304 Stray Feathers. [ 
A Nest of the Pheasant Coucal.— The nest of the Pheasant 
Coucal (Centropus phasianinus) shown in the accompanying 
photograph was found in a stool of cane at one of the sugar-cane 
farms in Ayr, North Queensland. The nest was built of cane- 
trash and lined with gum leaves. One of the four eggs was 
undersized, as is clearly visible in the photograph.—Rev. C. O. 
Edwards, The Rectory, Ayr, N.Q. 
* * ❖ 
How to Spell “Emu.” —Dr. Alfred Newton, in his “Diction¬ 
ary of Birds,” spells the name “Emeu/’ which seems to me prefer¬ 
able to the rather abrupt form now in use. The Californian 
writer Bret Harte used the same orthography as Dr. Newton, in 
the humorous poem about the Naughty Emeu which plucked 
and swallowed a diamond scarf-pin from a gentleman’s cravat, 
thereby causing an irremediable breach between two fond lovers. 
It was, however, Rev. Bobby Knopwood, our first Tasmanian 
chaplain, who got the utmost out of the name by the insertion 
of no less than three “e’s” in a word of six letters! Mr. Knop¬ 
wood, with Captain Merthon and several others, boated up the 
Derwent to about 30 miles above Sullivan’s Cove, then walked 
several miles up the west side of the stream. In his diary, under 
date of 7th March, 1804, he writes: “We walked on the west 
side of the river; hills very high. When one side of the river 
was hilly, the other was a valley, and it continued so for more 
than 40 miles from the camp” (now Hobart) “where there was 
an extensive plain of very few trees. We see Kangaroos. 
Emezues, Pigeons, and Parrots.” Knopwood’s party were the 
first white men to gaze upon this extensive tract, now well known 
as the Macquarie Plains.—H. Stuart Dovk, W. Devonport, 
Tasmania. 
* * * 
White-headed Stilts and Other Water Birds near Mel¬ 
bourne. — Whilst on a ramble near Edithvale on October 4, 1924, 
I came across a large temporary swamp, left behind by the recent 
heavy rains, lying across the Dandenong Road for a distance of 
perhaps three hundred yards, and extending about the same 
distance on either side. No means of crossing being at hand, 
and not wishing to make a long trip back, I had no recourse but 
to remove my footgear and commence to wade through. Just 
as I entered the water, a bird call unfamiliar to my ears attracted 
my notice, so my steps were immediately turned to the left side 
of the road, the direction whence the call originated. 
Wading a couple of hundred yards from the roadside, the water 
began to get shallower, and left several small areas of grass- 
covered mud, drying above the water. Here I flushed two long 
red-legged, handsome birds, which proved to be White-headed 
Stilts. They rose into the air uttering a call easily recognised 
as that of one of the water birds, and were joined by several 
others. In flight they appeared most remarkable birds, looking 
