396 A LIST OP THE BIRDS OF THE MUDGEE DISTRICT, 



constant residence go, extinct), Geronticus, Threskiornis, and Grii^s 

 australasianus should at times be found in numbers. Again, the 

 western slopes of the Dividing Range at Cooyal, 18 miles east 

 from Mudgee, are clothed with vegetation resembling that of the 

 coast brushes, and here Menura, Sericornis^ Ptilonorhynchus and 

 other coast forms are plentiful. 



The district is bounded on the east by that part of the Blue 

 Mountains extending from Cassilis on the north to where the 

 Hunter Range begins at Mount Coricudgy; thence the south 

 boundary runs westward along the Dividing Range to the spur 

 forming the watershed beween the Meroo River and the Cudge- 

 gong, and along that spur to the head of the Meroo. The east 

 boundary runs along that stream to its embouchure into the 

 Cudgegong, and then northward to Cobbora. From Cobbora the 

 Talbragar River eastward to the point of commencement forms 

 the northern boundary. The average length of the district is 

 about 60 miles, its breadth 35 miles, and its area may be estimated 

 at about 2000 square miles. 



From this it will be seen that it takes in the valley of the 

 Cudgegong in its entirety, and also includes the affluents of the 

 Talbragar on the left bank, and those of the right bank of the 

 Meroo. It includes in its borders the peaks of Durambang, 

 Coricudgy (3000 feet), and just leaves out Tayan Peak (4000 

 feet); and it also takes in the curious basaltic hill, Bocoble, which 

 is 3500 feet high. We have come to the conclusion that the 

 height of Mudgee itself, 1635 feet above the sea, is a fair average 

 for the district. Mount Frome, a limestone peak capped with 

 slaty stone, rises to a height, as measured by one of us, of 820 

 feet above the river bed, about 2455 feet above the sea, and 

 Dwealdjeree is 1640 feet above the river — about 3200 feet abso- 

 lute height. This last peak is of igneous origin, and in the creek 

 rising on its west flank the vegetation is of a different character, 

 Eucalyptus globulus^ Pittosporum undulatum, and other plants 

 unknown in the rest of the district occurring there. Here a few 

 insects and birds live which are not general all over the district. 



