108 
FLETCHER, Birds of the Steppes 
[The Emil 
L 1st Oct. 
of the body appears to be submerged. I have known them to dive 
into a river and then run under the water some distance before going 
out on to the bank. They travel against the current, so that the 
water does not penetrate their outer feathers. One bird covered 
several yards in half a minute on the clear gravelly bottom of a 
stream. This may be one way they have of escaping from the 
Hawks, though more frequently they leave the shelter of the rushes 
when harried by Hawks and seek the protection of the bracken or 
scrub. 
Pcrphryio melanotus. Eastern Swamp-hen (Bald Coot). — Only a few 
birds were frequenters of the Lagoon where once they could be seen 
in hundreds. Since the destructive fire which burnt out most of the 
protecting reeds, the Bald Coots have remained at the Lake of the 
Woods. Food is plentiful in the Lagoon, particularly so as far as 
frogs are concerned, but the shelter round the edges is not sufficient 
to protect them from their enemies. Snakes are fond of resorting to 
the water’s edge and eating the frogs which the Bald Coots have pre¬ 
viously disembowelled. I made a start to inspect what appeared to 
be a nest of these birds, when my progress was challenged by a 
large snake. As the only weapon I had was the leg of my camera, 
I allowed the snake to keep possession of the track. Later a Raven 
flew over the spot, and from its actions, I judged the nest to be empty. 
Podiceps poliocephalus. Hoary-headed Grebe. — Noticed swimming 
and diving in the open water. On a previous visit I saw one of these 
Grebes leave her nest, which was situated on the outskirts of the 
shorter rushes, where water weeds float towards open water. 
Lobibyx novse-hollandiae. Australian Spurwing Plover. Plentiful. 
Every small open space or watery depression appears to have its pair. 
In the autumn some of the Plovers come round the house and mix with 
the poultry. One pair nested in the small sheep paddock close by and 
regularly brought the young ones quite close to the homestead. On 
October 21st, I disturbed a pair of Plovers whose young were only a 
few days old. The sitting bird’s task must have been an unenviable 
one when the snow lay on the ground, especially as Plovers choose 
such open situations on swampy ground. This pair could have had 
for shelter only the protection of a clump of band grass. I came on 
the birds suddenly as I was making for a clump of Cider trees, much 
frequented by Noisy Miners (Myzantha garrula). The old birds flew, 
screeching, above me, then tried to persuade me to come and catch 
them. I humoured them for a bit, then hid behind the large bole of 
a cider, from which I could observe any movements of the Plovers 
in the open space amidst the trees. Both birds flew around in a circle 
above the tree under which I was hiding, gradually dropping a little 
lower after each circuit. Finally, feeling satisfied that the intruder 
had gone, the bird I judged to be the male alighted and ran hurriedly 
to the far end of the open glade. The female took another survey 
from the air, then settled on the opposite side of the glade from me. 
She appeared to probe a worm from the ground, murmured some notes 
softly, ran a few yards, repeated the worm-catching, then ran again. 
She kept up this performance until she gained the far end, where her 
mate awaited her. I could not see the meeting, and was afraid to 
raise myself for fear their sharp eyes would see me. In another 
minute, I saw her hurrying back until she reached the same spot 
from which she had picked up the first worm. The same manoeuvre 
was repeated, and for a third time she came to the first spot, again 
picking out a worm. I knew there must be young near, and that she 
was gathering them together while her mate took charge of them. 
So I watched most carefully. No chick was near her. Yet by the 
hunching of her back, and the murmuring notes, I felt certain she 
was guiding a chick. When she was opposite to me, I saw a little 
downy chicken on my side of the open space. Watching carefully, I 
