Page:The Emu volume 18.djvu/343

 , and also during the day, and again in the evening till after sunset. After a few hours of watching and listening, I made certain he was accompanied by a mate, and that no early hatched young were with the pair. I determined, therefore, to keep a close watch without being too intrusive, with the idea of seeing if actual building operations were in progress. In this I totally failed. Not once, during observations extending over three weeks, did I surprise either parent carrying a single blade of dried grass. It was only after several systematic searches in the patch of Spinifex longifolius that I gave up hope of finding a nest in that easily examined grass. There remained small patches of Triodia amongst the S. longifolius, and also several larger patches near at hand. On one occasion I was standing in the middle of one of these latter, watching the male bird, which showed unmistakable signs of uneasiness. This was expressed by little flights into the air and a timid approach towards me. I did not stay long, but for the future paid particular attention to that patch of spinifex. On another occasion, in the dusk of the evening, I saw a Desert-Bird leave the same spot in a very furtive manner, but, of course, nothing could be seen of what was in the interior of the numerous clumps of spinifex. I was now fairly certain the nest was to be looked for in that particular patch. I decided to wait until a certain date. I fixed on 9th August, as a matter of fact, before commencing on the tedious operation of systematically cutting or tearing out each individual clump. For this purpose I had previously tried a long-handled billhook and a light axe, and found the latter the better weapon. I was armed also with a pair of driving gauntlets (gloves). These had been suggested by Mr. H. L. White as a substitute for hedge-cutters' mittens, which I had tried in vain to obtain. The gauntlets were a great comfort, and I was able to tackle the densest and most prickly clumps of spinifex without detriment to hands and arms. I had cut out some large masses before I tackled a succession of three smaller ones which actually touched one another. I demolished the first, and took a peep, as far as was possible, into the second before attacking it. I thought I could make out the rim of a nest. Cautiously opening out the top of the clump, I could distinctly see an apparently perfect nest of the Spinifex-Bird, but, alas! quite empty. I quickly restored all the surroundings to their former condition as near as I was able, and was about to leave the spot when, to my dismay, I noticed both the parent birds watching me from the lee of a large clump of Triodia not far away. I hurried off, hoping the birds would not desert the nest, but much perturbed about the matter, nevertheless. I decided not to make a close inspection of the nest for at least three days. This rule I followed till the eleventh day. In the meantime no eggs had been laid, and I was losing hope. On the eleventh day I got a pleasant surprise. The nest contained one egg. At 11 o'clock on the following day there were two. I did not expect more than a pair. I cautiously removed the eggs and played an old schoolboy trick on the female by substituting a pair of commoner eggs in their place. I had two objects in view: I wished to prevent the nest from being deserted in case there was a third egg to make a complete clutch, and I also wanted to learn something of the behaviour of the sitting bird. The ruse worked, as I saw the female slip off the nest on visiting it again the following evening. She did not, however, permit a near approach before doing so. She sat for two following days, but the time had arrived for me to leave Barrow Island, and