NATIVE COMPANION, OR AUSTRASIAN CRANE, 45 
which have become exceedingly tame. Sturt writes :—‘‘ This large- 
sized crane is common near the waters of the interior ; but he is a 
wary bird, and seldom lets the fowler within shot. When seen in 
companies, they often stand in a row, as they fly in a line like wild 
fowl. Their general plumage is slate colour, but they have red 
ceres or skin on the head.” Oxley, Surveyor-General of New South 
Wales, writing of his exploration of the Lachlan, says ‘‘ that large 
species of bittern, known on the east coast by the local name of 
native companion, from their being always seen in pairs, was 
observed on the flats, of a very large size, exceeding six feet in 
height; but they were so shy that we were unable to shoot any.” 
At a meeting of the Linnean Society of New South Wales in 
1882 there were exhibited brushes used by the natives of the 
Northern Territory, which were formed of the crest feathers of 
Leadbeater’s cockatoo inserted in the wing bone of a native com- 
panion. One of these birds was tame in the Government domain at 
Parramatta in 1829. A wild goose used daily to visit it, and remain 
with it for many hours. Sturt frequently saw them together, and 
the goose would allow him to approach quite close before it flew. 
Nidification.—The breeding season comprises September and 
the two following months. The native companion deposits its eggs, 
two in number, in a slight depression of the ground, usually on the 
plains. The eggs are of a rich cream colour, blotched and spotted 
all over with light chestnut and purplish-brown markings, the latter 
colour appearing as if beneath the surface of the shell. The 
dimensions of two eggs in the Sydney Museum collection are 3°8 by 
2°5 inches; 38 by 2‘4inches. Two in the Dobroyde collection are 
elongated in form, and gradually tapering to a nearly sharp point at 
the smaller apex. The length is 3-9 by 2°2 inches; 3°9 by 2°3 inches, 
A pair of eggsin Dr. Ramsay’s collection, taken by Mr. W. Liscombe 
near Tumut, are of a dull white, uniformly and sparingly spotted 
all over with blood-red markings, a few nearly obsolete spots of 
urplish-brown appearing as if beneath the surface of the shell. 
"he eggs of this species are subject to much variation in the colour 
and dispositions of the markings, and the shell is minutely pitted 
over the whole surface. In shape they are very like those of the 
domestic turkey. , 
Food.—It feeds on insects, lizards, bulbous roots, and various 
other vegetable substances In searching for these it tears up the 
earth with its powerful bill. 
Where found.—It is distributed over the greater portion of 
Australia, but it does not inhabit Tasmania. New South Wales, 
Victoria, South Australia, the interior of the continent, North-west 
Australia, near the Gulf of Carpentaria, Rockingham Bay, Wide 
Bay district, Dawson River. Oxley, when on his exploration of the 
Lachlan, noticed great numbers of native companions on the plains 
to the west of the Blue Mountains. 
