Page:The Zoologist, 4th series, vol 5 (1901).djvu/285

Rh thirty miles inland from here are numerous belts and patches of a sort of mallee timber. Several times, passing through, I have heard beautiful rich flute-like notes from a bird that kept out of sight. Being in the locality on July 20th, I determined to try again to identify it, and camped in the timber. Some hours before daybreak, by the light of the moon, the bird began its rich notes, and continued until after daylight. The native and self followed the notes a long time without seeing the bird, the song always keeping ahead as we walked. We were returning to camp somewhat disgusted, when I saw two black and white birds fiercely attacking a Crow. On going that way we noticed a bulky nest in a tree about twenty-five feet from the ground. Feeling sure this was the nest of the strangers, we sat down to wait; but the Crows made most persistent and daring attempts to steal the eggs above us. Before long one of the birds returned to drive off the Crows, and I shot it. It proved to be a Black-throated Butcher-Bird (Cracticus nigrigularis). The male was of a dingy grey colour, not black as was the female. The nest contained four eggs. Very curiously, as we were walking away well pleased with our success, we saw a similar nest, but not so large, about fifteen yards from the other. Again we hid, and awaited results. The birds soon came to the vicinity of the nest, and on shooting one, to my surprise, it was the handsome Yellow-throated Minah (Manorhina flavigula), a bird quite unknown here before. The nest was built among slender twigs at the top of the tree. However, I sent to the buggy for a tomahawk, and, cutting down another tree, trimmed its branches so as to make a rough ladder, by which I secured the two handsome salmon-coloured eggs. The nest was somewhat large, foundation of twigs, lined with spinifex and grass; the depression for eggs was shallow, that of the Butcher-Birds deep and cup-shaped.

The same trip I noted nests of Ptilotis leilavalensis, with eggs, young, and uncompleted; also several nests of Black-tailed Native Hen, Kestrel, and Fairy Martin. There was a small colony of the latter nests under a slightly hanging shaly cliff. Examining the nests, two were found to contain Snakes. As it was an awkward place to kill them, and I did not want to destroy the surrounding nests, I went below and fired a shot into each nest containing a Snake. A Carpet Snake, about four feet long,