11 
ORNITHOLOGICAL NOTES 
By Clive E. Lord, Member of the Royal Australian Ornithologists’ Union. 
The bill'll life observed during the re¬ 
cent camp was more interesting ram} 
that observed for several Easters. Mad 
the weather been brighter the species ob¬ 
served would doubtless have been greater 
in number, owing both to the fact that 
the in habitants of the bird world would 
have been more in evidence, and also 
that excursions would have been organis¬ 
ed to many more places in (lie district 
in addition to those that were visited. 
During the voyage down she various gulls 
and terns were noticed, but as these are 
practically cosmopolitan ,-pecies no dis- 
thict record of them will be made. It is 
only proposed to deni with the birds no- 
diced in the locality of the camp. As lie 
were rowing ashore from the steamer seve¬ 
ral penguins (E. minor) were noticed 
sporting in the waters of the bay, while 
on the sand-spit at the entrance to Cnpps 
Creek numbers of Pacific and silver gall- 
were to be seen. The .Pacific gulls con¬ 
sisted of both young and old birds, the 
brown plumage of the young falling far 
below the black and white plumage ot 
the adult birds. M takes three years be¬ 
fore the brown plumage gives place to 
the adult colouration. The graceful form 
of the heron US’, novae-iwdlnmliae) was 
observed perched on a tree overhanging 
the creek, while a few grey teal (N. gib- 
berifrons were Hushed from a reedy 
lagoon. Their flight aroused some cor¬ 
morants, both the black (F. carbo) and 
the white-breasted (P. gouldii, mid these 
wheeled overhead and then made for the 
sea, where the gannets (S. australis) were 
divine in great numbers. Along the ridge 
of the 1.ills the king of Ilia air, the wedge¬ 
tailed eagle (IT. aiuiaxi gracefully glided, 
while aenss the lower co mtry the flight 
of a brown lwiwk (H. berigorn) was 
noticed. ,, „ „ 
During tie evening the cry of more- 
pork” could be heard around the camp. 
For man v veers a discussion existed con - 
eerning which bird uttered this cry. 'the 
bird commonly called the "mui-epork, ami 
known to ornithologists as the. trog- 
month (S. cuverii, was held responsible 
for the cry bv many people. Bird observ¬ 
ers afterwards proved that the spotted 
owl tN. uiaculatai) was the species respon¬ 
sible. My personal observations lead me 
to believe that both birds make the cry, 
•and with one or more of the nnctuirnal 
birds it is a case of mimicry. One niglit 
during this camp Messrs. Horde and 
Cole, bearing the cry moropork from 
the hills near (lie camp, imitated the 
bird, and induced him to leave the hill 
and come closer until lie was in the trees 
above the in* tent. They •state that the 
bird was certainly an owl and not a frog- 
month, but that it was much larger than 
the\ . maciilata, and almost, large enough 
to be the chestnut-faced owl (S. cast an ops). 
As tliev did not summon other observers 
or secure the bird for identification their 
experiment only enlarged the scope for 
discussion upon the nocturnal cry or 
“moreporlv” instead ol lessening it. 
The haish cry of the black cockatoo 
was heard as a lock flew over the < amp 
in the early morning. It might be Men¬ 
tioned that both this bird and the sp.no- 
tailed swift AC. wind acuta' are often 
spoken of as being lore tollers ot bad wea- 
tHer. We observed both the spec ies, and 
also bad some bad weather during our 
sojourn in camp. 
The travelling companion or the swiit, 
the welcome swallow ill. neoxena), was 
observed taking many trial flights, doubt¬ 
less to prepare it for the. long journey 
that lay ahead of it in the near future. 
Overhead in the gums the sharp note or 
the green parrot {i>. H a vent r is) could be 
heard, as well as the plaintive ‘tweet 
of the diamond birds. 
Three spec ies ot robins were ob-erved. 
The scarlet-breasted (P. leggi) appeared 
to be the commonest form, the others be¬ 
ing the Hame-breasted (I*, phoeni ea) and 
the dusky (A. vittata). The liquid notes 
of the grey-tailed whistier added to the 
charm of the locality, as well as the beau¬ 
tiful notes of' the whistling shrike thrush 
(('. selbi). The fantail (R. diemenensis) 
progressed around the camp with its 
erratic flight, while botl the vello\y tail 
(A. cbysovrlioa) and the jrown tail (A. 
diemenensis) were very common. 
The blue wren (M. long, and us), "which 
has lately been designated th’ long-tanled 
wren warbler, was much in evidence, 
while from some of the tussocks the field 
wren (<'. fuliginoaUR) was flushed. 
The honeyeaters were very ^numerous. 
Tire strong bill (M. validirostris) and the 
black cap (Al. mela no-cep halus) inhabited 
the eucalypti, while in the I nver vegeta¬ 
tion the spinehill (A. dubitis), the yellow- 
throat. (P. ftovigula). the crescent (L. aus¬ 
tral asi a nab the white-bearded (M. novae- 
hoilandiae) species were commonly to bo 
seen. The noisy miner (M. garni la) was, 
as usual, much in oral evidence, and to 
a lesser degree the yellow (A. maims) 
and the brush wattle bird (A. mellivomj. 
The raven (C. australis) was a common 
sight, while occasionally the black bill 
magpie (S. fuliginosai was observed, lhe 
grey butcher bird (C. cinereus) wns also 
seen, while our last memories of the 
camp are a.sso-ciated with the c-arols ox 
several magpies (G. organicum), who or¬ 
ganised a farewell concert on our behalf. 
17/2933 Mercury, Hobart. 
