December ] COOPER, Oriental 111 1964

take up its position when it had finished its foraging for the night. However, the exception to the rule showed that on one occasion it was not present at 10 a.m., but it was on its perch at 12.30 p.m. It was possible that the could have been on another perch in the same gully during the earlier time, or it could have flown into the area from some other place. In either event it is unusual for the Powerful Owl to during daylight, excepting when it is disturbed by humans. On four occasions the Owl was seen to be roosting with the remains of a ring-tailed possum in its talons. It is possible that a whole possum was too much for a Powerful Owl to consume in one meal, or perhaps the hunting was good and more than one was caught. It would be of interest to know how the Owl catches this active nocturnal animal among the trees of its habitat. Possibly it made the capture when the possum was crossing open ground between two trees. The last sighting of the Owl in the Royal Botanic Gardens was on September 22, 1964. From the time that it was first observed by Somerset until it departed on the above date, it was present in the Fern Gully for almost two months.

The ( pratincola) near Melbourne. On December 12, 1962, F. T. H. Smith flushed six Oriental from weed covered land at Werribee, Victoria. This was the first record of the occurrence of this species in Victoria (Australian Bird Watcher, 2: 4). The second occurrence of these in Victoria was recorded on November 21 , 1964, when, in company with F. T. H. Smith, we flushed an Oriental Pratincole from one of the new treatment ponds that was under construction at the sewerage farm, close to where the birds were disturbed in 1962. This area is 20 to 25 miles south-west of Melbourne. The bird flew from a muddy area where there was a small growth of grasses. We had not noticed it before it took flight, which occurred when we were within 100 feet of where it was standing. The Pratincole flew away from us, rising to a height of several hundred feet. It then turned in a wide circle and flew back over our heads, before heading off at a tangent to land about a mile away. Shortly afterward s we flushed another bird from a grassy area approximately half a mile from the first sighting, and in the opposite direction from where this bird had landed. It is not known if the second bird was the same one that was first seen, or if two Oriental Pratincoles were in the area. When the first bird flew up from the ground only the dark upper parts could be seen. T hey appeared to be almost black, relieved only by the white patch on the rump and the base of the tail feathers. However, as the bird circled and came back over our heads the buff coloured chin and throat, surrounded by a 112 GUTHRIE, Falcon attacking Starlings [ Bird Watcher

black line from eye to eye, were clearly visible, also the chestnut colouring on the under wing-coverts. The Pratincoie was heard to call only when it was originally disturbed, when it uttered a loud "chik, chik, chik" as it flew up into the air. - Roy P. Cooper, Surrey Hills, Victoria. 24 / 11 / 1964.

Peregrine Falcon attacking Starlings: The Sydney seaside suburb of Manly is built on a spit of sand connecting what was once a rocky headland with what were two nearby rocky islands. Since this sand will not support either foot or motor traffic with­ out being instantly cut into sand bogs, the whole area has had to be firmly covered with bitumen, buildings and some concrete. Being a favoured living suburb, the buildings thereon average over two stories in height. What is, in truth, a little desert sealed over with bitumen and storied buildings would seem unlikely to provide much interest to the bird watcher, but it is surprising how many ecologic niches the birds have found in which to exist. The most successful of avian colonists are the common Starlings (Stumm· vulgaris), a very approximate guess of whose number would be about 30,000. These gregarious inhabitants, in the non­ breeding season, use as their dormitory the high, 75-year-old, Nor­ folk Pine trees that line the sea-front. Since a complex of sand, bitumen and baked clay cannot supply food for such a horde, they must forage elsewhere, and at sunrise they take off for the gardens of the northern suburbs of Sydney and the open spaces of French's Forest and Kuringai Chase. In the evening the impulse to return to their surfside trees must occur almost simultaneously to the wide-spread birds, because by the time they have reached Manly the coalescing groups have become flocks, sometimes numbering a thousand birds. These flocks stream around the northern end of Kangaroo Hill at sunset keeping low and "hedge-hopping" over the TV aerials to lessen the retardation of the prevailing afternoon headwind coming in from the Tasman Sea. It is in this last short lap, when they are tired, where thei r greatest hazard awaits them. A Peregrine Falcon (Falco pere­ grinus) sits on top of a tall pine tree near the sea-front hotel; his objective for each evening being a meal of freshly killed Starling. So punctual is this raptor and so invariable is his method, that it is possible to station oneself at different places along his fiel d of action and so observe his whole technique in detail. Watching the flocks and groups coming around Kangaroo Hill half a mile away, he ignores all that head for the trees on his southern side. Likewise ignored are those that head for the trees near where he sits watching, but when he suddenly stiffens