follows:—"Guttated Bower-Bird, 50 miles N.W, of Lake Way.— J.T.T." This record was copied from a mounted specimen in the Perth Museum. I wrote to my friend Mr. J. T. Tunney with reference to this bird, and he very kindly informed me of the exact locality where he obtained it, adding that it was the only one he saw during his exploration of the East Murchison. I mention this matter specially as it led to an interesting result.
I left home 18th June, 1909, intending to reach Lake Way, or Wiluna, as the township is called, on 1st July. I arrived at Perth on the evening of the 19th, just escaping serious delay owing to washaways on the Great Southern Railway. I spent a couple of days in Perth, completing my outfit, arriving at Nannine, the head of the Northern Railway, on 23rd. En route I passed through my old hunting-grounds around Lake Austin, and was delighted to note the large body of water the lake contained, and also to observe the promising appearance of the local vegetation. Underneath the telegraph wires, at a point by the lake, I observed the wreck of several fine specimens of the Banded Stilt (Chladorhynchus australis), a species I did not observe on my previous visit.
I found I had a day to spare at Nannine, and naturally wandered off to see what bird-life I could in the vicinity of the township. Less than a mile to the north is a sinuous but narrow depression, which then contained quite a respectable body of water, but intensely saline in quality. Amongst the samphires I found quite a number of the beautiful Orange-fronted Chat (Ephthianura aurifrons), and also small parties of waders, which looked like the Little Stint (Limonites ruficollis), in company with the Red-capped Dottrel (Ægialitis ruficapilla). The Chestnut-eared Finch (Tæniopygia castanotis) was abundant, and had evidently been breeding for some time, as I saw young birds on the wing and found nests in various stages of completion. I was destined to meet with quite an extraordinary number of these nests later on.
I left Nannine the following mid-day, per express waggon. Having too much baggage to go by the ordinary mail coach, I preferred this method of travel, as there is nothing like keeping one's eye on such things as guns, camera, and the various impedimenta necessary to a trip, when travelling over these tracks—for of roads in the true sense there are none. We were favoured with a spell of fine but bitterly cold weather. A keen east wind met us in the face, and, despite the brilliant sunshine and plenty of clothing, I was unable to keep warm, and was only too glad to jump down and walk when the state of the track precluded our team from advancing at a faster pace than a walk. In making a push for a particular well that evening our leading waggon got hopelessly bogged, and, despite the efforts of nine powerful horses and much digging out of ruts, there we had to camp for the night. This, however, was the only mishap
