Page:The Emu volume 3.djvu/267

 which was comparatively speaking numerous on the moist, brackish, sandy tracts in the vicinity of the lakes and also on the plains. As M. pulcherrimus loves the dry, stony country, so does M. leucopterus love the inland sand areas. We found it most difficult to get sight of a male, although we could frequently hear their singular "reeling" notes. On the other hand, the females were most fearless and trusting, and could always be brought to foot with a decoy note. The broods were all out, and on many occasions I caught and examined young ones. We managed to secure two males during the trip, but neither fell to my gun, although I chased one from bush to bush at full speed and with much enthusiasm for fully half a mile. They appear to be always on the alert and at the same time very distrustful. No doubt these unenviable but life-essential qualities have been developed and made constant by their being continually harassed by their enemies, their brilliant plumage making them conspicuous objects in the landscape. The habit of elusion has eventually become a second nature with them. Colour to this surmise is given by the fact that the females, who are sombre in colour, are quite fearless. When being chased the male bird adopts highly intelligent tactics. Dropping into the first convenient bush at its base, he quickly passes through to the other side of it, and immediately takes wing and flies with great rapidity to the next shelter, thus interposing the quitted bush between the pursuer and pursued, with every advantage to the latter. On comparing the skins of the two male birds we secured with some skins of the same species obtained at Day Dawn (some 200 miles farther north), the former was of a distinctly darker blue; and on a further comparison of both the above with the skin of a male obtained at Yule River, in the north-west, the last was much paler blue than either, and in addition was larger, and had brown legs and bill instead of black ones. The difference between the Wongan bird and the Yule River bird was very marked indeed, but the Day Dawn bird helped to bridge in a slight degree the gap of difference. The female of the Yule River is a clear biscuit-brown with whitish under parts, whilst the females from the other two localities named varied from an obscure brown to greyish-brown.

On one of the large shallow lakes we met with a company of Cladorhynchus leucocephalus numbering 80 or thereabouts. Desirous to make sure in the first place of securing some