but in their turn they are themselves superior in many respects to those around the Coolgardie fields. They were equally lazy, however, and persistent beggars, requests being made for "bacca," "matchie," "pflour," and even my trousers. To gain their goodwill I fed them freely, until I was tired of it, waiting in vain for the nests and eggs, which were to come "after the rain," or "when it come hot." In the end I had to enact the "sulky pfellow," and only exchange food for weapons. My dissimulation must have been weak or badly enacted, for when I told one particularly persistent beggar that I was a sulky fellow I was promptly called a liar, the term being qualified with a white man's adjective.
I must add that all the nests and eggs I took during the trip are in the collection of Mr. H. L. White, of Belltrees. For the names of the one or two plants referred to in my notes I am indebted to Dr. Alexander Morrison, late Government Botanist in this State.
In conclusion, I can only hope that the following notes will be of some interest to my brother ornithologists, also that they will form another link in the chain of our knowledge relating to the geographical distribution of Australian birds. The more we know of the latter branch of ornithology the easier will be the task of specialists in deciding on and discriminating between varieties, sub-species, and geographical races of birds.
Without nests and eggs of Stipiturus ruficeps and Acanthiza whitlocki the trip cannot be called a complete success. But I may perhaps be allowed to call attention to the fact that I was quite alone in my work, and entirely dependent on my own exertions. I never spared any trouble, and my energies were often severely taxed. On one occasion I covered 44 miles in 15 hours under a hot and almost tropical sun. Local stockmen and others shook their heads at me—"You will be found dead in the bush some day" was their comment.
Nomenclature—Mathews' "Handlist" (Emu, Supp., vol. vii.)
Emu (Dromæus novæ-hollandiæ).—Far from common on the East Murchison. The only flock I saw was one comprising about a score or so. This was on the western side of the rabbit-proof fence. On the spinifex plains I encountered a pair or two. Seeing an Emu's head above the spinifex one day when hunting nests of Amytornis, I stalked it in the hope of getting a photograph of a nest. It proved to be, not a sitting bird, but a cripple, the tarsus being badly broken close to the toes. For all this the bird appeared to be healthy and in no distress.
Little Quail (Turnix velox).— occasionally flushed a Quail or two, when searching for other things, but found no nests. They were most frequent near Bore Well. The only one I managed to shoot was an individual near my tent, which rather disturbed me by uttering its moaning call during the night. The call sounded like a low, deep "Oo-ah," uttered continuously for several minutes at a time. This proved to be a female bird.
Little Dove (Geopelia cuneata).— Generally distributed, but most common and breeding in October near Milly Pool.
