24 O'DoNOGHUE, Rambles in Raak. FvoT' 



XXXIII. 



\vc noted a j^freatcr number and variety of the feathered tribe 

 than elsewhere. Among the more numerous sjx!cies were the 

 Bee-eater. M crops ornatus, aud the Masked Wood -Swallow, 

 Artamus personatus, both of whicli had just reached the Raak 

 district on their annual migration. In a drooping Moonah, 

 Melaleuca parviflora, growing beside the margin of a lake-bed, 

 we discovered the nest and eggs of the Stri{)ed Honey-eater, 

 Plectorhynchus lanceolahis, and, in a pine tree, the nest and 

 young of the Tawny Frogmouth, Podargiis strigoides. The 

 young birds appeared very grotesque in their soft white investure, 

 and seemed not more than three weeks old, and incapable of 

 much exertion ; yet, on repairing to the tree the following 

 morning to secure a photograph of the mother bird and her 

 brood, we found the nest deserted. Returning homewards at 

 nightfall, we encountered several Black-faced Kangaroo, 

 Macropus melanops, and collected the Desert Cassia. Cassia 

 eremophila, var. platypoda. At one time this plant was very 

 plentiful hereabouts, but now, owing to the paitiahty shown 

 by the rabbits for its leaves and tender twigs, it is seldom met 

 with. Fortunately for the few plants that still sar\nve, the 

 recent drought dealt as effectively with the rabbits in the Raak 

 district as it did with the introduced Tree Tobacco. 



In company with Mr. Charles Thompson, of Kulk}Tie station, 

 we set out one morning at 7.45 for the purpose of searching 

 the mallee about eight miles to the north of the hut for the 

 nesting-mounds of the Mallee Fowl, Leipoa ocellata. Bearing 

 north by east, we crossed a large lake-bed, and forced our way 

 through a bewildering interlacement of dead and prostrate 

 trees of the Sea-green Tobacco, interspersed with sturdy 

 growths of the Silky Blue-bush, Kochia villosa, and the Native 

 Tobacco. Beyond this the Berrigan, the flowering Sandalwood, 

 and the fruit-bearing Sweet Quandong prevailed in more or 

 less abundance till the belt of Belar and Buloke already de- 

 scribed was reached. On its northern margin a narrow-leaved 

 form of the Giant Hop-bush, Dodoncea viscosa, var. angnsti- 

 folia, was met with, and occasional mounds of copi. The Oil 

 and the Tall Mallee succeeded, and, with pines and spinifex 

 intersj)ersed, stretched away northwards as far as the eye 

 could reach. 



As we continued in the direction mentioned at a leisurely 

 pace, keeping a keen look-out for the objects of our quest, we 

 noted many flowering plants and shrubs. The most prominent 

 of these were the Green Prostanthera, Prostanthera chlorantha, 

 the Spreading Flax-Lily, Dianella revolnta, the Holly Cirevillea, 

 Grevillea ilicifolia, var. lobata, the Lambs' Tails. Trichinium 

 exaltatum, and the Sand Twinleaf, Zygophyllum ammophihtm 

 Several specimens of the Rusty-hood Orchid, Pterostylis riifa. 



