assistance during Mr. J. Loyd's absence. The Western Australian Government again kindly granted me a permit to collect birds for scientific purposes, Dirk Hartog being a faunal reserve. To complete my account I have made frequent reference to Mr. T. Carter's notes. Possibly not all readers of The Emu have had the opportunity of studying them. I shall frequently refer in the ensuing notes to Mons. J. Arago's account of the voyage of the Uranie. I am indebted to Lieut.-Col. Battye, of the Perth Free Library, for hunting up this old work.[1]
Species and Observations.[2]
Dromaius novæ-hollandiæ. Emu.—A few pairs breed on Peron Peninsula. Mons. Arago, when he was searching for his lost ship-mates, saw two large birds. "I was fainting with fatigue," he writes, "when at half-past one I saw two birds that I took for Cassowaries, to which I gave chase, but to my regret I could not come up with them." This encounter must have been near what is now called the "Big Lagoon." The Uranie was at anchor off Cape Lesueur, and a party had landed to make researches, and also to run the ship's condensing outfit, as a search for fresh water had proved fruitless. Digging above high water mark for water does not seem to have been tried.
Leipoa ocellata. Mallee-Fowl.—According to Mr. T. Carter, this species still lingers on Peron Peninsula. I saw no old mounds suggestive of its presence.
(?) Turnix velox. Swift Quail.—On my first visit to Dirk Hartog I flushed one or two small Quail, but did not obtain one. I caught a glimpse of a small bird just disappearing behind a mass of spinifex. near the West well, in August last. This bird looked very much like Turnix velox.
Puffinus sphenurus. Wedge-tailed Petrel.—I only saw this species in Shark Bay when sailing over to Dirk Hartog on 13th October. Mr. Carter gives an interesting account of a visit to Slope Island — a small, rocky islet adjacent to the Heirrison Peninsula. The birds were breeding in November under a mass of dense bushes, there being no earth on the islet in which to make their burrows.
Sylochelidon caspia. Caspian Tern.—Pairs of this fine Tern were seen on almost all parts of the coast-line. 1 believe they breed on Bird Island, a small, sandy islet near the Quoin Bluff, on the east side of Dirk Hartog.
Sterna cristata. Crested Tern.—Not so common as the foregoing species, and I did not hear of any breeding colony. However, Terns are all grouped together as "Divers" by the pearlers and others around Shark Bay.
- ↑ Narration of a Voyage Round the World in the Uranie and Physicienne Corvettes, commanded by Captain Freycinet, during the years 1817 to 1820, on a Scientific Expedition undertaken by order of the French Government, in a Series of Letters to a Friend," by J. Arago, Draughtsman to the Expedition. To which is prefixed the Report made to the Academy of Sciences on the General Results of the Expedition. London: Trentel and Wurtz, 1S23.
- ↑ Except in recently discovered birds, nomenclature is in accordance with R.A.O.U. Check-list.
