I- 



NOTES ON A SMALL COLLECTION OF BIRDS MADE 



By Mr. E. H. SAUNDERS, AT ROEBURNE, 



NORTH-WESTERN, AUSTRALIA. 



By a. J. North, F.L.S. 



Roeburne, of which Cossack is the port, is the centre of the 

 pearling industry in North-western Australia. It is situated near 

 the mouth of the Harding River, and is about 800 miles in a 

 direct line from Perth, and 500 miles from Derby, King's Sound. 

 The adjacent country is rich in minerals ; gold was accidentally 

 discovered there early last year by a boy, who picking up a stone 

 to throw at a bird, found it to be closely veined with gold. 

 Inland the country has been mostly devoted to pastoral purposes, 

 the exact locality where this collection was made being 

 Karratha Station, 36 miles N.W. of Roeburne. With one or two 

 exceptions only the larger species have been collected, and although 

 a new locality, only two species are recorded as typical of Western 

 Australia, viz., Platycercus zonarius, Shaw, common in the south, 

 and Dacelo cervina, Gould, already reported by Dr. Ramsay, from 

 Derby. The rest are common in New South Wales and other 

 parts of Australia, and merely show the range of the species. Mr. 

 Saunders has attached a note to each specimen, giving the date 

 when collected, sex, and the colours of those parts liable to fade. 



Circus assimilis, Jardine and Selby (C. jardiniif Gould). 



Allied Harrier. 



A semi-adult ^ shot May 3rd, 1889. Found over the greater 

 portion of Australia. 



