THE TASMANIAN NATURALIST. 
Mr. T.ylney Cotton, two others, find 
myself started in n whaleboat to reacn 
the banks in Moulting Lagoon, 25 miles 
'distant, where the shooting takes place. 
In an hour or two we crossed the bat 
of the Swan River, which wu iMIlicult 
to It ml as it is a'lWayis shallow and «hif:s 
its position. The tide was running 
strongly out of Moulting Lagoon tnrough 
the narrow channel of the river, and as 
the wind,was unfavourable, we had to 
start rowing. Some little way up the 
river We landed, find had lunch, ana a 
much appreciated rest of about an hour, 
when we got into the boat again, ami 
after pulling a little further were aide 
to sail. The Swan River soon broadened, 
but kept a tortuous channel, with ex¬ 
tensive shallows first on one -nie and 
tensive shallows first on one side ami then 
on the other. What numbers of birds 
were to be seen noiv. Flocks , f twenty, 
forty, or fifty white-fronted hot oils rose 
continually from the mini flats. Many 
white-breasted, and a few sooty, oyster- 
catellers were there too, with several 
species of petrels am) terns flying up 
and down; the latter were chiefly tlv; 
Hass Straits’ tern, and two ot these, 
living just ahead of the hoi I, where 
secured for specimens, proving on close 
examination to be a young binl and an 
old one; the hitter measured 4ft. lin. 
in full wing measurement, and hi. 7.?in. 
from tip of bfil to end cf 1 ail. The 
former was slightly smaller; the feathers 
of the crown were not so lark as with 
the mature bind, and it had brown spots 
on the tips of its wing covert? The light 
bluish bodies, dark heads, nnd brightly 
coloured hills of these graceful birds 
make them very attractive. Of other 
species noted were the four kinds cf 
cormorants found in Tasmania. Amongst 
their innumerable resorts, the lacific 
and silver gulls consider this place witn 
favour, the latter gulls being seen in big 
flecks, and the harsh cries of file former 
were constantly heard as they were 
(lying along. The Pacific gulls are 
scheduled amongst our protected birds, 
yet they worry the black swans con¬ 
siderably, and devour their eggs if tin* 
swans leave their nests for a licit? 
time. Several hawks, both brown and 
sivainp, were seen on the .ving, and also 
a wedge-tailed eagle, while on a large 
dead tree were throe sea eagles, together 
with other birds. Several t ill white ob¬ 
jects eon'll be seen in tbe distance, which 
my companions said were pelicans, am! 
on approach these were identified as 
such; although the boat could not g-d 
close to them. When disturbed they 
flew high in the air, and their large bills 
and tinroa ts could fee distinctly noticed. The 
pelicans were formerly mere numerous, 
and through being seen at certain places 
more frequently than at others, the 
name “Pelican Rocks’’ has been given to 
a ridge stretching .across the mouth oi 
Pelican Bay, one of the first bays rant 
in sailing up .Swan River. P.iican Biy 
is on the north-east side of Swan River, 
and here the first black swans (Cherropis 
at rata) were seen. On the other side 
of the river a few miles higher up 
is King’s Bay, extending probably 
for some four miles at least. The 
whole shir, i f King’s Bay was lined 
fairly thickly with swans, and this bay 
is only one of many where these birds 
are to be found in numbers. Above 
King’s Bay, Moulting Lagoon narrows 
somewhat being perhaps two miles 
broad, and here is the lower bank, 10 
miles from the mouth of Swan River. 
This bank is under about 1 Sin. of water 
— tin- navigable ehanncl being in the 
middle—an I the swan shooters line the 
bank from shore to shore, standing in 
the water. There were many wild ducks 
of various species about, and very large 
flocks of them were seen. During the 
shooting on the opening day they were 
flying overhead, but very high, anil it 
was said local residents had been shoot¬ 
ing them for three or four weeks pre¬ 
viously to the opening of the season. 
We camped o a Thursday night a few 
miles below the bank above referred to, 
and to save time on the following morn¬ 
ing did not put up the tent, hut spread 
it out upon the ground, putting our rugs 
upon this, and covered all with the tent- 
fly. In this way we were comfortable 
enough, nnd had a fair amount of rest. 
The crews of two other boats were 
camping near by, while further up 
wile more parties. Before daybreak 
on Friday, February 1. we were astir, 
and were having the morning meal as 
the sun rose. We had to wait some 
little time for the others, but made a 
start shortly after 5 a.m. The bank 
was some three miles away direct, yet 
the winding channel made it at least 
twice that distance to row; while a little 
way below the bank reports of several 
guns drew our attention to a few figures 
there, and one or two dark objects fall¬ 
ing with a splash into the water told 
that the first birds of the day were now 
.shot. At 7 o'clock our party reached 
the bank, and, taking their guns and am¬ 
munition, stepped into the water and 
waded towards the shore, extending imo 
•a line across the lagoon; and when the 
remaining boats had come up there were 
44 shooters stretched across at intervals 
of SO yards or so. It was learnt on 
arrival that one boat of “rousers” had 
been sent tip the bays, so our party sent 
another downstream, in the endeavour 
to keep the swans continually on the 
move, and, as they always keep above 
(7) 
