Page:The Emu volume 9.djvu/270

 I must just add that, on reading further Mr. Keartland's letter, he refers to A. striatus as being the rarer of the two local Grass-Wrens near Lake Way. My experience is precisely the opposite. I only got, and that with much difficulty, three specimens of A. gigantura. Had I been so desirous, or had it been advisable to do so, I could readily have obtained thirty or forty specimens of A. striatus in the spinifex plain near Bore Well. He further states that in the samphires or salt-bush A. textilis may be seen hopping about and singing. A. gigantura has no song—that I am certain of—but Calamanthus campestris does hop amongst the samphires, and sings very musically too. Mr. Keartland's description of the situation of the nest and the markings on the eggs, too, is quite at variance with my experience.

(Amytornis striatus).—This species, which I had met with the previous year in the north-west of this State, was destined to give me much trouble, and at the same time keen delight. On my way to Wiluna I noted it in several places in the huge spinifex plain between Limestone and Bore Wells—a distance of 12 miles—with an unknown extension to the north and south of the track. This was rather a large area in which to locate a small bird's nest, and the number of eligible building sites was beyond computation. I could only put all my heart into the task and hope for a bit of luck. I returned to Bore Well from Wiluna on 30th July, a very cold day, and I was destined to have a rough time, as far as the weather was concerned, during my fortnight's camp on the edge of the spinifex plain.

I had very little to guide me in estimating the probable nesting time of the Grass-Wren, so I resolved to shoot a pair and carefully examine the state of their organs. Next day I was fortunate in securing a female. On dissection, I did not quite like the look of things. I greatly feared I was too early. The same opinion prevailed when I dissected a male. However, I was on the spot, and resolved to learn as much as I could of the habits of the birds, and if necessary return again at a later period. In the breeding season, at any rate, this Grass-Wren is much easier to find than Amytornis gigantura. The male has rather a pleasing song, and on calm, sunny days he will perch at a height of 3 or 4 feet and pour it forth. He even keeps up the performance for ten minutes at a time if undisturbed, and in this respect he resembles a Calamanthus—another rather secretive bird. The common call note is a clear, liquid, and musical "Tū-tū-tū," and this is frequently responded to by any other males (and possibly his own female) within earshot. These notes are incorporated in the song, and are followed by other more rippling notes, which again are followed by further sounds difficult to describe on paper. The whole effect is distinctly pleasing, and in the semi-desert country inhabited by these Grass-Wrens gives life to otherwise rather dreary surroundings. Indeed, were it not for the bird-life on these spinifex plains silence would absolutely prevail. During a month's constant tramping I never saw a kangaroo or other marsupial. Lizards were not numerous, snakes I never saw at all, and, with the exception of the usual bush flies and two or three species of beetles, insect life was not very apparent. The alarm note, or warning note, is faint and high-pitched, but when an individual is suddenly disturbed from a tussock of spinifex at one's feet it dashes off—a streak of brown—with a shrill shriek, not unlike the effect produced by rapidly drawing one's finger over the highest octave of the piano, in an upward direction.

My fears that I was too early for nests were fully realized, and after vainly searching in what I then conceived to be the most likely localities, with a persistence that deserved success, I decided to go back again to the neighbourhood of Lake Violet, and to return to Bore Well a little later on. I arrived in Wiluna on 15th August, and, after a successful fortnight's work, was back again at Bore Well on the 29th. In the interim I had found the nest of Amytornis gigantura—a much more difficult task. This gave me