Vol. XVIII. 



1919 



1 Whitlock, Birds Breeding in Dumpier Archipelago. 25 1 



break, and also during the day, and again in the evening till after 

 sunset. After a few hours of watching and listening, I made certain 

 he was accompanied by a mate, and that no early hatched young 

 were with the pair. I determined, therefore, to keep a close watch 

 without being too intrusive, with the idea of seeing if actual building 

 operations were in progress. In this I totally failed. Not once, 

 during observations extending over three weeks, did I surprise either 

 parent carrying a single blade of dried grass. It was only after 

 several systematic searches in the patch of Spinifex longifolius that 

 I gave up hope of finding a nest in that easily examined grass. There 

 remained small patches of Triodia amongst the 5. longifolius, and 

 also several larger patches near at hand. On one occasion I was 

 standing in the middle of one of these latter, watching the male bird, 

 which showed unmistakable signs of uneasiness. This was expressed 

 by little flights into the air and a timid approach towards me. I did 

 not stay long, but for the future paid particular attention to that 

 patch of spinifex. On another occasion, in the dusk of the evening, 

 I saw a Desert-Bird leave the same spot in a very furtive manner, 

 but, of course, nothing could be seen of what was in the interior of 

 the numerous clumps of spinifex. I was now fairly certain the nest 

 was to be looked for in that particular patch. I decided to wait 

 until a certain date. I fixed on 9th August, as a matter of fact, 

 before commencing on the tedious operation of systematically cutting 

 or tearing out each individual clump. For this purpose I had 

 previously tried a long-handled billhook and a light axe, and found 

 the latter the better weapon. I was armed also with a pair of 

 driving gauntlets (gloves). These had been suggested by Mr. H. L. 

 White as a substitute for hedge-cutters' mittens, which I had tried 

 in vain to obtain. The gauntlets were a great comfort, and I was 

 able to tackle the densest and most pricklv clumps of spinifex 

 without detriment to hands and arms. I had cut out some large 

 masses before I tackled a succession of three smaller ones which 

 actually touched one another. I demolished the first, and took a 

 peep, as far as was possible, into the second before attacking it. I 

 thought I could make out the rim of a nest. Cautiously opening out 

 the top of the clump, I could distinctly see an apparently perfect 

 nest of the Spinifex-Bird, but, alas ! quite empty. I quickly restored 

 all the surroundings to their former condition as near as I was able, 

 and was about to leave the spot when, to my dismay, I noticed both 

 the parent birds watching me from the lee of a large clump of Triodia 

 not far away. I hurried off, hoping the birds would not desert the 

 nest, but much perturbed about the matter, nevertheless. I decided 

 not to make a close inspection of the nest for at least three days. 

 This rule I followed till the eleventh day. In the meantime no eggs 

 had been laid, and I was losing hope. On the eleventh day I got a 

 pleasant surprise. The nest contained one egg. At 11 o'clock on 

 the following day there were two. I did not expect more than a 

 pair. I cautiously removed the eggs and played an old schoolboy 

 trick on the female by substituting a pair of commoner eggs in their 

 place. I had two objects in view : I wished to prevent the nest from 

 being deserted in case there was a third egg to make a complete 

 clutch, and I also wanted to learn something of the behaviour of the 

 sitting bird. The ruse worked, as I saw the female slip off the nest 

 on visiting it again the following evening. She did not, however, 

 permit a near approach before doing so. She sat for two following 

 days, but the time had arrived for me to leave Barrow Island, and 



