Vol ’i 925 ? V ’] CHISHOLM, Tambourine Mountain 237 
unnecessary to add that the visitors greatly enjoyed their brief 
visit. 
The country was in a dry condition, and bird-life was, in 
consequence, not very plentiful. Amongst the blue lilies on the 
lagoon there was a brood of young Wood Ducks (Chenonetta 
jubata ) with their parents, and a brood of young Black Ducks 
(Anas superciliosa) was seen on one of the dams. 
In the large trees along the creek-bed various birds were nest¬ 
ing, including Grey-breasted Wood Swallows (Artamus hypo- 
leucus ), Whistling Eagles (Haliastur sphenurus ), and Collared 
Sparrowhawks (Accipiter cirrhocephalus ). The writer was for¬ 
tunate enough to witness an incident in the domestic life of the 
latter birds. The female was sitting on the nest in the evening, 
only the tip of her tail visible from below, when the little male 
appeared with a mouse grasped in his left foot. He settled in a 
tree near the nest, and uttered a whistling call, whereupon the 
female left the nest and joined him. They sat side by side on 
a limb for a moment, then flew off together, and as they did so the 
female snatched the mouse from her mate. She flew back to the 
bough, holding it in her right foot, and proceeded to devour it. 
Pei haps the rarest bird seen at Coomooboolaroo on this occa¬ 
sion was the Black-eared Cuckoo (Mcsocalius osculans). An 
adult was seen in a clearing in the scrub, and later a voting bird 
was seen being fed by a pair of Purple-backed Wrens (Malums 
assimilis ). I am informed that the Variegated Wren of this 
district which was described by Mr. II. L. White as Malurus 
lamberti dawsonianus is .,$ow regarded as a form of M. assimilis , 
though its describe!* stated it was just as distinct from assimilis 
as it was from lamb erti, and geographical considerations would 
sl1 £g es t the latter as its nearer ally. The form is figured in the 
Emu, Vol. XVI., p. 69. To return to the young Cuckoo which 
these Wrens were feeding, it may be mentioned that it uttered 
a low twittering note very much like that of its foster-parents. 
At Tambourine Mountain 
By A. H. CHISHOLM, C.F.A.O.U., Sydney. 
Tambourine Mountain, a spur of the Macpherson-Range, lying 
approximately thirty miles south-east of Brisbane, has long been 
a favourite of naturalists. In the old days the jungles there 
were very rich in a wide variety of wild life, and even now, when 
settlement has developed and is still developing,’-the old mount 
has much of charm to offer to students of all branches of 
natural history. 
This was impressed upon those members of the R.A.O.U. who 
visited Tambourine on returning from Central Queensland. They 
