on some western australian birds collected between the north- west cape and albany (950 miles apart)

I 920.1 On some Western Austi-nlian Birds. 679

SXV.--On some W e s t e m Azisti*alian Bii-tls cboUecteiE het iceeia

f h e A\TOisth- lvest Cape and Albany (!I50 ?,tiles apavt). By THOMAS CARTER, M.B.O.U., ;\I.R.A.O.IJ. Iti‘th ilTomeizclature aiid R e n z a d s by GREGORY &I. MATHEWVS,

N.B.O.U., M.R.A.O.U.

AS the collectioiis of bird-skins made by me in 1916-17 in some of tlie south-west, nlid-west, and north-west- areas of fvestern Australia have at last arrived in England, after a long delay caused by the marine risks prevailing during tlie last few years (see ‘ Ibis,’ 1917, p. 587), Mr. Mathews and I now publish notes and renlarks on birds obtained and observed in localities north and south of Shark Bay during the above-mentioned visit, as well as on two short trips that I made t o the Gascoyne and Point Cloates districts in 1911 auti 1913, and on a tour through the south-west of Western Australia in 1919, fro111 which I have recently returned. The following itinerary may be interesting as describing the varied means of transit used :-

Left 1113’ station at Broonie Hill in South-West Australia 30-J~ily, 1911, hoping to revisit my original sheep-station a t Point Cloates and the North-West Cape peninsula, where I had lived for thirteen years, and to search for the nests and eggs of Xtipi t i i~ws inuiacliciv?ts mcficeps and Erenziornis curteri, which a t that date were undescribed. I travelled two hundred and fitty miles by railway to Perth, then sailed by steamer six hundred miles t o Caruarvon, arriving on 5 August. Eleven days were spent there searching through the mangroves and coastal scrubs, and also the timber and scrub on the banks and islands of the large Gascoyne River, which, as usual, was not running at the time ; 5 u t there 17 ere some pools in its wide sandy bed, and considerable bird-life around them. Left Carnarvon LG August by five-horse mail coach, and arrived a t the Afinilya River Station (eighty miles north) on the 18th. There the late owner, Mr. Donald McLeod, most kindly lent me a pair of horses and buggy, and I proceeded sixty miles north, reaching Maud’s Landing on the 23rd. O\ving t o a severe drought then pre\-:iiliiig th r \\iiole country

SER. XI.-VOL. 11, 22

680 Mr. T. Carter on some [Ibis,

was almost denuded of grass, and t r a d l i n g along the coast was extremely liarcl npon the horses, owing to the loose dry sand :tnd constant steep hills, also of' saiitl. It was impossible to obtain any fresh aninials, as I hoped to do, or any chaff o r liorse-feed, ant1 as the forty odd iiiiles between there and Point Clontes was by far tlie w o r a t and lieariest piece of road anywhere, I reluctantly gave up tlie idea of proceeding furtlier north. 80 after resting the horses for ten days, 1 proceeded inland for about fifty miles, camping one night a t an artesian bore, where the overflow formed a considerable swamp, and froui there worked back t o the Minilya, getting soiiie specimens daily ; then after a few days at the Miiiily:i, waiting for the mail coach, I left by i t for C :~ r i i a r~on , and took a stctaiiier for Fremant'le and the south 0x1 30 September.

On 3 August, 191:3, I left Brooiiie Hill to have aaot'lier attempt for the North- West Cape, travelling by train to Geraldtoii, about fire llundred and fifty miles. Froni tliere I sailed by steainer to C:trii:~von, arriving o n 10 August; and after a few days spent iii old haunts, I tr:rvelled by mail coach drawn by six cainels to the Miuilya River, and thence by mail buggy tlInwn by two camels to Point Cloabes, on 23 August. There I was so fortunate as to meet Mr. TJT. Eryan, an old pearler, who was starting the next day for the vicinity of the Nortli-West Cape, in an open 16-foot Loat', to try to get sonie dagong for their excellent meat and oil. H e gave me and iriy I' swag " a p:issage t o the Yardie Creek (alias Jacob Reniessen's ltil-er of tlie Dutch explorers of 1620), while I undertook t o show hiin the best channels through the m:inp dangerous reefs, and also safe anchorage for his boat, as he did not linow tha t coast. H e landed iiie

at the mouth of the Yardie on 26 August to camp alone until lie returned froin furtlier north in about ten (1:iys' time. As this is the type locality wliere both Xtipituvus ?nalac.ltur.cis vu.cep.s and L;i*en~io~nis xvere obtained by me in 1898, and both were fairly coninio~i until I left Point Cloates in 1903, I hoped to find the nest aiid eggs of one or hot11 of tlie birds. However, altliough I s~steinatically searched the narrow flat bet.weeii the ranges :uid the sex, and most of tlie

I 920.1 Western Australian Birds. 681

deep rugged gorges of the ranges, \\here large masses of Spinifex (7i.iodeu) used to grow, I never saw :I single specimen of either bird, probably became iiiost of the dense low coastal scrub and larger masses of Spinifex had been burnt off in the meanwhile.

The range begins about two miles from Point Cloates, and extends north for seventy-five miles, terminating a t the bluff of Vlaming Head. I t is froin five to six hundred feet or more in height all the way, and contains numerous deep gorges \\ itti precipitous cliffs, so that i t is almost waterless, very tiring country to work, and e'xceedingly severe on boots. Its western side is within a mile, or less, of the sea, and between them is a narrow flat, with scrub and Spinifex. Strong hot gales from the east, with dust storms, also blew daily until noon during my visit, nialiing small birds keep close to cover and difficult of observation. The boat called for me on 5 September, and me reached Point Cloates on the 7th, passing through the large whaling fleet stationed north of that place, and seeing sonie of the powerful tags ptirsuing "Huiiipbacli " Whales and shooting them with bonil-harpoon.. . A s the manager of tlie (:ompany kindly offered to give me a pawage to C'arnarvon in one of the tugs that was starting on thc. evening of 12 September for mails axid s txes , I arrived there early the next morning, halitig inade the passage in sixteen hours, as against the eight days it would have taken me by road. I was at Uariiarvon for three weeks, tlie greater part of which time was spent on or near the coast, observing the arrival of great nunihers of the C'haradriilorines from their breeding-gronnds in North- East Asia. The two nem subspecies 14 listerornis lunioides carmarvoni and Acanthiza ino~17ata carnuwonensis were also obtained at, this time. I sailed for Frernantle and the south on 4 October.

As hnsilless in connexioii with my Brooine Hill property necessitiited iny leaving England for West Australia in Novenlber 1915, and Mr. Mathews had asked me if I would t ry to obtain specimens of tlie long-lost Hulurus Zeuco- p e r u s and dniy/is textilis after 111,~ 1 1 u ~ i i i c 5 ~ ;IS coiripleted,

222


I thought it woiild be a good opportnnity to make a third attempt to obtain breeding note. of S‘fi~)ifrc~.rrs ?11dar7t?(1’z~s .r.y?ceps a n d h’wtttior)& in the Ticinit? of the North-West Cape as soon as the Au.tralian -iimnier n a q well ouer. Illeaiin hile T re\ iGitec1 I d e Xuir-a fine sheet of brackish water about tn-elve miles by *is i n the eltreme +onth-we4, and was there a fortnight, and tlien worked through that area, staying n few (lays at localities on the Upper and Lower Blackwood RiT-er, aiid also on the Margaret, Vasse, and Collie river‘;. Several days were also spent in the vicinity o f Cape Mentelle, near where I had seen S’pheiuira longhostr is nntl Psopltodes i i i y i ’opla tk in 1903 ; but most of the coastal country had heen burnt bare of the former dense 5criib, in order to “improue” i t for cattle-grazing, and apparently the above intere>ting birds have been exterminated froin that locality, ;-lome of the large lakes and swamps where many water-fowl abound, within a twenty-mile radius of Pertlt, were :il.o visited : and on 19 April I sailed for Shark Ray a n d Dirk Hartog I~1:und (for accounts of which see ‘ Jhis,’ October 19171, leaving there on 2’7 May hy steamer for Cxrnarvon, where I stayed three weekc. I l i d the pleasure of seeing the great Gascoyne River come down in ful l flood, 6lliiig the dry sandy bed (about three-quarters of a mile wide) wit11 from twelve to twenty feet depth of water, from bank to h n k , in a few hours’ time. On 17 J u n e I wiled in a scliooner for Jfaud’s Landing, a r r i ~ i n g o n tlie 19th, expecting to he able to travel to Point Cloates with the fortnightly mailman ; but he ariivetl se! era1 days late with only a pack-horse, as the three rivers hetween there arid Carnari-on-vie., the Lyndon, Minilya, a n d Gascoyne-were all rnnning 1)anl;ers and iinpassahle for vehicles. I t seemed as i f I should again be disappoiiited in reaching the North- West Cape, but after a few days, by great good fortune, n carpenter turned up to effect soine repairs ou the jetty, and 1 was able to hire his strong and ‘ I rootny ” buckhoard buggy, with pair ot‘ horses and fu l l camping outfit, for a term of two months; so 1 lost no tiinc in proceeding to Point Cloates, :cnd called on thn 1ighthonc;e Leeper, Mr. Stuart, who wns an

t 920.1 FVesteru Austi-nlian Hirds. 683

old friend. He was seriously unwell, and :islied me i f I would stay a t die liglitliouse and help tlre a.5sistant keeper to keep things going there, wh‘ilt! he went in one of tlie w-haling tugs to see the doctor at Carnarvon, and either returned him’aelf or send up :mother man to take his place ; so I Ivas (‘ hnng up ” there for three weeks, which delay in a gre;it nleasure spoilt, the t r i p 1 did not like to lose so iniicii time from iny two nlonths’ hire of tlie buggy, but I mas able to do so111e collecting, a n d the horses, whicfi were in poor condition, iln- proved very much bet‘ore I proceeded north agaill 011 17 July, reaching t’he Yardie Creeli on tlie 19th, where I calllped for a week, again without seeing a single Stipyitu~us or Eremiornis. Much of nip time w t s daily occupied in liaring to find m y horses, which were hobbled out to graze where they liked j

then liaving to lead thein two miles up the rugged stony ranges and down a very nasty piece of broken cliff, as near as I could get them to one of’ the poois of water, the “ nearest” being within about two hundred yards of boulders and rocky steps. As these two horses were frightened and nervous and would not go any further, I had to cross tliis intervening space with a bucket, fill it, a t the pool, and scramble and climb back to the horses with it. They usually required four or five bucketsful between them, and some water was always spill. Then I had to fill m y two- gallon canvas water-bag lor a day’s supply for myself and lead the horses back to the camp. I also had to shoot B

]<angoroo, wallaby, or something for meat :ind do my own coolting. Leaving t,he Yardie on the 26th, I went on nortli- wards, having to dig do\tn several feet in loose running sand near the beach for the nest supply of water for tlie horses :ind myself. The “digging” v;as done by a large conch shell. I call recoiiiiiiei?(l this work as a good test for anyone’s teniper, as the sand invariably “ caves ” in several times, just as the water is reached. The next day I was so fortullate as to lneet t w o old blackfellows who had been c‘ statioll llands ” for ine at Point Cloates, and wished they had turned up sooner, as t,liey could have taken a lo t of the above wrork off my hands. Our next camp was nearly

684 hlr. T. Carter on some [Ibia,

t\venty miles further north, and the water was about fifteen feet tlomn a narrow fissure in solid rock. The horses drank it, but i t was too bracliish for 11s ; aiid we had to drive fonr iniles down the flat every day. tie tip the horses with the buggy, and climb about th rw hundred feet up the ranges to a rock hole, or “soak,” on the bare rocky surface, where we filled the water-bag, bucket, and all available utensils that would hold water to take back to the camp. It was a most interesting sight at this tiny water-hole to see scores of Eniblenia picta, Cophophaps fermginea , Ptilotis Cea~tlanili, and other species aswaging their thirst. As I ohtailled a specimen of Xremiornis carteri near our camp, we remained a few days, bnt saw 110 more. The bird was a breeding male: feeding in the large bunches, soinetitnes breast high, of Spinifex, which is their favourite haunt. Proceeding north agiin, we caniped for three days while I “worked” some large inangrove swamps, which had given good results in former years, but held very few birds on this occasion. On 5 August I reached my ‘‘ farthe3t north’’ point a t a sheep station not far from Vlainiiig Head and the North-West Cape, where I was most 1iospit:tbly received by Mr. A. Campbell, and stayed a few days. This is where I shot a (’lilainydera inaculata with a 450’ Colt’s revolver in 1892, and afterwards had seen none of these fine b i d s ; but in company with triy host I was able to obtain soma further specimens, as will be described later in this paper. As my time-limit for the hired buggy would not allow me to round the North- West Cape and revisit the Esmouth Gulf country, as I had hoped to do, I reluctantly turned south on 10 August, and cnnipetl again at the place where I had shot the E~miornis . A native and I carefully searched some large patches of Spinifex for two days, but failed t o find a nest. I then drove alone back to Mawl’s Landing. where I was fortunate in meeting an old squatter friend, Mr. Guy McLeod, who was driving a mob of three thousand sheep to his Minilya Station, and gave ine perniission to travel with him, the large waggon drawn by fourteen camels, with calico yard for sheep, and A atcr-tank, food, etc., for the drovers, easily

I92G.1 Western Austra Iian Birds. 685

finding room for my outfit. The sheep started away early everj- morning, and the waggon followed them, soine- time+ 011 a bush ” road,” but mostly a c r o s ~ open country. Mr. IlcLeod had his motor car with him, but most of the time i t \WS fastened by ropes t o the hind asle of the wapgun, and I tra\ellrd in it, trying to keep it straight behind the waggol1. There was often much Spinifex in large tussoc l~~, occaqional rocks, and sometimes thick scrub up to twel\re feet in height, but mhei ever the waggon went, the motor car had t o f o l l o ~ . sometimes we n-auld suddellly collie to the edge of a strep decliyity, and the camels had a cheerful way of going down it at a clumsy gallop, with the motor bouliding after it in a most exhilarating way, over all :Lnd sundry ohtacles, none of which I could see ahead of me on account ot’ the waggon. However, I never quite capsized the nlotor, and we reached tlie Minilya on 30 August. I did twelve days’ field-work there, and left on 1 2 September by mail coach drawn by five camels for Carnarvon. When forty miles south of tlie Minilya, I “ stopped off ” five days at a station owned b j Mr. Harry Chnpbell, another old friend of mine, as when passing through his country by mail coach on previous escursions I had seen some undoubted Clinzacteris in some of the “ Jam ” (dcacia acrimimta) timber that grew there, and thought they must be Climacteris wellsi, first obtained by Mr. Shortridge on the Upper Gascoyne River in 190s (see ‘Ibis’ 1909, p. 650), wlien the breeding-habits were not known. My surmise proved correct, and I found the birds breeding, as described later in this paper. Mr. Camp- .bell kindly motored me to (’iiriiarvoii on 1s September, and as the Gascoyne River had ceaqed flowing, the friendly aid of a camel, hooked on in front of the motor car, enabled us to cross the heavy sandy bed, about a mile in width, which is always very difficult for :I niotor to do unaided. I sailed froln Carnarvon to Dirk Hartog Island on 27 September.

The trip from which 1 hare recently returned was made in order to effect the sale of m y station a t Rroome Hill. I left Liverpool 30 October, 1918, travelling by ss. ‘ Carmania’ to New York; thence by railway to Montreal, Banff, and

688 Mr. T. Carter on sovie [Ibis,

Tancouver, " stopping off " a few daps at Banff, a i d being L L l i~ing up " at Vancouver for serenteen days ; thence I sailed 9 Deceinber via Honolulu, Fiji, and Aucklaiid to Sgdncy, where the steamer ant1 passengers were quarantined for :L nreli on account of the influenza epidemic, then raging gc~ierally a t :ill ports on tlie route. As the shipping strike liad stopped all coastal trtiffic, I went across Australia by the Tlans-C'ont,inental Railway to Perth, Western Australia, arriving 21 J~ I Iu :u~ , 1919. After completing my business, I ninde a collecting tour of eight hundred miles throng11 the sontli-west area, mostly by motor car with Mr. J. Highain, the owner of the car, and a Been field-naturalist. Unfor- tuiintelp, it was then the driest and hottest summer on record there ; birds were in full moult, and we were much incon- venienced by disastrous bush-fires, that Itad swept about half the country traversed. I returned t o Per th early in April with the intention of' cloiiig iiiore field-work in Shark Bay and Dirk Hartog Island ; but as the shipping strike still prevented coastal stenniers running, and then influenza spread to Western Australia, making local travelling very ditficult and unpleasant on account of the stringent health regulations, I reluctantly gave up my proposed trip and returned to England cia the Suez Canal, being very fortunate in obtaining it berth tliat an intending passenger had thrown up a t almost the last moment.

Dromiceius novshollandis woodwardi, When camped 3-4 September, 1911, at the artesian bore,

which is situated in long red sand ridges with much scrub on them, about twelve iniles east of hlaud's Landing, Euius mere coming to driiik in great iiunibers the M hole time at the ratlier extensive swamp caused Isy the overflow from the bore-pipe. The water at the pipe is so hot that I could not lieep my hand in it, and is too salt for human use. My horses refused to drink it, and they were thirsty. Owing to the drought tlieii prcvaililig, there wab no other water available for the Emus for a long distance. The remains of dead Eiiius that h id been entangled i n the paddock-fence

1920.1 Western Australian Biids. 6i3Y

wires were constantly seen on this trip, and as n o young birds were observed anywhere, i t may be presumed that the adults refrained from 1)reediug in such a dry se:ison, whicli abstinence is customary, :iceording to my experience. When a t Mltud’s Landing on 2 1 J u n d , 1916, a teamster hrought in niang eggs which lie told me he had obt,ained about fifty miles eastwards, where Emus were then breeding freely. It was :L good season, with abundant rains.

Tlie south-western subspecies of Elnu (rotltscI&A) wits not iincoinnioi1 about Lake isluir on lily visits there ill 1916 and 1919. One adult’ female shot there on 1 9 March, 1919, was quite devoid of f;tt, which is a rare occurrence, excepting in a drought. Tlie geiieixl p1uiii:ige of this snbspecies is much darker than that of those from the north-west area. Emus are not liked i n the south-west, owing to their eating the large seeds of the poisonous ‘’ Xamia ” Palm (illucvo:anziu), and so spreading the plants by voiding undigested seeds.

Leipoa ocellata ocellata. The Western Rlallee Fowl still breeds in the south-

wedern corner, from south of the Vasse River, and rouiid all tile south coast, and also in soine of the districts east of the Great Sout’herii Railti ay ; but t,heir breeding-placcs itre heing steadily reduced by the burning of the coastal scrubs, and the clearing :tnd cropping of the east.ern Bfk-lock and other thick scrubby areas, for agricultural purposes. I n Feb- ruary 1919 I flushed an adult in some scrub within one hundi-ed yards of a seleptor’s house where I was staying, fifty t ides east of‘ Broome Hill ; niid on 16 February, i n the s:iiiie locality, fluslied two young birds, about. the size of sinall pullets, from low scruh, close to the edge of a road along which I was drivilig at the t,ime. One of them appeared to fly with difficulty.

Mr. Higham and I were hoping to find some of these birds when w e camped near the nioubh of the Warren River in March 1919, but although we saw niany of their tracks under the dense “ Stinlrn-ood ” thickets that they frequent so much, we did not’ see one of the birds. The

688 Mr. T. Carter on Some [Ibis,

end of slimmer is about the worst time to find any of them, as the breeding-seaion is then over and they wander away from their nesting-inonnds, not returning much to them until they open them out for repairs earl) in winter. I n1ay meiition that the low\-t.r Warren district is extremely difficult to work on account of a dense scrnb, niucli swampy country, and immense steep sand-drifts.

Ypsilophorus ypsilophorus rogersi. Several Brovn Quails were fluslied at the Lyndon River

on 27 August, 1916, and A h . Guy McLeod told me tbat he and a friend had enjoyed some good shooting with them earlier in the year on the Minilya Kiver flats, where they mere very plentiful. A few were seen, and speciniens (soiditlus) obtained, close to Cape Leeunin in Ilaroh 1919.

Alphaturnia velox vinotincta. The Little Quail was found breeding at Point Clnates on

11 September, 1913, when small young, capable of flying, were seen. A l ~ o on tlie Minilya River in 1916, whpn fresh egg5 were taken on 9 XepteiiiLer. !Many of these birds were seen when driving north of Point Cloates. I l1:tve nei er obaeri ed this speciijs in Soutli-Vest Australia.

Geopelia placida clelandi. Western Grounci-Doves were very numerous in and about

the bed of the Gascoyne River and breeding freely on 18 September, 1911.

Stictopeleia cuneata mungi. Western Spotted-shouldered Doves were fairly coinmon

about river-beds and pools, but not so plentiful as the Ground-Doves. A good many were seen feeding in the bushes growing on the range' a t the Yardie Creek in September 1913. These birds were breeding about chrnarvon in September 1911 and 1913.

Phaps chalcoptera murchisoni. Bronze-winged Pigeons are diminishing in nunibers in

the >outh-west as agricultural settlement advances and the " Jam " trees (dcucia acuminata) ar0 cut dowu and destroyed.

igzo.] Western Austruliun Birds. 689

IIie seed$ ot‘tliis sinall tree are one of the fal-ourite footls of‘ the bird. A good many were observed east of Broome Hiil, and at one house I saw several, daily feeding with the domestic fowls on the grain etc. thrown out for them. Recently fledged young were seen a t Brooine Hill 011

16 January, 1916.

r l

Cosmopelia elegans neglecta. Brush Bronze-winged Pigeons are rapidly becoining less

in nurnhcr i n the sonth-west districts. A t present they appear to be most numerous between Cape Nataraliste and Augusta, wliere seyeral were seen in the coastal scrubs. They have a habit of coming out on the high roads, espe- cially about sunset. O n 21 March, 1916, I was hiding in tall rushes and scrub 011 the edge of a small “ d u b ” of water near Busselton, hoping to see soine Bronze-wings come in to drink at s u n d o ~ n , as is the custom of both varieties of these birds. After a while a large wild cat (i. e., a domestic cat living in a wild state) came straight to the water’s edge and had a long drink without not.icing me. Soon afterwards another did the same, so I thought, that I was well concealed. Tlieii a pair of Brush Bronze-wings walked in sight, having quietly alighted a t soine little distance. The leading bird saw nie a t once, and stopped a few’yards away from tlie water; so I surmised that t.hese birds Iritve a keener sense of danger than cats.

Lophophaps ferruginea ferruginea. Red-pluinetl Pigeons mere -very scarce at the Yardie

Creek in August 1913, only one party of three birds being seen during 111y ten days’ visit. In 1916 they were plentiful there ; also at other places on the ranges f u r t h r north, in the vicinity of rock-holes of water, from mhicli they never seein to go far away. The aboriginal iiaine (Tullangee tribe) for these birds is ‘’ Kool-brit.”

Ocyphaps lophotes whitlocki. Tvestern Crested Pigeons are now very inucii rarer in the

The Gascoylie district than thcly were thirty years ago.

690 blr. T. Carter on some [Ibis,

only place mliere any were seen on my 1911, 1913, and 1916 trips was on a station sixty miles nortli of C u n a r r o n , where niany 1)atclies of " Jam " trees grew. A good inany were seen there about the wells.

Porzanoidea plumbea roberti. The Western Spotless Cralie is a re ry unobtrusiye and

shy specics, not ventri.ring niixch out of the shelter of dense rushes or grass. :I Iiaye obtained speciniens and seen the birds froin Albany to Lake (jraigie (about twenty wiles iiorth of Pertli) in wine of' tlie niimerous large reedy swamps and lalres. They were coninion in January 1916 in the large freshwater lalies iiexr Lake Muir, and also in !&larch 1919. An irnmitiire esampIe, nlrnost full grown, was shot. there on 21 Jaiiuary, 1916. Nr. Muir informed me t h a t his domestic cat occasionally caught one of these birds and brought i t to liis house. I have the skin of one so obtained. The loud harsh notes of these Crakes are inore often heard than the birds themselves are seen. They are most frequently observed in the early niorning or about sunset.

Microtribonyx ventralis ventralis. On 17 April, 1919, large numbers of Black-tailed Natii-e

Hens appeared on the Vasse River, at Busselton, where I mas staying a t the time. Residents of that town told nie that i t was fourteen years since :i sirnilsir irruption had occurred. Three of the birds that I shot were in good plump condition. When I was staying in Perth, during the second week of May, great numbers of' these birds came to tlie artificial " lakes " of Queen's Gardens and Hyde Park, well within the city boundaries, and mere there for a few days, lout then disappeared. On 23 May 1 w a s staying with a friend about o ~ i e hundred and forty miles inland (east) froin Perth and we s i i w soine hundreds of these " Swamp-Hens," as: they are usually called, 011 the edge of a brackish lake, while other smaller parties were seen at various places remote froin water. A few were noticed by me on 7 September, 1916, at a pool near the illinil~a Kiver, and 1 saw sollie of their eggs that liad been obtained a few clays before that date.

1920.) Western AustraZinn Birds. 691

Gallinnla tenebrosa magnirostris. Western Black 3loorhens are not unconin~on in some of

the numerons large swamps in the south-west, but appear to be local in distribution. Mr. H i g h n and I obtained several specimens in deep swampy pools near the mouth of the Warren River in March 191$), and lost others that were shot. It was :I rery unpleasant and sometimes risliy proceeding to retriere them, owing to deep water, uriknown depths of mud, and treacherous weeds and rushes. There were also unlimited numbers of large water-leeches, and venoinons bl;icli snakes abounded in the rushy edges of t,he swamps. Howerer, Mr . Higham was always game enough to ni:ike an attPmpt to recover any birds that were shot in such places. This species occiirs on some of the lalies in the iieiglibourhood of Perth, and we obtained specinlens at Girgin, fifty miles north of ti1a.t city. After a careful comparison hp Mr. IT. B. Alexander and myself of specimens of this bird from t.he Eastern Smtw and West Aiistralin, we agree that t'liey are subspecificnlly distinct, :IS first s h o ~ i i by Mr. M:ithem.

a. Ad. 9 . &gin, 1s May, 1919. Bill (lark green, yellowis11 tips ; legs and feet olive-brown ; linee-

Bill mot- t.led green and black ; Inse of lower tiiandiblc green ; frontal plate black ; feet and legs grass-(,-reen. n

, joint red. b. Imiri. 9 . Warren Rirer, 2s Marcli, 191'3.

Porphyrio bellus. The Blue Bald C'oot is cotninon about the i n anips and

riTer-banks of tbe south-wept. \\'lien a t the \V:irrm RiTer, Mr. Higham and I noticed one of tliese birds (pre- sumably the saine one) 011 se\cral occasions feeding on a tussocky flat, and as 17 e approaclied i t 1):- a cattIe-~):ith, i t crouched do\\r.n and : i l l o ~ e d us to paks witliin a few feet. This x t s a Tery poor attempt at conceilinent, no use being In:ide by the bird of l u g e grass tussocks close to it. 111 Mathewa's ' Birds of Australia,' vol. i. pt. 5 , p. 238, tile plate O K a male bird collected by myself at Albany,


8 February, 1905, liad green feet, legs. and joints, nnd in niy dewription of an adult niale tlie tarai and feet are given as olive-green. There are three skin3 in niy collection here, labelled respecti\ ely :-

(c. 6. Gordon River, South-West Australia, 4 April,

6. 6. Lake Muir, 16 March, 1919. Feet and legs

C . Imm. 9 . Albany, 26 December, 1913. Feet and

So there appear to be considerable variations in the

The aboriginal name for this species in the south-west

1911.

salmon-pink, joints greenish.

legs reddish olive.

Legs and feet yellowish pink, joints brown.

colouring of these parts.

is “ Moolar.”

Fulica atra australis. Western Coots apprar to be local in distribntion in

TYestern Australia, and are not common according to my experience. A pair was seen on the Vasse River, 12 Feb- ruary, 1916. a sinall party on a pool a t the Lyndon River, 28 August, 1916, and one on a pool near the Minilpa River 011 5 September, while several occurred near the mouth of the Warren River in March 1919.

Podiceps cristatus christiani. Australian Tippet-Grebes were seen on Lake Muir in

nqarcll 1919, a sinall party of them keeping far out in the I&e. No tippets were observed through mg binoculars. Mr. J. Drumtnond, of Perth, told me he saw a specimen that was shot by one of a duck-shooting party a t Chittering 011 27 March, 1916, when he was one of the party.

Tachybaptes ruficollis carterae. Western Bla,clcli-tliroated Grebes were observed at Lake

M u i r and other localities during my trip.

Poliocephalus poliocephalus cloatesi. \Vestern Hoary-lieadetl Grebes were seen on a large pool

on the Lyndon River, 27 August, 1916, and there were inany adult and immature birds on the Vasse River in April 1919,


Petrella capensis australis. When I was on Dirk Hartog Island, 4 October, 1916,

there was an exc:eptionally heary g:ile (for that district) blowing from the north to north-I? est. The Gorerii~iient “ fish ” steamer, the ‘ UII~,’ left Freiriantle that evening for Shark Bay, hut had to put Lack, owing to the tremen- dous beas outside. N r . J. H. Blead, who a t that time O M lied the Peron Peninsula sheep stn tion, was a passenger on the ‘ Una,) which eventually arrired in Shark Ray on 10 October. H e told me that when the steamer again left Prernantle tlie captain of it called his attention to the numerous “Cape Pigeons” that followed and flew around the ‘Ui ia ’ until close to Geraldton. The captain knew tlie birds well, and ,said lie had never previously seen them off that part of the Australian coast. There are no details of any definite record of tliis species occurring in Australian seas in DLithems’s ‘ Birds of Australia,’ aiid his Reference List of 1913 states : “Range . East Australia and New Zealand seas” ; so I think the above is wortliy of record and is quite reliahle.

? Nealbatrus chlororhynchus. No AIhatro,qes mere obtained, but when going t)y mhaling-

tug to Cnriiarvoii on 1 2 September, 1913, I saw a good inaiiy soon after getting clear of the Point Cloates reef’s. The birds seen had dark bhcl i i ,~h wings and backs, wliite heads, neclis, and under parts, and, tlirorigli my binocmlars, their bills all appeared to be quite blncli, ;IS ia the case in ,l’ealbats.cls clilo~o~li~~~~?i~Ls cartmi, which w a s got close t 11 ere .

Chlidonias leucoptera grisea. 011 2 June, 1919, Nr . W. B. A41csander of the Western

Australian Museuni and I saw iiiany Anstraliaii White- \ & p d Terns flying and feeding over the tall rushes gro\yiiig in Herd~ii;iii’s Lakg near Pcrth. The first recorded occurrence of these biids in \\Testern Au,itralia v a q early in 1917 (see A h , Alexander’s account in ‘ Eiiiu,’ TO]. siii. p. 95).

694 Mr. T. Carter on some [ Ihis,

Hydroprogne caspia strenua. On 4 September, 1913, I fount1 a young example, in down,

ot the Au~tral ian Caspian Tern at the month of the Yardie (’reek. Other hirds were breeding on the tops of bare sand- drifts at Point Cloatci, 5 July, 1916.

Thalasseus bergii gweadolens. TYestern (‘rested Terns were plcntifnl at Point C‘loates

and Naud’s Landing on the three visits made there ; also a t C‘ape Naturaliste and Cape Lesumin, hile a few were seen at Lake Muir, where a specimen was shot for identification.

Bruchigavia novaehollandiae longirostris. Western Silver Gulls were nuinerous on all parts of the

coast visited. A good ~i iany mere seen a t Lake Muir in Narch 1919, where they sometimes breed on the small islauds in the Lake.

Gabianus pacificus georgi. The first date on which I saw Western Pacific Gulls a t

Carnarvon was in September 1913. They are not plentiful, but have now extended their range to Point Cloates, where 11011e were seen during my thirteen years’ residence. My own opinion is that they went there to feed on the carcases of tlie hundreds of dead whales that lay along the bexch from Illaucl’s Laiiding to the North- West Cape in 1913, the bliither having been stripped from tliein by the whalers on the factor ship who then set them adrift. Some of tliese birds were seen a t the whaling station near Point (2lontes on 6 Septeinloer, 1913.

Arenaria interpres oahuensis. A few Eastern Turnstones were seen at Point Cloates 011

28 June, 1916.

Hsmatopus ostralegus picatus. Pied Oystercatchers mere common on all trips from Shark

This species is not nearly so Bay to North-West (kpe. iiuinerous in the south-west as it is further iiorth,

1920.1 Western Australian Birds. 695

Zonifer tricolor gwendolenae. Western Black-breasted Plovers were coiistantly seen

abont B r o o m Hill and forty miles east of that place. Also a t TToolun(lra and around there, one hundred and forty miles east f rom Perth, in Mag 1919. When staying a t Busselton on tlie Vasse River in April 1919, I noticed small partips of thein on ~ I X S S F cleared land, and having never seen these birds before in that locality on my nurtlerous visits there, I enqui rd of the f:mner who owned the land how long the Plovers had been there. He told me that a pair of them had arrived a few years previously and that they had increased in numbers vcrg quiclily.

Squatarola squatarola hypomelas. Eastern Grey Plovers mere numerous and in flocks

during the last week of Septeinber 1913 on the wide sand and inud-flats a t the mouth of the north branch of the Gawoyne River. Xnny of them still retained much of the black plainage on tlieir hen-ts. I never saw such a " wave " of wrders returning froin t i i ~ i r breeding-quarters as there was during the ahoi-e weel;.

Pluvialis doininicus fulvus. A party of six Leszei. Golden 7i'lovers were seen a t

Ci~rnarvon on 6 September, 1'313, and by the end of that niontli the birds \+ere very plentiful along the beaches.

Pagoa leschenaulti. Prorri 2-i Septomber, 1913, and the end of that mollth,

Large Sand-l>ott~erels were seen in flocks 011 the tidal estuaries of the Gascojne River and ;idjaceut beaches. Many v e n t further up tlie r iwr, feeding on the edges of :L large freshi\.ater pool. I 1)iclicd up a dead bird on the bridge of the light ra i lmy for t l lc jetty, across the south branch of the Gnscoj-ilc! IZiver, t ha t had evidently been 1rilIec-l Ly striking one of the telephone ;\ires.

S E R . XI:--VOL. 11. :$ A


Eupodella vereda. A small flock of Oriental Ootterels was seen on 2 September,

1911, 011 the large salt iiiarsh a t $laud's Landing. I was unable to obtain any specimens, as they were very wild. They I d evidently just arrived, for I had crossed the marsh daily f rom 23 Augnst without seeing any. When returning to Carnarvon I,? inail coach 011 the same trip on 13 Sep- tenibrr, I saw some of these Dotterels on a scrubby flat about thirty miles inland. The driver kindly waited while I tried to shoot a specimen, but I could not get within gunshot. IJ'Iien at Point Cloates o n 8 September, 1913, the first party of these birds v a s seen on a salt niarsh there.

Leucopolius ruficapillus tormenti. A few Red-capped Dotterel were seen on 2 August, 1916,

a t ii mangrove 3wamp sooth of the North-West Cape, and on 2 1 August I came iipoii four young birds, only jus t hatched ant1 attended by the mother, on the salt marsh a t $!laud's Landing. Later in the day half-grown young birds were seen a t the sanir iiiarsb, wliicli contained a few sliallow pools of salt nater. On 2 March, 1916, I siiw many on the beach at Cape lleiitelle.

Charadrius cucullatus tregellasi. Western Iloodrd Dotterels were plentiful along the beach

nexr Cape Aleiitclle in March 1916, and some were seen a t Cape Leenwin early in April 1919. When I shot one and only winged it, the remainder of the birds showed great concern for their wounded coinpanion, and would not leave it until I walked aniong them to pick it up.

Elseya melanops melanops. A few Black-froiitrd Dotterels mere seen at Broadwater,

near Busselton, on 15 February, 1916, and at a stock tank on 111y Brooine Hill property o n 8 January, 1916.

Himantopus leucocephalns assimilis. A few Nortliern White-headed Stilts were seen a t a pool

near tlie Minil) a River on 5 September, 1911.


Cladorhynchns lencocephalns. No Banded Stilts were seen by me, h i t when at Carnnrvon

in 1316 lUr. Angelo told tile that lie had seen hundreds in 1915 at a salt inarsh and tnangroue creek there, and had shot several. Also that he had observed thein on previous occ.isions a t the sattie place.

Numenins cyanopus. A ~iiirty of nine Australian (.'urlews was see11 at Camarvon

on ti August, 191 1, :itid iiiany more in Septe1nber of tliat ywr . Oil 11 August, 1313, tlrese birds were fairly conlilion at C';irti:ir\.uti n ~ i d they \\'ere very tiutiierous late i l l Septeliibcr. h w x l were reeii tliere 09 5 June, 1916, atid :~lso a t Point C'loatss 011 28 Julie, nncl p i i r of tltetii 011 2 August iieiir the North-\Vest Cape.

Phaeopus phaeopus variegatus. Enst.eru Wliltiittbrel b e p i to be ttiiIiierous at Cariiuvoii by

16 Sq)teib)ber, ILII3, on wliicli Jute I shot three, which were all ~ f e m d r s : a n d had becn feeding on stiiall crabs obtained iii a titangrove creek. By t,hc eiiil ot' that 11i01itli they were seen in I:tge Hocks a t tlio iiort,li mouth of Gascoytie River. On 5 Jtttie, 1916, several wcre seeti at (hriiarvoii, and a pair occrirrccl itear the Kortli-West Cape on 2 Auguut. It is curious tliirt I tiever S:LW ai?y of these birds at Point Cloutcs; perliaps it is because tliere is no iiiud t h e .

Vetola lapponica baneri. Eastern Barrcd-riitiipcd Godwits were fairly coininon a t

Carttarvon on Seliteiiiber 1913, and on 1 October were feeding with ~Yliittibrels in large floclrs. Tlte Goilwits seein to put the wliole of their I t c a t I r j under water wliile feedi:ig iiiore ofteti tlian iiiost w d e r s do.

Heteractitis incanns brevipes. C;rey-rutiiped Satidpipers were plentiful on the Clariiarvoii

beacl:es during the last ~ v e c k of Septeiuber 1313 and also 011

10 Julie, 1916, wlteii soiiie siiecitiiens were obtained. A few were seeii on 2 August, 1916, :it mangrove flats a little south of the North-West G p e .

3 A 2

658 Mr. T. Carter on some [ IblS,

Actitis hypoleucus. Common Sandpipers were inore plentifiil about Cariiarvon

in September 1913 than ever previously observed by ine there. Two were seen on the Vasse River-12 February, 1916, and several a t Carnarvon on 1 June, 1919, and also in September of that year. This bird continually ‘. bobs ” its head up and down.

Terekitl cinerea. Several Terelr Sandpipers were seen at Cariiarvon on

2 1 September, 1911, and specinleiis were obtained.

Glottis nebularius. Two Greenshanks were seen at Carnarvon on 2 1 Septein-

ber, 1911, and one on 29 September a t a freshwater pool in the river. Odd birds were nlbo Seen about Cnrnarvon in September 1913. I got very badly bogged there in trying to retrieve one shot in mangroves.

Rhyacophilus glareola. Three Wood-Sandpipers were at the artesian-bore swami),

east of M a u d ’ ~ Landing, on 4 Srpteinber, 1311. They \\ere very wary, but one WIS shot for identifi~~ttion. This is the only occasion on which I have been tliis species during iny thirty odd years’ residence in Australia. The scapularies of the aboue speciiiiens are boldly ‘* toothed ” on tli? outer edges, and it loolis :is if the white marks, mliich presuinably had been there to correspond with those present 011 the inner edges, have been either worn away or bitten out by the bird.

Crocethia leucophaea tridactyla. Several Eastern Sanderlings were observed about Point

Cloates :it the end of J u n e 191G, and one was seen at Cape Mentelle on 2 March, 1916.

Pisobia ruficollis. Large flocks of Red-necked Stint9 were on the Carnnrroii

Many of them benches tlie last week of September 1913. still retained some of the ruEous breeding-plumage.


Erolia ferruginea chinensis. Xany Eastern Curlew-Sandpipers Tvere seen about Car-

n:irvon 21 September, 1911, and on 11 August, 1913; a flock of about fifty were feeding a t the edge of a freshwater pool in the Gascoyne River two miles from the sea.

Cnnutus canutus rogersi. E:istern Knots were fairly coniiiion at Cnrnarvon from

21 Septeinber, 1911, to the end of that month, and also during the same period in 1916. A specimen shot on 20 September, 1916, still retained some of the rufous breeding-pluniage on its under parts and blackish feathers on the mantle.

Anteliotringa tenuirostris. Great Knots were feeding with the above species,

and specimens were obtained 20 September, 1911, and 20 Sept.ember, 1916.

Glareola maldivarum orientalis. I have a skin of an Oriental Pratincole sent to me for

identification by Mr. G. Baston, who shot i t a t Maiid's Lauding 13 May, 1912. This species used to be seen by irie a t Point Cloates in stormy weather with northerly minds.

Orthorhamphus magnirostris neglectus. A pair of this fine and very wary species, the Long-billed

Stone-Plover, was seen on the beach on 5 September, 1913, a few miles south of Yardie C'reeli. After much trouble 1 shot one of them, hiit it fell far out to sea. Auother pair W;IS seen on 27 J ~ i l y , 1916, about twenty miles north of the Yardie Creek (at the shingly ridge where I found an egg of this bird 011 24 October, 1900). As I could not get near the birds, 1 told the lilncltfellow with me to m:iBe a long detonr past them, and slowly drive them towards me to where I was hidden bt.hitid a rock on the brach. The ruse was successful, and I obtained the fernale, which was breeding. Another pair was seen further north on 4 August.


Austrotis australis derbyi. Owing to the drought in 1911, Australian BLi4xrds IT ere

rarely seen: biit they mere plentiful in 1913 and 1916 Erorn Shark Bay northwards. When 1 was enjoying the hospitality of Mr. Gixy McLeod a t the Blinilra River in September 1916, he drove me ont in his motor car in order to try to shoot a “Turkey ” or two. The method employed is to “ r ~ i s h ” the motor straight towards a feeding hird, so as to get within shooting range, a n d stop the car beEore the heavy creature caii risc. We secured a fine Turkey that weighed 1 6 lbs. and was 7 feet in cxpanse of wing.

Carphibis spinicollis. Straw-necked Ibises were numerous in the illinilya River

district in August 1911, when a drought prevailed. On I September, 1913, I picked up the remains of an iin- inaturc bird near one of the pools in the stony bed of the Yardie Creek. It must have been reared somewhere in that area the $nine year, but I saw no living Ibises OE that trip. They were very plentifnl on the Minilya Station in 1916, and in April 1919 I saw scveral about the Vasse River, mostly single birds or pairs. I was inforined on good authority that this species made its first appearaiice in the Albany district in 1892, and caused mnch comment as to i t5 identity ; also that i t mas then plentiful ahout Cape Riche, fifty miles east of Albany. [The first recorded appearance of Straw-necked Ibises in IVestern Australia W:IS

a t Derby, in the far north, hy Captain Bowyer Bower in 18S6, the next to the south at the Yinilya River in 1888 (see ‘ Zoologist,’ July 1889, Carter), and the first record of hrePdiijg in Weitern Australia was in October 1900 (see ‘ Zoologist,’ Jiilp 1901, Clarter).]

Platibis flavipes . On 20 April, 1911, I shot one of a pair of Tellow-billed

Spoonbills at a pool near the l l inilya River, the only occasion on which I hare seen this species ; tlloiigh for several years previous to that (late I had been tolil of White Ibises liaying been seen ; but I now think that SpoonlilIs hnrd been

1920.1 Western Australian Birds. 70 1

mistaken for Ibises, as, when viewed a t a certain angle, the beak of a Spoonbill appears to have the same curve as t,hat of an Ibis.

Egretta garzetta immaculata. A pair of Lesser Egrets were seen a t a large pool on the

Lyndon River on 28 August, 1916. I was unable t o obtain a specimen, a s they were very wary, but could plainly see their black hills and legs through my binocu1:lrs.

Demiegretta greyi. On 26 August, 1913, a pair of White Reef-Herons was

seen a t the Yardie Creek. On 5 July, 1916, I shot, a white specimen on the beach at Point Cloates, untloubt.ed1-y breeding. On 23 August, 1916, I took three fresh eggs froin the nest of a pair of Blue Reef-Herons, h i l t on a low cliff, fifty miles south of Point Cloates. When Mr. Higham and I were a t Cape Leeuwin on 9 April, 1919, he shot a Reef- Heron, and when I co inpmd it., in November last, with ot2her specimens in niy collrct,ion from further nort,h, I fonnd that i t differed from any of them ; so I sent, it on to Vr. M:ithews with other examples, calling his attention to the differences. He described i t as Ilemiegrctta matook carteri subsp. nov. in Bull. B. 0, C. vol. xl. p. 7 5 .

Nycticorax caledonicus hilli. Austriiliau Night-Herons were extremely abnnclant, hoth

in adult and immature spotted plumage, on the V:lsse River in February and March 1916, but I did not see a single bird there in April 1919.

Butorides striata stagnatilis. Only one Little Mangrove-Bittern wa. observed. It was

a breeding male, and was obtained in some inailgroves near Carnarvon on 23 Septeinher, 1911, but I could find no nest:. As is usual with this bird, it was very wary, and after kleiiig flushed several times and crerit,ually '' marked tlomn '' i n a small patch of mangroves, it assumed an erect Po-ition, w i t h its bill pointing upwards, and was then difficult to see ainongst the straight yellowish stems of the young ninngro\~es.


Dupetor flavicollis gouldi. A few Yellow-necked Bittern< were seen about tlic

Vasse River, but they were not so coininon as in pre\ious Fears.

Botaurus poiciloptilus westralensis. The aboie note also np;,lies to tire West Au3tralian

Bittern.

Chenopis atra roberti. Black Swans were nunierous on Lake Muir in 1916 and

1919, while a good niatiy were seen at Augusta (near the mouth of tlie Blackwood Hivet.) and also on tlie Swan River. The aboriginal mine for this species about Lalie Muir is “ I\lar-Iee.”

Casarca tadornoides australis. Monritain Docks were very scarce at Lake Muir in March

1919, where they usnally occur i n tlious:intIs, the reason perhaps being that tlie lake was fuller then than nas ever previously lmo~vn, and the water was alniost fresh. This fulness of tlie lake was remarliirble, as the 1918-19 season u a s most exception:~lly dry and hot. These ducks were plentiful tlrere in Jaii~iarg‘ 1916, whe!i tlie vater was very low and salt, so low that it mas alniost impossible t o shoot any, owing to absence of cover f r o m which to approach the edge. Very large flocks of these birds \ \ere seen on 24 M;iy, 1919, at :L salt 1:ike one liundred :w(l forty miles east of Perth.

Anas superciliosa rogersi. Black Ducks x e r e plentiful i n the large fresl1watc.r lakes

xiear Lake B h i r i n January 1‘316. 1 saw tl brood of nine young in tioivn only a few dnys old on 29 J:uiuary, and &lr. X u i r told nie that lie saw two similar broods on other swanips ahout tlie same tiate. In the south-west area this species usually breeds from July to Septeniber. From the middle of April until the end of X a y in 1919 tnere were hundrcds of wild Black Ducks on the artificial pools in

1920.1 TVestern Aiistralian Bit.&. 703

Queen’s Garden.;, Eilst Pertli, : inc] also in Hyde P;lrlc Gardims, North Perth. On one oceasioll I coullte(l roughly six hundred of thein 011 :t 1’001 :tbont One jlundrecl )-ards in diameter. They crowded to the b:inlis to be fed 011 bi.cuits etc. by visitors and children, but would not actually feed from the l ~ i n d , tho11gh I constantly had odd birds vpntu1.e within three or four feet of my outstretched hand holding food out for t!rem. On the approach of evening tlle birds all loft tlre Gardens to feed on the shallow Illud-flats of tile acljaceiit Swan River, n here tlipy again assuined their 11su:Li shyness. AS soon as tlie first winter-rains fell (ill early June) they all left the Garcltln pools.

Virago castanea. Green-hearled Teal were very scarce a t Lake Muir in

J:inuarp 1916, and difficult to obtain, owing to the lowness of the water. Wliile I was there a shooting party obtained about six oE theni on a freslib1:iter swamp :idjacent to the lake. One of the party told nie that tliede bird.; go to this sinall secluded swamp for shelter in 11 indy weather. I did not see a single individual :it Lake Dluir in March 1913, perhaps because the water was then fresh and qiiite drinlmblr. Whcll T w:is a t Carnarvon in 1916, Mr. Angelo told me that lie had often seen and shot Green-headed Teal in a large and deep mangrove creek some miles nortb of Carnarvon, but that he had never seen ally away fj‘oi~i ?,onnyrows.

Early in Angust 1916 I camped a t a large patch of inangroves south of tlie North- \Yes1 Cape, hoping to obtain some specimens and ilialie ohservations, as I had often seen these birds there in prerious years. HoMever, there was only one pair, aticl af ter much trouble I shot one of them, just when it as altl~ost dark, after sundown, at a rallgr of a f c m yartls. I t mas a female bird just assuming thc cliestnnt-coloLir~~1 Iireast, but had no green on its head or necb n11d ~ v a s not breeding at the time, A few days afterwards, \~‘11e1i I 11 ns staying with Mr. A. Campbell, who lives further north, he told me that he frequently saw


Green-headed Teal at these mangroves, and has obtained their nests and e g p . The nests are uaually in the scrub and herbage around the matigrove swamp.

Virago gibberifrons rogersi. Some iintnnture Western Teal were shot a t a pool (fresh-

witer) twentj--five iiiiles up the Gascoyne River on 14 Sep- tember, 1913. A few were observed at Lake Mnir in January 1916, but no specimens could be obtained, and otbers, with stn~rll young, were seen at a freshwater pool near the Ninilya River on 10 September, 1916.

Stictonetta naevosa. Some Freckled Dnclis were shot on 14 September, 1913,

on a pool in tlie Gascoylie River.

Nyroca australis. On two occasions in May I919 I saw a single White-eyed

Duck swiniining in the pools in Queen's Gardens, Pertli, in company with hundreds of Ulac~.; Dnclts, a s previously mentioned, but it was very shy a n d would not come near the banks.

Biziura lobata. 14liisli-Di1cks mere coinmon on all the lakes and s t v a ~ n ~ ~ s

visited in the soutli-v ebt area. I n January 1916 iinnrature birds of various sizes were noted in tlie freshwater swamp a t Lake Muir. Wlieii I \%as sitting by the edge of one of these swamps, well concealetl :inlongst sonic paper-hark sci ub, I was one day able t o n atch an old drake " displaying " on the water. I t s liead was i l i r0~~1.n well h c k , and its tail slowly spread up~varcis over its back ; tlien by siinultaneous inoveiiieiits tlie head was tlirust forwards to the mater, but apparently not u 2 2 d e ~ it, tile widespread tail was jerked down to the water behind, and each foot thrust out sideways with outslwead webs, j m t on the n ater surface, the result being a very resonant " plonk " ; but what actually produced this noise i t was impossible to decide-whether it was vocal or caused by tail and feet meeting the water,


phalacr ocorax car bo nov zehollandis . Black Cormorants \\.ere ohserved in the south-western

districts, and some apeciniens obtained, but none of them 11:d white patches on their thighs, perhaps because my trips did not coincide mit!i t h e breeding-seasons.

Mesocarbo ater. Little Black Cormorants were unusually plentiful round

(,hrnxrvon in Septem1)er 191~1, both in mangroves and at pooli; in the Gascoylie River. Several were observed lying tle:d, and upon post-niorteni examinations were found to be in a very emaciated condition, with inflamed kidneys. A few of t1ie.e birds were ,seen on the Vasse River in Frl,rnary 1916.

Hypoleucus varius perthi. Pied Corrnornnts were conimon from Shark Bay and

along the coast t o North-West Chl'e. [Mathews's Reference List. 19 13, includes Sonth-West Anstmlia in the range of both tliis bird and / I ~ ~ o Z P ~ / ~ ~ ~ / S jiiscescens, and neit,lier of them is given a s occurring in Blid-West or North-West Australia, where 11. ~ P L I Y I ' I ~ S is ahundan t. I believe tliat H. ,fuswscens has not, heen recotdetl west of Albany (if as far as there).]

Anhinga novshollandiae. X o Darters were s e m on any of iny trips until 2 June,

1919, w11t-ii Ah. Tv. 13. Alexander and I saw from twenty to thirty in the course of :I walk round Herdiiian's Lake and an overflow froin i t . Most of those iiot'iced were perched on snags, or dead trees in the mat,er, wit'h outstretched wings. It is rather curioiis that until the above date I had only seen one living k)ird during nry long residence in Australia. Mr. Alexander told me that some of these birds can generally be seen a t the above lake.

Sulita serrator dyotti. No Australian Gminets were observed, and no one of the

niaiiy persons wi th \I l~oin T conversed on tlie several trips could tell me of' :iny having I)een seen along the south-west coasts t o the west of Albnny.

706 Mr. 1'. Carter on some [Ibis,

Catoptropelicanus conspicillatus westralis. A f e w Wesi.ern Pelicans could be seen almost daily about

the niontlis oE the Gascoyne River, and on 13 September, 1913, I saw a flock of about one hiindretl.

Circus assimilis rogersi. Lesser Spotted Hnrricrs were coninion from Cariiarvon

northwards in 1913 and 1916, as they usually are there aEter good winter r:iins. On S Septeniber, 1911, I s:iw one of these birds strike a B r o ~ n Hawk down to the ground as it was passing in front. It seemed to be merely a nanton action, as tile Harrier took no notice of the f:tllen Hawk.

Urospiza fasciata cruenta. Lesser Goshawks were noted i n most districts visited on

my different trips. -4 particularly fine I'eniale was obtained by me at the Vasse River i n February 1916, nieasuriiig : total length 500 nini., wing 320 mni. On 30 Julie, 1916, one shot at Point Cloates had its crop fu l l of grasshoppers.

Uroaetus audax carteri. Western Wedge-tailed Fngles were occasionally observed,

and are still fairly iiunierous ; but tlir?y are gradually tiecrw+ ing, owing to constant perscmilion. When a t Maud's Landing in September 1911, Bir. C. French gaye me an egg that he said lie had olhined from a nest near that place on 12 August, which is late for t'liis species to liave eggs. I n January 1916 the wife of a neiglibour ~ v h o lived close t o niy Broome Hill St:!tioii told me that she had recently liad three fine tame geese Irilletl by these hirds close to lter house. On 1 2 August, 1916, I climbed above a nest (in :I ledge of cliff in t,he ranges north of Yardie Creek, and saw two joung birds in down in it. One of the pirents had flown f rom the nest and circled round me, whic:lt called my attelltion to it. Several were see:) about Augusta in March 1919, and when at 'T.T.roolii~idra i n hIay I S:IW one of these Eagles flying with soiiiet.lting in its feet., n-ltich it ereiituallJ- dropped as I approached. It was a freshly-killed full-growl1 rabbit.

I 920.1 Western Austiuliaa Birds. TO7

Cuncuma leucogaster. White-bellied Sea-Eagles were observed iii several places

froiii Shark B;iy to the Xorth-West Cape. Sonit. were also eeeu at Augush in M : d i 1913. 011 1,” August, 1911, a pair of eggs \VM tnlieli froin :L nest wliich Ospreys liad originally built, n o t far froin ?rI:iud’s Landing. This nest was fully six feet in Iieiglit, 011 a pinnacle of rock. On 26 August, 1913, I saw yoniig birds in a nest on a liigh cliff at Yardie Creek, where t’liese Eagles had reared tlieir broods for many genre, wlten I resided at Point Cloates. On this occasion 1 was taking a series of photographs of the won- derful creek, and serer:d times, while standing on the edge of :L liigh cliff; one ot’ the adult Eagles caiiie swooping froin bchintl me, allnost toiicliing irie with ihe t ip of it.; wing a s it ptissed. At last I became annoyed with the bird, as its actions might, have led to a fatal accident, so shot it. It was a feiride, and the siiine afternoon I saw the male .Lrooding over tlie y o u n g i n tlie nest. On 26 June, 1916, I took two incubated eggs froin a iiest built on t l i u edge of a cliff soine miles south of Point Cloates, where these birds liacl nested for inaiiy years. bylien passing there on my return journey on 19 Bugust,, the sanie year, tliere was aiiother pair of eggs in the nest, also inuch incubated.

When staging with Mr. (1;iiripbell near the North-Wwt Cape in August l ! f l G , lie told me t h t lie had several times seen a wliolly wliite Sea-Kagle in tile Esinouth Gulf just round tlie Cape. The aborigiiies also told I ~ I A of it, giving their own name for it: “ ‘l‘antagee,” and were very anxious for me to shoot it, :IS being such a rarit,y.

Haliastur indus leucosternus. TVliite-headed Se;i-Eagles are corninon along tlie coast

fro111 C:~riiarvou nortli\vartl~, especi:tlIy in t,he vicinity of Inangroves. The ahoiiginal ii:iiiie in the Nort,li-West C:ipe district for tliis species is ‘’ Iiidee-iiarraii~ee.” TYheii at Carn,zrvo11 in Septcttibrr 1913 I frequently P ~ Z W a party of four IJirds flying togetlier, all in immature plunxige, but t.lieF could hardly be one brood. 011 1 August, 1916, I climbed

708 hlr. T. Carter on some [Ibis,

to a nest about twenty-fire feet abort., thc vnter, in a large dead inangrove-tree a little sooth of the Sortli-TYcast Cape. The nest was bulky atid rtincle entirely o f Fticli+, h i e d uitli sillall twigs. I t contained oiie egg, niuch i i icuhtc>d.

Haliastur sph enur us. The Whistling E:tgle is fairly cotiinioii nbont t he Lower

Swan River, but is not o h i i seen soritli of that district. In the Gascoyne and more iiurtlierii areas it is I I L I I ~ ~ P I ' O ~ I P , aud w a s particularly so aliout tlie JIiiiilj-:i River in Scptcillljer 1916, where it \ m s flying about in sn1:1ll florlis of twel\.t! to twenty i n iiixiiiber. It also \\.as coniinonly scen t1iei.c iu Xepteiiiber l!) 11, ant1 was rather a i i u i s i i i w a t 1 itiivs? :I.? on

one occasion when I had shot a pair of Stilts (Hitnuntopits Zeztcocep/mZus) at n pool, :I Whistling ~ a g ~ c swoopec~ down in front of me, ant1 with its I'eet piclied one of the tlcatl birds of€ the stirface of the water witliiii a fc\y yards o f me. Another tlity I shot an Einu a t t.lit! same pool and roughly skinned it. As I WIS cwi-jitjg t,ho skin on tiiy sliouldchrs, several of these Eagles folio\ved ine aiitl kel't, iiinkiiig s\voops down a t it until I shot one of tliein. [Hecotdecl i n " Food of Diuriial Birds of Prey," JStii i i , vol. s\-iii. p. 93.1

Elanus notatus parryi. Two Black-shouldered Kites were seen at a pool i i m r the

Minilya River on I September, 1916. Mr. AlClcLc.oc1 told me that these birds Iincl beon very nii11icroiis there a f e w weeks before tlia t date.

Palco longipennis murchisonianus. Several Murcliisoii LittJe Fdaoiis were seen about Lalie

Muir in March 1919. They :ire niore plentiEul there tlian in any other locality I have visited.

Ieracidea berigora occidentalis. Brown Hawks a re by Ear the coiiiinonest birds.of-prey i n

Western Australia, and n ere seen da i i j . I sliot one a t Lalie Muir on 21 January, 1916, that app:treiitly had deaigiis 011

1920.] Western Australian Birds. 709

the poultry a t the homestead, but examination of its crop prored that i t had been feeding entirely on various grubs and large caterpillars.

Cerchneis cenchroides unicolor. \Vestralian Nanlieen-Kestrels were observed in most

dibtricts, but most nunierously in the mid-west. I n 1911 t h e birds nere dying from some disea<e about the Minilja Riser. 1 saw several dead, and Mr. McLeod told me tllat he had also noticed many.

[I ha le never seen a Kestrel resembling the Cerc.h,zeis unicolor of Milligan, 01' heard of any otller siniilar birds being obtained, and consider that the figuring of that " sport " as the western Kestrel in %fathews's ' Birds of Australia. ' is very misleading.--'f. C. J

Pandion haliaetus cristatus. Only two White-headed Osprejs were seen in the south-

west area-vie., one near the historic nest of Mr. A. J. Campbell at Cupe Jlentelle in March 1916, and one a t the mouth of the Blacliwood River in April 1919. This species is not common there, as i t is further north. On 21 August, 1913, I saw two eggs in a nest near Cape Farquliar, and one on 6 September north of Point Cloates. On 1 3 July, 1916, I found a bulky nest, about three feet in length, built on bare sand at sea-level, ~ i t h i u a few yards O F high-water inarlr, near Point Cloates. It contained a handsome pair of eggs. Two other nests were built on the flat tops of iron windinill tower?, the wheels not being attached a t the time. I have three photographs by Mr. Geo. Baston, formerly living at &laud's Landing, of the nest of an Osprey built on the top of the cr:iiie at the end of' the long jetty there, and I have two eggs that lie took fronl that nest on 5 July, 1912. H e told me when I w:ts there in 1913 that 011 four occasioiis lie had to pull down the nest in order to work the crane, but the birds persisted in rebuilding until the eggs were laid, when he was again obliged t o destroy tlie nest, and they then left.

710 AWr. T . Carter on some [Ibis,

Spiloglaux novaeseelandis mixta. The Pallitl Boohooli-Owl occurs southwvarcls to the

Gascoyne River, where I oki i i ied spccilneiis on different, trips, all of them 1)eing Inucli paler tliaii the south-west siihspecies ocellutcc and e;isily di.>tinguislied from it. These L i d s fly far aiid strongly in bright suuliglit.

Spiloglaux novaeseelandiae ocellata. West,ern Roobooli-Owls were occasionally seen in the

south-west area.

Tyto alba delicatula. Only one Barn-Ow1 ~ v a s seen, wliicli was flushed from t'lie

sh:tde ( i f a large white-gum tree a t t he Gascope River on 13 A u g u s t , 1911. It flew :L couuitlei~able distance in s t rong sunlight, and could not be ngain siglit.et1.

Tyto novaehollandiae perplexa. Whi l e stnyiilg v i th a friend in Busselt,oii iu February

1916, I noticed t.lie wings of :I \Testctrn Clicsnut-faced Owl on t h e wall of a rooin, a i i l l enquired their history. I was told that some tiiiic previously sereral of the doinestic fowls had heen liilled from their perches out in tlie open behind the house, close t o w1iic.h the 7onsli tiiiilier gro"rs. A watch ~ v a q kept, and the above Owl w a s shot in die :Let of seizing a fowl. TYIien I W:LS trnreliing from t,lie Nwgxret River to A u g u s t a on 10 Rlnrcli, 1916, lug. motor mail between 9 and 10.30 P.M., seseral iililes of the Iiarri Forest were biirning on each side of the road and i i gh t up t,o it. l la i iy large Owls were observed, f l i t h g zboiit, the road &:~d of the car, a i d soinctirncs over it,, \iitliiii :I few feet of 11s. 'I'lieg were white on t h e hotly, and iit a l l prolo:ibilit.~ tliey were of t h i s subspecies ; t!icy were catching sm:dI aniliials t h a t liad sought shelter (k11 the rond froin tlie fire. I distiiictlj- saw oil(: O\ t l alight oil tIie groutid ;L fc\v gartls alientl oE us seize soinet'liiog aiid t1ic.n fly n\r-;iy n-it11 it . Utifortnriatelj-, iny guii was in its cnsc a t the bottoni of the car, h n e n t l i tlie 1n:iiis and otlier cargo, aiicl the tii:iiliii:xii w; i s two hours I,eliind tinie. He told tile tli:it he frequently snn- Owls wlieii ti.arelling

rgzo.] Western Australian Birds. 71 1

there a t night. When Mr. Highaln alld I visited Augusta in April 1919, me failed to see any Owls, although we went out along this road several tiines after dark on purpose to obtain specimens. There were no forest fires there on this occasion. Referring to my remarks in ‘Emu,’ voI. iii. p. 35, respecting some large unitlentified 01~1 that occiirs in tlie ranges of the North-West Cape peninsula, I liad corroborative evidence o n my trip there in 1916, when I wns camped close to the foot of the ranges on 28 Julv with two black fellows sleeping a short distance frotll me. I was roused from niy sleep by weird cries that resernbled the howling of dingoes (mild dogs). After listening for a few moments, 1 heard the blaclcs excitedly talking, and I called to them to ask if the dingoes were crying. They at once replied : “ Nothing dingo, that fellow debbil (devil) bird.” Wheii I ma.; staying at Rlr. Campbell’s station a few miles off, shortly afterwards, lie aslred nie if I kncw what sort of bird it was “ t h a t howls at night just like B dingo.” H e said that he had heard the noise on several occasions, b17t had never s e m the bird.

Glossopsitta porphyrocephala whitlocki. Westerti Pnrple-crowned Lorilceets were exceptionally

scarce about Brooinr Hill i n Alarch 1919, owing to the absence of blossoms on the white-gum trees, the honey of which and other varieties of Eucalyptus is their favourite fond. The only district where they were common that year was around Augusta, where the red-gum trees were in full hlooni. ‘L’hese Lorilreets do not occur as far north as Carnarvon.

CalyFtorhynchus magnificus naso. Red-tailed Cockatoos were very abnndant about Lake

Mt7ir in January 1916, so much so that when shooting for food I soinetimes shot thein for this purpose, as they are easily obtained, but there is not much meat on them. They ft-ed 1:irgeIy oil the seeds contained in the extremely liard “ nuts ” of the red gum, and betray their presence a t a long

SER. XI.-VOL. 11. 3 s


distance by their constant querulous cries. A few small flocks were seen in 1919 ahout Like Xuir and the Black- wood, Collie, and Warren Rivers, but this finc r;pccies has much diminished in ~iurnbers (luring rii? experience. The aboriginal nnme in the Harvey River district is " Korridg-e- cup "-hence the name of a tomnship there. Frirthw south, towards Albany, it is " Koo-rak."

Zanda baudinii. The White-tailed Black Cockatoo was seen in most of the

south-western districts, where the aboriginal name for it is '' Oo-lack."

Ducorpsius sanguineus westralensis. When I arrived at Chrnarvon early in August 1011, my

attention was at once attracted by thousands of Bare-eyed Cock:itoos feeding on open flats riglit up to the outskirts of the town. I n places the ground was literally white with the birds, which were busily engaged in cracking off the sharp-pointed hard husks of the " Double-gee " seeds (En7px australis) and eating tho seeds. When watching the birds doing this, it was very curious to hear the constant " crackling " noise caused by hundreds of bills all hard at work at the same time. The plant itself is not a natiye of Australia, but is supposed to have been introduced froin South Africa. It is now classed as a noxious weed, as it is rapidly spreading o ~ e r large areas of country, and is respoiisible for laming many sheep and cattle, as the seed- vessels get i n between the divisions of the lioof, causing Eestcring sores, so that the unfortunate animals cannot move xboiit to feed. 'l'he local Roads Board had recently passed a bje-law to protect the Cockatoos 011 account of tlie supposed good they were doing in o:itiiig tlic seeds, and I W'IS warned not to shoot any of theni. Howe\ er, I belie] e in the theory that '' what eats seeds, spreads seeds," S O 1 shot two hirds, and on dissection of them found, a5 I h:id expected. tliat many seeds mere s u allowed H hole nut1 not bitten up ; tliereEore it is probable that sonie are voided intact and in a fit state

I 920.) Western Austra2ian Birds. 713

for germinating. I explained this to the Chairman of the Roads Board, showing him entire seeds t:iken froin a bird, bnt he ridiculed the idea of their growing ; hokyever, when I saw hiin again in 1913, he said that he had altered hi3 opinion, and the law had been repealed. IVVhen af the Xinilya River in early September 1911 these birds had young or eggs in most of the white-gum trees that held suitable nesting Iiollows, and when I was there again a t the same t h e (1 to 10 September) in 1916 the same state of nf€'airs prevailed. A black fellow and I climbed to many " nests," and they all conbained young birds or incubated eggs. On 22 August, 1916, I saw :i flock of about two hundred of these Cockatoos a t tlie Yardie Creek, where tliey breed in the crevices of the cliffs. When staying with a ffiend near Perth early in that year, he told me that one of these birds which he had kept as a pet for nine years had recently laid an egg in its cage, over which it brooded and made a great fuss.

Licmetis tenuir ostris pastinator. A few Western Corellas were seen a t Lake Muir in

January 1916, and I shot a pair from a tall yate-tree (EucaEyptus cornuta). Both of them had many grains of wheat in their crops, mixed with honey obtained froin Eucalyptus blossoms. None mere seen a t Lake Muir during my visit there in March 1919. When staying at Augusta in March 1916, I saw a flock of five or six flying above the river. The residents there told me these birds are not coinmonly observed.

Eolophus roseicapillus assirnilis. When I was at the Minilya on 19 August, 1911, the

Westra1i;in Galahs did not appear t o be breeding (a drought was prewiling a t the time), but every day scores of them were drin$irig at the water-trough for horses etc., close to the homeste:id and other buildings. They were very tame arid made a pretty sight. From 1-10 September, 1916, triey were breeding freely a t the ITinilYa, and all the nesting- sites examined contained small young birds.

3 ~ 2


Leptolophus hollandicus. Quarrions were scarce in the Gascoyne and Minilya dis-

tricts in Septeiiiber 1911, but in tlie same niontli in 1916 they were al,undant there, and about 10 September many nesiing cavities near tlie Dliriilya River were exiinined, which all contained young birds iti various stages of growth. The sinall ones were covered with t luwn of a dull yellow colour, very similar to that of a white duckling of corre- sponding age.

Platycercus icterotis. Yellow-cheeked Parrots were quite scarce when I was a t

Brooine Hill and the vicinity ill Fe1,ru:iry and Il1:irch 1919. In former years they were abnndant there and iri most localities in tlie south-west area, but although I trnrersetl a great part of it, I do not think that :i dozen of these birds were observed. -4 very beautifully-pliimaged n:ale w a s obtained on the Warren River on 31 Ill:ireh that : ~ p p : i r ~ d t o be smaller th:in tliosc occurring about Brooiite Hill. I do not thinl; tliat this species OCCUI‘S as far north as Gernldtoii, and when I was staying :it Mul lem ant1 Miiigeiiow in 1904 none were observed, v l d e Milligan does not mention tlie bird as being seen on his trip to Y:indanooka in the same year through the same district. I do not tliiulc thxt feni:tle birds assuriie the brilliant colouriiig oE tlie males.

Barnardius zonarius. “Twenty-eight” Parrots obtained on the Blaclr\vood River,

near Bridgetown, 1 7 February, 191 6, 11acl d i s t i n ~ yellow ventral bends, and tliose esaniincd :it C.ollie a few days aftermrcls had only slightly yellow b:iiids. Tllr:se Parruts were not of’ten seen in the south-west. in 1!)19, owing to the exceptionaliy severe bush fires i n all district.?. They were plentiful near Woolundt a in May 1‘319, :ind those obtained there resemble the subspecies ocritleiitalis more than the south-western forni. The south-western aboriginal nauie is

Towerrin.” 311.. ?IIat~,:ews descriI:ed the \JTooiuiidra bird a s

Bumardius zoiiariiis ~zcoo/u~idr(t eitb~p. I~oT-. , Bulletin B. 0. C. vol. xl. 1‘320, p. 44,

1920.1 W e s t e m . Itistruliun Birds. 715

Barnardius zonarius occidentalis. Sortliern '' Twenty-eight *' Parrots were seldom noticed

about the Gascoyne River near Carnarvon in September 1911, but very fairly plentiful in Septeulber 1913, and were thpn rearing their young. A few were seen there in September 1916, ant1 a good inany in the ranges north of the Yardie Creek in Jiily and Auguat, but they did cot appear to be breeding. The aboriginal name there is " Blullin-goora."

Purpureicephalus spurius carteri. Red-capped Parrots were very numerous at Collie in

February 1916, and were debtroying a lot of fruit in the orchard..., where they are locally known iis '' Hook-bills." Only two specimens were obtained on my 1919 trip, when they were very seldom seeii-viz., two a t G n h a n g e r u p (east of Broome Hill), t v o on the high road when I was motoring near Brunswick, and one at Lake Muir. (I was keeping an especial look-out for this species, as I wauted specimens.) 1 do not tliiiik that the females of this species assume the rich colouring of the male birds, and imimture males are rather brighter in colour than the females. The same applies to Platycewus icterotis.

Psephotus varius exsul. A pair of Western Varied Parrots were shot on 2 Septem-

ber, 1916, in sonie thick scrub near the Minilya River. I had not seen any of these beautiful birds since 1887, when they were common on the Gascoyne River.

On 23 May, 1919, when I - m s staying with m y friend, Mr. Bruce W. Lealie, who is n keen field-naturalist, he told me of having seen some small Parrots near the salt lakes at Woolundra that were strange to him, so we drove out to investigate, and found them to be of this subspecies. There were a good many of them in sinall parties of three to seven, but they were very wary and shy. However, three specimens were obtained, which had their crops full of wheat grains bitten into small pieces, with many small grass seeds.

P I 6 I l r . 1’. Carter on some [Ibis,

Neonanodes elegans carteri. Allied Grass-Parrots were very bcarce in Fclhruary and

1Liri.h 1919 about Broome Hill, where they wrere fairly coninion in previous ye;irs. The only exainples seen on this trip were a few perched on the telegraph-wires alongside the Gnowangerup road on 18 February, from which place I was returning t o Broonie Hill by motor inail. I walked out, a day or two afterwards, to the spot where I had seen them, but could not find any.

Neonanodes petrophilus petrophilus. Western Rock-Parrot s seein to be getting rapidly scarcer

along the south-west coasts. None were seen in the vicinity of Cape Mentelle in March 1916, and only one was observed at Cape Leeuwin in April 1919, but some of the lighthouse employees there told me that sometimes these birds were fairly common there. They were numerous in parts of Shark Bay during my visit there in 1916.

Melopsittacus undulatus. Very few Betcherrygars were seen about the mid-west

districts in 1911, but they were plentiful in 1916, which was a year of good rains.

Podargus strigoides brachypterus. Only a few Western Brogmouths were seen in the course

of my four trips, and they were mostly in the vicinity of Broome Hill, and usually disturbed from sleeping on the ground in the dense MB-lock scrubs.

Bgotheles cristata cristata. No specimens of Owlet-Nightjars were obtained or seen,

but they were heard in many localities in the south-west area, mostly about Broome Hill and Gnowangerup.

Dacelo gigas. Brown Kingfishers, originally acclimatized in Western

Australia, are now spread eyer all the south-west area, and

i 920.1 Fvestern Atutralian Hirds. 717

'were seen in niost districts that I visited, including the Lowrel- Warren K v e r in the estreine corner. They were particularly nunierous about the Passe Hiver in April 11119.

A lady who resided on the bank of the river called iny attention to a Brown Kingfisher that was perched on a tree on the opposite side of the river to her house, and expressed a hope that no one would shoot it, because it catlle there every day and she liked to hear its cackling laugh. Tlleli she shaped me, with gre.at pride, some hen-coops with several broods of young chickens and ducks placed on thc edge of the river (near where the Jackass was perched a t the time), and remarked that all the young birds were growing well, but that one or two unaccountably disappeared aliiiost daily. I told her that, in my opinion,:he Jackass came there on purpose to eat them, which she wmld not believe, but said she would watch it next morning. The next time I met her she said she had seen the bird take a young chicken the day after our conversation.

Dacelo leachii cliftoni. Pale Fawn-breasted Kingfishers were coininon about the

Lower Gascoyne and Minilya river-beds in September 1911, 1913, and 191(i. I climbed t'o a nesting cavity in a white- gum tree which contained four eggs on 1 August, 1911, but a large Lace-Lizard or Monitor (Vuranus) tooli them shortly afterwards. Fledged young birds were seen on the Minilya River on 9 September, 1911.

Cyanalcyon pyrrhopygius obscurus. On 2 October, 1913, I took five incubated eggs of the

Northern Red-backed Kingfishzr from a hole in a steep sandy bank of the Gascoyne River. As the eggs were in a distinct nest of fine grass, weeds, etc., it is probable that it had been originally niade by a pair of Black and White fiwallows (Clieranioecaj, several of which birds were breeding in the vicinity. On 4 August, 1916, I observed a pair of these 'Kingfishers breeding in a large white allthill a t Yardie Creek.

71 8 Air. T. Carter on. some [Ibis,

Sauropatis sancta westralasiana. Only one Western Sacred Kingfisher was seen in the mid-

north-west, and that was shot at the mouth of the Tardie Creel; on 29 Aiiguat, 1913, as i t looked unusually large. It \\-as :L rnale :IIJLI nie;isured Z j O i11in. t o h l length. These birtis are scarce in the mid-west ares, where 2yrdmpygizts is coinmoi~. S. sarzcta is tlic cornn~on Kingfisher of t,he south- west, where i t wis frequently observed in iiiany localities.

Cosmsrops ornatus shortridgei. Many \Yestern See-caters were seen feeding 011 the

rugged ranges at the Pardie Creel; 011 29 August,, 1913, but I could not find out wliat insect had attracted them there. These birds seem migratory to some extent, as they are common about Carnarvon and the mid-west in the winter months, and are rarely seen in t>lie south a t that season. The reverse of this occurs in the summer.

Heteroscenes pallidus occidentalis. Western Pallid Chclioos were scarce in iriicl-west districts

in 1911, owing to its being a dry season, but were plentiful in August and September in 1913 and 1316. None were seen by me in 1919 (when I only visited the south-west area) f rom t,lie Leginning of February to the end of April, when these birds are usually absent. I wonder what beconies of these Cuckoos from, say, November to May, when they are practically absent from both the mid-west and south- west areas. I have records of having seen occasionnl single birds in December about Broome Hill and Albany, and a few at Lake Muir on 20 January, 191.6 ; but none were ever observcd in February or March, a d onlp once was one recorded for April during nine years' observation and residence in that district. These Cuckoos usually arrive in the Gascoylie and mid-west districts about May, or with t.he first winter rains, and remain until about September ; this period coincides very nearly with the months in which they were coininon about Broome Hill, which were from about the end of 3kty to the end of October.

1920.1 western Australian Birds. 719

Cacomantis rubricatus albani. Western Fan-tziled Cuckoos \yere o1111 peel) on the

\Varren River in March 1319. Specimens were obtained t' I I ere.

Owenavis osculans rogersi. 1 shot a Western Black-eared Cuckoo 011 6 June, 1916, on

the edge of a maugrove creek a t Carnarvon. I t wi ts perched on the topmost twig of n inangrove, and was uttering a 1)eculinr whistling cry, which was hard to locate. Another of these birds w:~s first. heard, and tlien seen, in soin9 scrub 011 a flat near the river. On 13 September, in the same year, I shot ii second specinien about forty niiles south of the Minilya Rirer. Previous to tlte above, I had only seen t w o oE these birds during thirty pears' residence in Western Australia.

Neochalcites basalis wyndhami. Western Narrow-billed Bronze Cuckoos were seldom ob-

served in the mid-west i n the dry year of 1911, but were fairly cominon from Carnarvon northwards in August and September 1913 and 1916, as is usi.ial in a good season. Two specinlens were obtained by iite 011 Dirk Hartog Island in September and October 1916 respectively, and I here beg to express my regret for having inadvertently called them Lamprococcyx plagosus i n my paper in ' The Ibis,' 1917, p. 554, which error on my part has been already corrected in ' The Ibis,' January 1919.

Lamprococcyx plagosus carteri. Many small parties of Western Bronze Cuckoos were seen

by me on and about 4 Jliirch, l9l( i , 011 the edge of the Margaret R.iver. Such unnsiial nnmbers suggested a local niigr~ition. An iiiinlature bird was seen at Lake Muir on 24 January, 1916. X inale bird, not breeding, was shot by ine a t Carnarvon on 15 August, 1931. This is the only specilnen that, I ever obtained in mid-west district.

!To be continned.]

on some western australian birds collected between the north- west cape and albany (950 miles apart)

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