84 Hall J Vayialion in Trichoglosstis. F ^^j Emu Oct. b. Certain of the fully adult specimens show the sides to be red also ; a vestige of yellow upon one. c. Ten specimens show uniform red breasts, with a very small proportion of yellow upon the sides of the neck. d. As the bird matures the breast red becomes separated from the abdominal blue by a clearly defined horizontal line. Only 7 per cent, of the specimens show this stage of development. t'. The depth of colour on the occiput varies considerably between a light violet or violet-brown to a deep violet and blue. This appears as much in the adult as in the young birds. f. The abdominal blue in 20 skins is dull, mostly lustreless. In 20 others it is full of lustre. No dates are upon the skins to indicate the time of year in relation to moult or nesting. In many more the transitional phases are showing. g. Wing measurements in adults show 6.2 to 6.8 inches, mostly 6.5. I think, with Mr. Robinson, that there is a sub-species, and that it is confined to the extreme north of Queensland. About the Richmond River we get the species. I think the sub-species is nomadic in Northern Queensland, while the species is migratory between Southern Queensland and Tasmania.
Birds Seen at Cumminin Station, Western Australia.
Bv Alan Fairfax Crossman, F.L.S., F.Z.S., M.B.O.U.
Cumminin is situate about 90 miles east from Beverley and 200 miles due east from Perth. It is, roughly speaking, about half-way between the two rabbit-proof fences, and is some 30 miles south of Merreden, on the Eastern Goldfields railway. The country is very undulating, the hills being chiefly timbered with jam-wood (Acacia acuminata) and York gum, while the valleys grow forests of salmon-barked gum, gimlet gum, and morell, interspersed with tea-tree and occasional patches of yate (eucalypt). Through part of the country runs what is called the Salt River — a river only in name. Though occasionally in very wet winters it does run, it consists really of a chain of lakes of varying sizes, some of which have often a considerable amount of water in wet seasons, and are the haunts of innumerable Ducks. Throughout the district the good land is surrounded by vast sand-plains, some of which are useful for feeding stock, while others are covered with practically impene- trable scrub, and are the haunts of kangaroo, Emu, Mallee-Fowl, and other game. Out of the jam-wood country one finds huge granite rocks outcropping, and it is under these that
