Page:The Emu volume 21.djvu/251

 difference occurred, however. At Zanthus the Tree-creeper was the Rufous (Climacteris rufa), and at Boorara the White-browed (C. superciliosa).

At Boorara I cannot recall seeing: or hearing the Yellow-fronted Honey-Eater (Meliphaga plumula), and the two Butcher-Birds, the White-winged (Cracticus leucopterus), and the Black-throated (C. nigrogularis), were far less common than at Zanthus.

On 1st August I met Mr. H. L. White, who was travelling to Perth. On talking things over with him, it was decided that I should at once move on to Naretha, a locality where I was informed the forest country merged into the great Nullarbor Plain. There was a special reason for this move, as will be related further on. I left Zanthus a few days later, travelling by the supply train, in order to have a look at the country passed through. About 35 miles east of Zanthus, the eucalypts cut out somewhat abruptly, probably due to a change from the granite and ironstone formations to the limestone of the plain. With the disappearance of the eucalypts, the country became more open, and spinifex (Triodia) gave way to saltbush. The most abundant trees were Casuarinas, Mulgas and other Acacias, with a variety of smaller tree-like bushes; many of them flowering species.

Naretha lies 205 miles to the east of Kalgoorlie, and after the arboreal profusion of Zanthus presents a desolate appearance. This is much aggravated by the numbers of dead and bleached bushes and trees. Not infrequently I came across areas of from 20 to 30 acres, which hardly contained a living specimen. I believe the destruction is due to a wood-boring beetle. Great numbers of these dead bushes were lying prone, having been uprooted by the aboriginals in search of "bardies" amongst the roots.

I remained at Naretha till 30th September, when I moved to Haig, 280 miles east of Kalgoorlie, and a long way into the open plain.

If Naretha looked desolate, Haig, had it not been for the abundance of waving grasses and myriads of everlastings in this fine season, would have appeared a desert. Hardly a bush or tree is to be found in the immediate vicinity, the nearest belts of stunted timber being five miles to the east, and a smaller belt some four miles to the west; the saltbush and bluebush having the most miserable and stunted appearance. In describing the plain, however, mention must be made of the "Dongas." These appeared to me to have at one time been fissures in the limestone floor, subsequently becoming choked up with dead vegetation and alluvial soil washed into them from the surrounding plain during heavy storms. These dongas vary much in extent, but they are always narrow, and may run in any direction. Vegetation in many of them is very profuse. Bushes growing on the edges are generally of large size and prolific of leaf, whilst