Vol. V, 

 1905 



'1 NiCHOLLS, A Tri [I to the West. 



that suggested the Scrui:)-Bird, which must be rarer than we 

 imagined. 



At Denmark, a timber mill township situated on Wilson's Inlet, 

 some 30 miles still further west, specimens of the Red- and White- 

 tailed Cockatoos {Calyptorhynchi stellatiis and haiidini), exclusively 

 Western forms, were secured. Both birds are found in the south- 

 west coastal strip of country, using their powerful bills for stripping 

 the bark from the trees in search of grubs, and also for crushing 

 the hard cups of the eucalypts in order to get at the seeds. The 

 laboured flight and weird, shrieking cry are common to both species. 

 It is always a difficult matter to describe the call or song of a bird, 

 but occasionally, as all of us at times have experienced, the desired 

 contrast presents itself in the most unexpected manner and place. 

 One day in Albany, whilst watching a top-dressing being laid on a 

 tennis court, a flock of thirteen Red-tailed Cockatoos passed over- 

 head, uttering their shrill cries. At that moment the heavy roller 

 was drawn across the court, and the harsh creaking of the rusty 

 iron cylinder as it turned on the axle sounded so like the cry of the 

 birds that I was constrained to make a note of it. In the tall 

 timber of the forest the Western Rosella, or Yellow-cheeked 

 Parrakeet [Platycerciis icterotis), differing from the Eastern form 

 (P. eximiiis) chiefly in that the cheeks are yellow in colour instead 

 of white, and the Red-capped Parrakeet {Porphyrocephahts spurius), 

 with its long, overlapping upper mandible, are very plentiful. The 

 last mentioned, a bird of truly gorgeous plumage, is readily dis- 

 tinguished by the deep red crown, green back, violet-blue breast, 

 yellow rump, and under tail coverts of scarlet. In the cleared patch 

 around the hut of the fisher folk, whose hospitality I enjoyed whilst 

 at Denmark, poultry roamed at large, and with them a Black- tailed 

 Native-Hen {Microtribonyx ventralis) about the size of a bantam. 

 It fed with the fowls, picking up grain, thistle, grass, and the like, 

 and was very pugnacious. On one occasion it fought and defeated 

 the champion " rooster " of the yard, a bird six times its own size, 

 covering the foe with his own blood and putting him to ignominious 

 flight. When perturbed by the presence of a stranger, the constant 

 flicking of the small tail, spread fanwise, was very marked ; this 

 the more so just prior to the " closely pressed " bird seeking shelter 

 across the river on the bank on which the fishing camp was built. 

 In flying it rose gently from the ground, after a short run, without 

 any noisy flapping or whirring of wings, and slowly drew u]) the 

 dangling legs into a horizontal position as the flight balance was 

 gained. 



Wilson's Inlet is larger than King George's Sound, but is blocked 

 by a sand bar at its mouth. It is made up of a series of horseshoc- 

 shaj^ed bays encircling a wide expanse of shallow water, which, in 

 parts, teems with wildfowl. Strolling with a companion, one 

 bright sunny afternoon, along the curving shore of one of the many 

 bays towards a famous avine retreat, locally known as Bird Island, 

 an occasional low musical note struck upon our ears and puzzled 

 us as to its whereabouts. The sea bed here consists of an immense 



