Page:The Emu volume 3.djvu/226

 On another occasion, on a small blackwood tree, I saw the occupied nests of a White-plumed Honey-eater (Ptilotis penicillata) and Black and White Fantail, and on an adjoining eucalyptus tree a Magpie-Lark and White-fronted Heron (Notophoyx novæ-hollandiæ), which is a common night bird here. I see the Grallina and Black and White Fantail nesting close to one another, and notice that the same thing has been observed in Queensland and elsewhere. Such facts show how fond many birds are of nesting in company. It is not only "birds of a feather" which exhibit this gregarious instinct.—. Caramut (Vict.), 20/10/03.

.—Mountain Ducks (Casarca tadornoides) are fairly plentiful in the open country at this time of the year, of course in pairs. I counted twenty-one young ones with a pair the other day, and one of my employes found a nest with twenty-one eggs in on 10th August. These must be maximum clutches. I found a nest of the Yellow-rumped Tit (Acanthiza) the other day, in which a Narrow-billed Bronze-Cuckoo (Chalcococcyx basalis) had laid an egg in the upper story, which, of course, is not used for rearing the family. There were no eggs in the lower compartment. On several occasions I have noticed Ravens combining together to pull a log or heavy piece of bark over, to obtain grubs below. Occasionally one knowing Raven only looks on, thereby getting unfairly an unlucky grub before the others get a chance. Many Magpies (Gymnorhina tibicen) have nested on the ground this year (1903), generally on a tussock of grass or in a bunch of Cape weed. Suitable trees for nesting in are getting scarce.—. Merrang, Hexham.

.—With reference to Mr. Le Souef's note, Part 4, vol. ii., on the breeding of the Harrier (Circus gouldi) at Cullenswood, those birds have resorted to the same lagoon for many years past, varying their time for nesting slightly in accordance with the season, whether wet or dry, so that the locality is sufficiently free from water. Some years back the nests used to be on some slight eminence, of which there are several at the nesting-site, caused by the accumulation of silt round tussocks among the reeds; but now they usually resort to the dead level of the lagoon. Originally the ancestors of that pair of Harriers bred in a small lagoon of about 3 acres in extent much nearer the homestead, but after it was drained they forsook that site and took to the present one. During the breeding season these Harriers are destructive to poultry, coming about the houses in search of chickens for their young, and every year We lose a few from our yards. Young rabbits also form part of their prey, and taking them all the year round they do more good than harm—certainly in a rabbit-infested district. Before the