Page:The Emu volume 21.djvu/268

 east of Geraldton. Some time afterwards I met with C. superciliosa about 30 miles to the south of Mulliwa. In the Wongan Hills, much further south, but in the same line of country, I obtained C. rufa. But at Southern Cross, further to the east, I met with C. superciliosa again. On travelling down to Norseman (Lake Dundas), the same species occurred north of Lake Lefroy. At Norseman, C. rufa alone was breeding near my camp. It was therefore puzzling lo find C. rufa without C. superciliosa at Zanthus.

At Naretha, however, the gums having cut out, some forty miles to the west, C. rufa had disappeared, and its place was taken by C. superciliosa. The latter species was breeding in the hollow stems of dead trees. The first broods were on the wing early in September.

In view of Mr. F. E. Howe's excellent paper on this genus (see Emu, vol. xxi., part 1), the foregoing notes on the peculiar distribution of two of the western species may be interesting.

The Frogmouth (Podargus strigoides) was nesting as far east as Naretha, and I flushed an individual of the Owlet Nightjar (Ægotheles cristata) from a hollow tree in the same locality.

At Zanthus my attention was attracted by a Parrot in captivity at the house of Mr. de Marcaux, of the loco. department. I could not place it, and on enquiry I was informed it had been taken from a nest in a Casuarina tree about five years previously at Naretha. It was called an "Oak Parrot" from the surroundings of its haunt. It was obviously an adult bird, and beyond classifying it as belonging to the genus Psephotus, I could not further identify it. Mr. H. L. White passed through Zanthus on August 1st, and after talking the matter over with him, it was decided I should at once go on to Naretha, and if possible secure specimens, and hand them to him on his return journey a week later. I was able to carry out this arrangement, and soon afterwards received a wire confirming my opinion that the bird was new to science.

My next task was to learn all I could of its habits, and also to procure a clutch of eggs for description. Not much seemed to be known of the bird locally, and what information I gleaned as to its abundance or otherwise, was somewhat contradictory. On one point, however, my informants were unanimous. Its haunts were the clumps of casuarinas growing on the limestone outcrops, on the edge of the plain. I found this correct, with the exception that at feeding time, it was no use lo look for it in such haunts. It was a simple matter, however, to go to an isolated clump of casuarinas, where a pair or more might be breeding, and to wait there until the birds came home. As in the case of other species, the male Naretha Parrot returns with the female to the nesting tree, and waits until she enters the nest-hole. He then flies away. But as the clumps of