50 
NICHOLAS, A Trip to Central Australia. [!£ J ®g r n 
sight. Closely packed together upon the golden sands they 
looked like battalions of lilliputian soldiers in blue-grey uniform 
and red forage-caps; they made a wonderful picture. 
One night after sundown the sky was singularly beautiful, for 
this is the land of wonderful sunsets. The horizon was a band 
of purple for about 10 degrees, and above that was an equal 
layer of lighter violet, and the vault of the heavens showed a 
mackerel sky of pink-tinted clouds. Against this background 
the branches and leaves of the dark green Coolibahs with the 
tops of the trees a packed mass of birds were sharply silhouetted. 
For a few moments the waters of the lagoon reflected the colour 
of the upper strata, turning the surface to a rose pink, a com¬ 
bination of colours that requires to be seen to be appreciated. 
The darkness comes rapidly in these latitudes. The sun sets 
at six, and it is dark at half-past. The Galahs have settled to 
sleep with many wranglings and recriminations, and quietness 
reigns over the lagoon. Later the moon rises, casting deep 
shadows, and the stars are reflected in the pool. Some of the 
wild fowl feed during the night, and Avocets, Stilts, and Grebes 
call their shrill notes. Towards midnight, falls a deep silence, 
to be broken presently by the discordant tinkling of many bells 
as a string of camels tops the sandhill and stretches its long 
length down the slope to the lagoon, where the desert-dry, thirsty 
beasts with contented loud-mouthed bellowings and deep sucking 
noises take in the life-giving water. The Galahs, disturbed from 
their slumber, greet the newcomers with shrill screeching and 
expletives. Every cavalcade must halt here for refreshment. It 
is the port of call for all these desert ships that pass in the night, 
and oh! the wonder and strangeness of it all! 
Some three hundred Grey Teal (Virago gibberifrons) fre¬ 
quented the water-hole on the Derwent River, South Central 
Australia, and we saw several flocks of them upon the Diamen- 
tina. The blue in the wing makes a conspicuous band when the 
birds are at rest. These birds feed during the night and the 
early morning. Most of the day they frequent the margin of 
the water, alternately sleeping and preening their feathers. A 
string of camels coming to water or a herd" of overlanding cattle 
would put them to flight, and at such times, whilst waiting for 
them at the other end of the water, one was able to get pictures 
of them in the air. Like most of the water birds in these regions 
this Duck nests only in flood time. Tn the river country (the 
Cooper and Diamentina), Mr. G. Aiston informs us they nest 
in the “pepper grass,” a soft grass nearly half an inch in width 
and almost stemless, growing to a height of nine or ten feet. Tn 
good seasons the Teal nest in thousands in these bushes for many 
miles along the river banks. 
About twenty Red-necked Avocets (Recurvirostra novee- 
hollandicc) lived about the lagoon. Part of their food consists 
of wafer beetles, which, constantly rising all day long, keep the 
