the Tasmanian naturalist. 
mg round the sportsmen. When swans are 
hit hard, hut not killed outright, tiny 
lly with motionless, filigli.'tly drooping 
wings ever nearer the surface of the 
water, skim over it for a long way, and 
then settle, perhaps two miles away, 
am) swim further on. I counted eight or 
ten that thus got out of sight, it 
was said that the ' rousera” when return¬ 
ing would pick them up. At 0.30 a.m. the 
majority ceased tiring, and dragged their 
birds to tlie boats, where they were 
divided—some shooters having been out¬ 
classed in guns and skill had not a single 
bird, while several shot many more than 
they needed, so that no dead birds were left 
behind, am) all were made use of. In 
this respect these sportsmen proved 
themselves true, and were content when 
they had shot us many birds as they 
could easily dispose of, although had 
they been bent upon slaughter, uy stay¬ 
ing the day, many more must have beeii 
killed. During the rest of tile seasja 
the few small parties that go there .‘hoot¬ 
ing would not kill more swing than aie 
shot on the opening day. Perhaps eight; 
hundred or one thousand even, are hilled 
in each season. This would mean, say, 
ten taken out of a Hock of 500 as they 
were Hying past, ant) those cn the wing 
were only a small part of the swans 
left in the bays. Only the lower por¬ 
tion of Moulting Lagoon vvia traversed, 
and it is said that these bird-’, are even 
more numerous higher up. Unless the 
number of sportsmen who go there to 
shoot largely increases, there docs nor, 
appear to he much likelihood of the 
numbers of these birds being materially! 
reduced by this means. There is a real dan¬ 
ger, however, in the large numbers of eggs 
taken every season by' fishermen and 
local residents. Thousands are sent to 
-Melbourne confectioners. If vigorous 
action was taken in enforcing tue £ 1 
penalty for having an egg of the black 
swan in one’s possession, then there would 
certainly he no fear of this beautiful 
bird ever becoming extinct in Tasmania, 
or even becoming less in 'lumbers The 
birds nest in the shallows, and eggs may 
be found During nine or ter. mouths of 
the year. On the way both op and down 
the river cygnets were seen, ranging in 
age from a few weeks’ old upwards. 
When of full size the young swans remain 
for some time unable to lly, as their 
IMglit feathers are the last to glow; they 
are most prized for the table if 
they can he obtained when at this stage. 
In moulting, the primaries appear to ho 
shed at the one time, so that the birds 
are unable to fly; these are termed 
"moulters,” and It is a common practice 
to row or sail after these to capture 
i hem. Parents of young birds found 
li ning the open season are not shot, as 
they keep with their young, and «Jo not 
lly far from them, even on die approach 
of a boat. They do not join, until later, 
the large flocks which are shot at during 
the Drives, and are certainly left alone 
by the sportsmen. The return trip was 
coinmencd about 10 o’clock, and a favour¬ 
able wind enabled Us to sail most of the 
way. For several miles after leaving the 
hank dead, birds were occasionally seen, 
and one or two were picnc.1 up, the 
others bring left for later boats. About 
A YOUNG BLACK SWAN (Chenopis atrata). 
( 9 ) 
