THE tASMANiAN NATURAlist.

foul" or five miles down the water was

seen to be covered with feathn's.
which Paocific gulls had torn frOII, a C.YP n,
Wl:;hing to capture a 'Wgnet, one
of a PHty of three or I.Jur swimming
hi front of the boat, was singlec\ out,
ailll as it was l'Ilpidly gaineo upon, tb.u
bird was soon lifted from the water
placed in the boat. On lJP,i:lg' brought
to Hoklrt it became eXJCeildinglYl tame,
and eviucntly enjoyed life, in jpss than
fh'c weeks ga'lning in weig1lt from lib
IOoz. to over 41h. When callght it
8upposet! to be about four weeks o'td,
and a photo of it (reproullcet! in the
illustrated section) was a\ ce!,
aftr. The billsano eyes of young [wans
ore bbek, but change to ret! htnI. When
the feathers are plucked from a black
swan it tllen looks snowy white,
the o:1own not being attached to the
feathers but separate. With the young
capture'cl bird it was noticed that the
nest down with which many youngoirds
are 1C0vered on hatcMng from the shdl
t!id not give place to feathers, which Is
tiw general rule, but to the true down,
ant! the feathers appear later. This down
was not white, but a fawn colour. We
arrived at Kelve(\Jn again I'n rioay
afternoon with some of the swans. _ne
folio wing day I started on the return
to Hou:ut, after having witilessed in
t hose large flocks of bi:,.1s one
of the finest s'lghts of its Kind, and long
may it remain.
1:Ji sf of :1Ilembers.
*Anthol1v E :-;; lWzabeth and Ihvpv
stre;t's,
*Atkins, C. J . Audleysheet, Hobad.
*Atkins, W. N.,
Atkinson, R. H., Ft'iends' High
Hohad.
BaylltoJl, H. J., Bo,t Vl,;ta-roatl. North
Hobart.
*Beattie, J. W., Elizahethstreet, Hobaort.
Beedham,11iss, vV'arwicks:tr.eet, Hobart.
Bcedh,tlll, Lo, Walwick-street, Hobart.
"'Bell, 11iss, Lindisfarne.
"'Black, R. A., Dept. Agriculture, Hobart.
Boxall. J., clo 1lessrs. Bn'gess P, os.,
Hob:trt. -
*Brpnt, A. K, Ferry.
HHH\'lle 11 , F. L.. Stoke,trpet, Hob:U't.
"'Hutler, A. L., 11ul'ray-street, lIok. t.
Cato. \Y. C .. I.'loUds D l\eystreet.
Ch"]llllell, H. C. D .. Swanf;treet. Hob:ll't.
"'{,ll'mes, S .. Le"lie Hou,.;('. Ne,,' Town.
*Colbollrn, H .. 1., ('oullcil of .\gl'icult:r-e,
Hobmt.
"'Conlon, A., COllncil of Agriculture,
Hob'll't.
"'Cook, J. V .. D:lln:1.iustrcpt, Hobart.
Crook all, W., Smithstreet, Hoba.rt.
D'EllHlen, F.ank, 1ft. Stuart, Hohart.
D'Emden, Thos., Mt. Stuart, Hobart.
Dove, H. Stuart, DeYOllport West.
Duthoit, N., Bellerive.
*EII!ott, O. H., Hohat"t.
*Elhott, E. A., High-street, Hobal't.
*Gibson, Dr. G., Macquariestreet, Hobart
( 10 )
"'Ha.rcourt, Alec., rystreet, Hobart.
Hardcastle, :cr'. C., 1Iltcquariestreet.,
Hobart.
*Harrison, M. \V., Glenrr:chy.
Ha'vey, R. C., Hobarl.
Irvine, }liss, Friends' High School,
Hobart.
Johnson, J. A., Training 'College, Hobart.
*J ohnston, R. 111., LlS.O., Government
Statistician, Hobart.
Ke.rmode, D., "Oorol1<1.," B:lttery
Point, Hohad.
Kermode, W., "Corona," B_lttu'y Point,
Hobart.
*Le:1, A. )1., Counedl of Agriculture,
Hobart.
Le1, A. ?IT.. }Iu:. :ly-street, Hob:llt
Lockll'ood, P .. Nile.
*Lord, Clive, Sandy Day, Hob'lrt.
LCJdder, 11is5, Elpltinroad,. Launceston.
)l'.-\Ui,;ter, Miss, Friends' High School,
*)i'Donald, B. K, 1)1 Brisbane-street,
Hobrr:t.
W. L., Forest Hill. San<1iol'd.
*)'faxwell, E., Stone Buildings, HObart.
*}Iorton, A., Tasmanian 11u5eulll, Hobart.
"Nair'n, C. C., PUI-k'street, Hobad.
"Nairn, ]\of!"'. C. C" Park-street,
':'Nairn, Miss, Pu.:kst,reet, Hoba!:t.
Naden, Miss, Quaylestreet, Hobart.
Naden, N., Quaylestreet, Hobart.
Nicholls, H. M., Garden Island Creek,
Hnon.
Noetling, Dr. J., Sandy ay, Hobalt.
;i
I
THE TASMANIAN NATURALIST.
*Penny, G. C., Lands Dept., Hobart.
Pies se, 'K L., BaY'I'o,td, Hobart.
"Philp. J. E., Battery Point, Hobart.
Pitfield, L., Glebe Town, Hobart.
*Pitman, C. A., Landi! Dept., Hobart.
""Pitman, C. B., ,Lands Dept., Hobart.
*Pottenge,l', H. Lo, 265 Dav'eY'str-eet,
Hobart.
Pretyman, E. H., Sitll'ily ,Bay, Hobart.
*Rpid, A. R., LiIerpool,treet, Hobiut.
Roberts, M,s. H. 1.., Beallmaris, Battery
Point, Hobart.
Robey, }fiss, Fed'Talstreet, Hobart.
"Rod way, L., Ylacquariestreet, Hobad.
Simpson, T. C. Holebrook Place, Hobart.
"*8im80n, Aug., High-st,reet, Launceston.
"'Smith, Dr. G., London.
"'Smith, J. E., Friends' High School,
Hobart.
Stephens, A. Lansdowne Crescent,
'Hobart.
Tarleton, J. W., Sandy Bay, Hobart.
Tlib." It, jun., :\Iurraystreet, Hobart.
Walpole, S., Union Bank, Hobad.
WalkE(', B. Rtndy Bay, Hobart.
*Watchorn .. A . .0., Battel:y Point, Hobart.
Wa.l'dman, J., Botanic Gardens, Hobart.
Watson, H., Sandy Bay, Hobart.
*vYhite, .\., IBroomhill, Mangalore.
Woolley, C. E., Lindi,.sfarne. _
Wright, C., Trinity Hill State School,
Hobart.
t96e :J3reeding J-{abits of:J3ronzewing
By MARY G. RDBERTS, M.A.S.E., M.A.D.U.
(The bird", inre de,alt with are our oom-
mon hronz,ewing (lPhaps chalcoptera)
and) ,th:e crelSlted br.mwewinlg of New
Sou.th Wale" (Dcyphaps lophotes).)
Jn my aviaries, whn'e these
iuv,e been kept ,se'as,on af,ter ,s;ea,son under
rxa.ctly ,the same 'coonditiol1S, I find the
time of year in they begin to
lJUilll, and the period nesting -last,;,
vdry consid,erably; influenced, no
by ,the severity ,or 'obherwise of weather
condition:;,. 'E1or inJSltance, in 1904 they both
began t,o lay in July and! .A:ugust, and
ooth s'alt five times a,nd earried on hreed-
ing O'peroa,tjoILs until ,quite the end of
Ma rcll. J,t is alrrrO's,t needLesls ,to say that
all the eggs were nll't haotd .. ed, nor all
the young I-ea red; in one inls,tance a pair
of ,QUI' .own bronzewing;s fell from tlhe
nest and d!ied when a few days .old, and
d.rrot.her time one egg was laid and for
gak"m. Some uuto'W,ard circumst,ance
011&0 befell thecre.s'ted variety, and
l
, Lram
my eXlperi,ence, I c.onclude tha,t three
times n,e,st'ing in one season would be the
normal .or outsiue number. In ,the Iol
lO'wiuO' veal' (l'!)05) O'perations commenced
,tiIJ e':'a;lie'r, /lnd, to my ,surprise, O'n June
Zi I. found! egg.s in the neist .of tbe New
SoUtil Wales emst'ed, and! ,twO' day:;, later
in that of our common brO'nze-wing. There
many disappointments in avicultn:e,the
bronze wings deserted the nest
owing ItO being disturbed.dluri.ng ,sonie al-
tenvtion:;, -to the aviary, and ,the Y'0ung of
our bTonzewings hatched out only to fall
vict.ims ,too 'U sudden and ,severe ehange of
tempera,ture. The hen nested again at
th'e end! of AUgUSit, but on: ,l6
heavy fall 'ofS'now wa.s ,responsible for
(11 )
Ll1e of one squab; next morning the
other died" and ,the foUDwing moming
the mo,tller-a matter of keen regret to
me, as during her ,short aruCb iruterClSlting
life iHdJ engraf.ted very much pleal:lure
intO' mine. The last .se'a"O'.n (1906) wa"
mnlb later ,than usual, .owing ,to the
frequent. andJ intermittent OIInowstorms
whi,:h fell upon the mountain up ito the
beg:nning of Decembe.r. The bird.s ,show-
2d HO sign of ne,sting until October, and
it was X ovember befO'I1e the first 'COlmmon
bl'onz{'wing Wia3 ,ha,tched; It,hey were not
only' later ill! hegi.nning, but earlier in
leaving .O'ff, .and by ,of Nlovem'bec
y!tl'ie,ty had lfinished, ,the result being
tw'O young frO'm the 'fiI1st nesting, and
om, frO'm the s'econd,; .the cres,ted variety
lud: be'gu.IlJ somewha,t earlie.r. It ha,,,, b&..'n
it gl'ea,t pl'ea.sn.re t'o me watching tl'Je nesli;
!ng O'pera-tioILs,of ,truese two -varieties
being carried on s,imultaneously, aIUlIoucrh
denizen;! of d'iffe'l'Cll't states. In 5pewk.
ing to cOll'ntry re,side.nts, ,they invm'ialily
tell me that Ghrisltm!LS is the he.st time
't'oobtain yO'ung buJt I 'fail till' a'gree
)YitllL them, a,s the ra,et" which J Ihaye
pl'oYe the oppo.site. They may
,",ee more birdl, about during
tin t tim2, as, doubtle,ss eiUl3r foOl' work
lH' plp ... sure ithey ram:ble in the hush
ll1uch more frequently in ,summer tha<t
dulill'g' the cold '\"ea.tiller, and, judging
by my eXlperience, probably many of Ithe
('at lyh.l,tched do Il!ot survive through the
weathe.r. Af,ter lutching, ,thE'
young are Ior some time well pr.o,tected
in the d3y by the preSJence of bo,ull bird,s
or: tin ne Sit, whO' are mOl:lt attentiv,e to
their dll'ties; but when night comes and the
retire,s ,to his perch, the ben, owing