ture males of P. rufiventris should follow the same rule. Without wishing to cast any doubt on the decision of such an experienced ornithologist as Mr. Campbell, I confess myself a bit puzzled, and if any other ornithologist should visit Naretha I hope he will try to observe the birds further.
The White-browed Babbler (Pomatostomus superciliosa) was as far out on the plain as Haig. It was breeding freely both at Zanthus and Naretha. Nests were usually placed in large prickly Hakea bushes. The eggs were embedded in rabbit fur.
Pallid Cuckoos (Cuculus pallidus) were very common on my arrival at Naretha, but they appeared to be chiefly migrants. I saw an occasional bird in the timber on the plain. The Black-eared Cuckoo (Mesocalius osculans) was distinctly rare. I found one egg in a deserted Red-throat's nest at Naretha.
In no part of the west have I observed the small Bronze Cuckoo (Chalcites basalis) so common as on the plain near Haig. It was fairly plentiful around Naretha too, and I found its eggs in the nests of Whiteface (Aphelocephala leucopsis) and White-winged Wren-Warbler (Malurus leuconotus). One was an especially large and boldly blotched egg; but, though I examined numbers of the local Bronze Cuckoos with the aid of a field-glass, and listened carefully to their notes, I have no reason to think there was another species at Naretha. At Haig the young were on the wing, and haunting the verges of the timber belts. I had over a dozen in view at one time in some small trees growing in an isolated clump. Every day I met with individuals being fed by foster parents—Malurus leuconotus, Aphelocephala leucopsis, Epthianura tricolor, and B. aurifrons, Epthianuræ being the most frequent guardians. The female of E. aurifrons fluttered on the ground in front of me if a young Cuckoo was about.
The only species of Tree-runner noted was the Black-capped (Neositta pileata). I used to see this Tree-runner at my Boorara camp, so no doubt its range extends eastwards to the edge of the plain. I met with a few parties near Naretha, but none on the plain proper.
Two species of Tree-Creepers (Climacteris) were noticed. But had I not read Mr. Gibson's list, I should not have been prepared to find the Rufous Tree-Creeper (C. rufa) so far east as Zanthus. Years ago, at my Boorara camp, which was situated in a tract of country where the tea-tree of the interior was plentiful, I occasionally saw a pair or two of Climacteris. One pair was nearly always around the camp. The birds became very fearless, and I often saw them feeding on ants attracted by the discarded jam tins. This pair was undoubtedly the White-browed (C. superciliosa). After leaving Boorara, I went to the Murchison goldfield, in the neighbourhood of Lake Austin. Here I did some collecting for the Perth Museum, and obtained specimens of C. superciliosa. My next experience was to find the latter species, with C. rufa, in a tract of York gums, 100 miles
