176 QUINN, King [ Watcher

All the had the same technique, which appeared to be successful at every effort. With a slow hovering flight at about 12 feet above the water, they would first locate their intended prey, then they would drop down to about 2 feet, hover for a couple of seconds, then just flop onto the water's surface and drive their heads under to a depth which would be about 2Yz to 3 inches at the beak's tip. The birds appeared to hold their wings high up over their backs when "dipping", and had no trouble getting up off the water afterwards. They then flew to a nearby tree on the bank and, after a sort of desultory tap on a branch, swallowed their prey, and then flew back to the centre of the river. Both my observation and the birds' quick disposal of the prey marje it seem certain that the prey was both small and compactly shaped. The fact that the birds could hover over their victim and be continually successful, would seem to rule out fish , as even little fish and young fish are alert and quick. The depth under the water, and this consistent depth, would seem to rule out insects. Perhaps it was a specie of the crustacea or mollusca in its early stage of development. The group of birds was in my view for perhaps four minutes, then the flow of the river carried their prey and the birds around a bend out of my sight. - T. H. Guthrie, Ban:Jra Point, New South Wales, 21 I 12 I 1968.

The in Central Vktoria. On December 31, 1967, while exploring a dry heathland swamp on French Island, Victoria, I flushed a quail from near one of the many cattle tracks that have been made through the tall rushes. which are about 8 feet high. In the centre of the swamp there is usually a large pool, at which the cattle drink, but because of an extensive drought it had not been in evidence for at least four months. As the bird flew directly away. its very smalJ size. rich chestnut abdomen and dark upper parts identified it as a male King Quail, chinensis. After flying for about 10 yards the bird dropped down into the tallest and thickest part of the swamp. On reaching this area, however, and making a thorough investigation for well over half an hour, I was unable to flush it again to obtain a view of its conspicuous throat markings and blue-grey breast. Although I viewed the elusive bird for a few seconds only, I saw that it was distinctly smaiJer than the , Synoicus australis, which in recent years I have flushed several times from similar habitat in neighbouring parts of the island. Of course, this larger lacks the chestnut belly of chinensis, which I had not previously observed in the field. At the time of the sighting the early afternoon sun was shining brilliantly on the subject. June Ornithological Extracts 177 1969 ]

The King Quail nowadays is considered very rare in Victoria. An island in a large bay is certainly not the most likely place where one could hope to find it. -D. J. Quinn, Chadstone, Victoria, 18/7/1968.

ORNITHOLOGICAL EXTRACTS Sarus Crane, Grus antigone. In The Bird Observer, February and March 1967, there was a brief note of the recording of the presence of the Sarus Crane, for the first time in , on October 13, 1966. A party, consisting of Mrs. H. B. Gill, E. E. Zillman and F. T. H. Smith, saw six birds 15 miles south of Normanton, and two birds at Burketown, on the Gulf of Carpen­ taria. No further details were given. It was over two years later that the next statement regarding the presence of this species in Australia was published. The Queensland Agricultural Journal, vol. 95, No. 3, pp. 156-162, con­ tains an article on "The Cranes of Australia", by H. J. Lavery and J. G. Blackman. Although this is mainly an account of the Brolga, Grus rubicundus, included in it are statements regarding the distri­ bution and the habits of the Sarus Crane in this country. Its present range in the northern parts of the continent are the Atherton Tableland, "where 31 of these birds have been recorded at one time", near Burketown, Normanton and the Archer River beside the Gulf of Carpentaria. The Sarus Crane "breed in Australia, three fledged birds-of-the­ year having been seen on Atherton Tableland with 24 adults in 1967 and with 11 adults in 1968". Also included in this paper are some important observations of the habits of the species. Recently Lavery informed me that since this paper was written the nest and eggs of this species have been found. It is remarkable that a bird could become so established in our country that it has been recorded nesting, and observations have been published on its behaviour, yet no record of its original finding has been published, beyond the brief statement in The Bird Observer. After the original discovery of these birds the observations were fully checked with the literature and, on April 28, 1967, Mrs. H. B. Gill and party went back to the area to confirm the record. The number of birds that were seen on this trip was 15. At Normanton two pairs were seen with two small flightless young to each pair, confirming that the birds were well established in the area. Little Grebe, Podiceps novaehollandiae: The official journal of the Ornithological Society of New Zealand, Notornis, vol. 16, p.3, reports the first record in New Zealand of the Australian Little Grebe. It was first sighted on April 21, 1968, near Arrowtown, and photographs were taken on November 29, 1968. It was a bird in full breeding plumage.