regretted 
the absence of a camera. Suddenly it left its nest and came at me like an arrow. 
The unexpectedness of the attack nearly knocked me out of the tree, and 1 
‘ ducked ’ involuntarily. However, the bird merely brushed me with its wing 
as it passed and, settling on a limb of an adjacent tree, called ‘ oom, oom ’ several 
times, glaring at me the while. It did not renew the attack, however. Passing 
the spot several hours later, I noticed the bird had not returned to its nest and 
young.” 
Mr. Christian wrote from Victoria : “ P. strigoides is not very common 
here, but I see it now and again. In its flight it is very swift and noiseless. 
It is a very valuable bird, eating large moths, mice and many other noxious 
things. It \vill lie along a bough, and then it looks like a lizard or an iguana. 
The greyness of its feathers, especially when it is young, resembles a small 
broken twig. It wiU sit bolt upright in a fork during the day for hours, and 
many would pass it for part of the tree.” 
Mr. T. H. Tregellas, from Hawthorn, Victoria, noted : “ During the season 
I have had eight nests under observation. A peculiar thing in connection with 
the nests I noticed was that whilst in the Ringw'ood district the nests were the 
merest platforms and barely sufficient to retain the eggs or young, those found 
in the coastal district around Frankston were much larger, hollowed out Ifl^e a 
dish, and lined with leaves of the eucalyptus. At Wonga Park, near Ringwood, 
I heard the Podargus calling repeatedly through the night, and early next 
morning went to the gully whence the calls came and saw the old bir^ sitting 
on two newly-fledged young. I had a laborious climb to this nest and took 
photos of it and the young. Returning a fortnight later I was amazed to find 
the young not half grown, and the conviction was forced on me that it was the 
precarious living that retarded their growth. I think that, being fed only at 
night, and on some nights very httle on account of the scarcity of insect food, 
they had been kept back in their development. Another nest I found was a 
very primitive structure of rough sticks with no lining, and held two eggs in an 
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