194 White, Ornithological Trips to Nullabor Plains. [,^f"jan. 



ages gazing at me from the ledges of rock. The Owls did not 

 go down any great depth. Many of the young birds had been 

 taken from their nesting-places in the blow-holes and conveyed 

 to the railway camps to be kept as pets. This is to be regretted, 

 because Owls do not make good pets, owing to their being flesh- 

 eaters, and when in captivity their surroundings are not sweet ; 

 another thing, being confined in boxes, they have no room to 

 move about, and are therefore anything but happy. Seeing that 

 these birds destroy hundreds upon hundreds of rabbits, mice, 

 rats, as well as millions of noxious night-flying insects, such useful 

 birds should be allowed their freedom to carry out the work for 

 which they were created. Leaving the plain, the sand-hills were 

 entered, and, after a heavy pull through drift sand covered in low 

 scrub (mostly Acacia and Cassia), Ooldea native well was reached. 

 This native well, or soak, is situated in the centre of an almost 

 circular depression, and all the water taken inside this basin 

 seemingly gravitates to the centre, M'here there is a thin clay 

 bottom, and this forms the well. This watering-place must have 

 been known to the natives for generations upon generations, for 

 all over the bare sloping sand-hills numbers of stone and flint 

 chippings are to be seen ; there are distinct traces of many fires, 

 portions of grinding stones, and many evidences of the former 

 owners of the country. There were relics of happy days for them, 

 when they made their spear-heads, kurries, &c., held their 

 corroborees, and hunted over the sand-hills and plains. We left 

 the spot where that adventurous spirit, the late R. T. Maurice, 

 camped many a time when exploring this country. If he could 

 only see it now I am sure he would not know it, with hundreds 

 of reeking, sweating camels waiting for their loads of water for 

 the railway siding at Ooldea. Leaving the native well by another 

 route, it was not long before some wonderful flowering gums or 

 mallee were met with ; this is known to the botanist as Eucalyptus' 

 pyriformis. The flowers are of two colours, crimson and creamy- 

 white, growing in clusters, and each flower is over two inches 

 across. The tree is a low, stunted mallee form, but when met 

 with in full blossom, amid the dry, hot sand-hills, it is a surprise 

 indeed. At the time of my visit the flowering season was nearly 

 over, and the sand under the trees was strewn with huge capsules 

 from the flower-pods. 



Fourth Trip. 



On 2ist May, 1918, I was again on the move west, and most of 

 my work was done round Tarcoola, the Sparrows having reached 

 that station. I set about destroying them, and the men who are 

 assisting me have accounted for most of the Sparrows already. 

 Apart from my work with the Sparrows, I was able to do a good 

 deal of bird -observing, for I visited all the rock-holes in the 

 vicinity to see if the Sparrows were drinking at them. Short- 

 billed Crows w'ere very numerous in the township, and were acting 

 as scavengers. Pipits w^ere seen close to the dwellings. Crested- 



