Page:The Emu volume 9.djvu/257

 (Pomatostomus superciliosus).—Distributed throughout the district. The breeding ranges of this and the next species overlap in these latitudes.

(Pomatostomus rubeculus).—I only met with this species around Milly Pool and further to the north-west, along the Peak Hill stock route. I question if it occurs much further south. I cannot recollect seeing it away from the flooded gums, either near Lake Way or in the north-west of this State. It is probably double-brooded. Young were on the wing when I arrived at Milly Pool, and I was watching a newly built nest, in the hope of getting eggs, till the day I left—viz., 6th November.

(Calamanthus campestris).—A Calamanthus was not uncommon in certain tracts of samphires around Lake Violet. I also saw a pair near Dural station, in an extensive salt-bush flat. I shot one or two for purposes of identification. I could see little, if any, distinction between these specimens and others I shot around Lake Austin. The latter were submitted to Mr. A. J. Campbell by Mr. A. W. Milligan some six years ago, the verdict being C. campestris. The Lake Way birds were sent to Mr. North, and were returned with the note that they were intermediate between C. campestris and C. isabellinus, with a leaning towards the latter. If this be the case, then C. isabellinus is only an interior form of C. campestris, connected by "existing" links. Thinking my birds were only C. campestris I did not seriously hunt for their nests until too late in the season. This Field-Wren breeds early, and young birds were on the wing by the first week in August. Apparently it is not double-brooded, as later on in the season I saw family parties feeding amongst the samphires.

(Cinclorhamphus cruralis).—Local and by no means common, being confined to the sand-hills around Lake Violet, with a few pairs inhabiting the extensive salt-bush flats along the Nannine track and the Peak Hill stock route.

(Cinclorhamphus refescens).—A pair or two near Lake Violet, but not uncommon on the big flats around Milly Pool. I obtained one nest with three handsome eggs at the foot of a small bush The nest was a poor, ill-constructed aftair of a few dried grasses. Date, 24th September.

(Ephthianura tricolor).—These lovely birds were not uncommon in suitable localities throughout the district. They seemed to prefer the open salt-bush flats. They were fairly plentiful around my camp at the north end of Lake Violet, but they had only just commenced to build when I left for Bore Well. On my return from there (14th September) I espied a female sitting on her nest as we drove by. The nest was within 3 feet of the road. It contained but two eggs.

(Ephthianura aurifrons).—Much commoner than the last. I even saw them in the streets of Wiluna. In the samphires around Lake Violet they were numerous, and I found a dozen nests without troubling to hunt for them. Some contained three eggs, others only two. The parent birds sat close, and would return to the nest whilst I was near. I more often flushed the male from the nest than the female. Perhaps the latter takes her turn at night. All the nests were low down, but seldom actually on the ground. This species was breeding near Milly Pool, but it was distinctly rare there. I was timing the period of incubation in one instance. I called at the nest just when I expected the young to be hatched and found it empty.

Ephthianura albifrons, though frequent around Lake Austin, is a noteworthy absentee at Lake Way, not once being observed during this trip.

(Acanthiza robustirostris).— This was one of my old Lake Austin friends, where I discovered the species in 1903. It is an