Page:The Emu volume 20.djvu/228

 Acanthiza whitlocki. Whitlock Tit-Warbler.— Seen on Peron only, where specimens were obtained in November, 1918, and several more were seen amongst big acacia bushes in September and October of the present season.

Acanthiza tenuirostris (morgani) Small-billed Tit-Warbler.—Several specimens obtained in November. 1918, near Denham. This record is a farthest west for the species. No Acanthiza appears to inhabit Dirk Hartog. Considering the amount of cover, this is remarkable.

Sericornis maculata hartogi (Carter). Spotted Scrub-Wren. —Very common on Dirk Hartog, haunting the larger bushes, especially where there are dead ones by preference. It often happened, when I found a Malurus or other small nest, that the owners were invisible. Whenever I attempted to call them up, a pair, or more often three individuals, of this Scrub-Wren invariably put in an appearance. It is common on Peron Peninsula too, but hardly so numerous as on Dirk Hartog. I spent a lot of time watching this species in the hopes of finding a nest, but was completely baffled. I saw one pair only, accompanied by a brood of three young ones; I am therefore inclined to think it breeds at the end of summer—March or April. On the Peron Peninsula an old nest was found which, I think, was that of a Sericornis. It was of the semi-domed type, and was resting very low down in a large dead bush. (For this supposed new sub-species see Campbell's critical remarks. Emu, xviii., p. 259.)

Malurus cyanotus. White-winged Wren-Warbler.—Without being considered common, this species may be always found in suitable haunts on the Peron Peninsula. It is absent from Dirk Hartog, where its place is taken by the Black-and-White Wren-Warbler (M. leucopterus).

In Mr. Carter's account of his visit to Shark Bay, in The Ibis (1917), this species is figured in colour (plate x.), for a special purpose. Gould described, from a stuffed specimen, a blue white-winged Wren having a tract of white feathers extending right across the back. The plate accompanying Mr. Carter's article shows a bird answering to this description. Personally, I have never met with a White-winged Wren showing this characteristic so perfectly; but I could easily make up a skin to do so. All the White- winged Wrens I have examined show a parting, like that of the human hair, down the centre of the white feathers. This widens out towards the rump. Careful observations have convinced me that, if the wings were cut off at their insertion, all the white feathers would come away with them, none being actually attached to the back.

Malurus leucopterus. Pied Wren.—Black-and-White Wren-Warbler.—We owe the discovery of this remarkable little Wren to Mons. Quoy, one of the surgeons of the Uranie, in the year 1820. We owe its re-discovery to Mr. Thos. Carter nearly a hundred years later—that is, as far as Dirk Hartog Island is concerned. In the meantime, another closely related Pied Wren had been found on Barrow Island, some 400 miles further north. This has been described by Mr. A. J. Campbell and named Malurus edouardi. It has fallen to my lot to take the type nests and eggs of both varieties. I have already related my experiences with regard to the Barrow Island form (Emu, xviii., April, 1919), and now record my observations on the Pied Wren of Dirk Hartog.