42 



Berney, Birds of the Richmond District, N.Q. [_ ^^^ "J^^,, 



GOULDIAN grass-Finch {Pocphlla i;ih-al>ilis).—i:h\s only occurs rarely 

 here, and then confines itself to the timbered country along the river. 

 I had an excellent opportunity to watch a few of these lovely Finches in 

 IVIarch this year. Mr. Smedley wrote me from Homestead in May, 1903, 

 that these Finches were all busy nesting down there. 



Crimson Finch {Neochmia p/iacton).— 1^02 is the only year that 1 have 

 seen them. I used to come across them feeding on the dry mud-banks 

 along the river from June to November, sometimes ten or a dozen together. 

 A female I obtained measured as follows :— Total length, sVk inch ; wing, 

 2>^ inches ; tail, 2}i inches ; tarsus, i^-inch. Their call is a subdued " Peet, 

 peet, peet," uttered disjointedly. 



Bush-Lark {Mirafra horsfichU) ; Lesser Bush-Lark {Mira/m 

 sccun(id).—^\ have thought it best to bracket these two Larks together, 

 because at present I am somewhat in doubt as to their distribution and 

 representation here. I had always put our bird down as M. horsfieldi, not 

 recognizing M. scci/nda as a local bird. But on shooting a Bush-Lark for 

 the purpose of examination I was struck with the bird's unusually red 

 appearance, and on forwarding the skin to Mr. A. J. Campbell for his 

 opinion he reported it to be M. sccunda. Although these birds are common 

 on the Flinders the above individual is the only one I have examined, for I 

 had always felt satisfied we had only one species ; however, I must find time 

 to look into them closer. Under the impression that the bird I shot was 

 M. horsfieldi I wrote in my notes at the time :— " This skin agrees with 

 Gould's description (" Handbook," vol. i., p. 404) in most points, but, be it 

 noted, the rufous on the wings is most marked, and the same colour on the 

 under surface of the wings would be better described as pale brick-red ; the 

 chin is bufty-white raiher than white, and the breast feathers, which have a 

 narrow streak of dark brown down the centre, have also a rufous tinge ; 

 small dark spots of brown follow the line of the lower jaw and border in 

 crescentive form the lower margin of the throat ; there is a wash of ashy- 

 grey on the sides and back of the neck ; tail brown, margined with rufous, 

 the outermost feather buff-white, with the next again buff-white on the outer 

 barb." Sex, female ; eggs in ovaries very minute ; contents of stomach, 

 small seed. Shot loth July, 1904. Measurements :— Total length, c^J. inches ; 

 wing, 3 inches ; tail, 2^6 inches ; tarsus, |-g-inch ; bill to gape, |-inch ; from 

 extremity of middle toe to same of heel, i-i'g inches. Bush-Larks are here all 

 the year round, but ever so much more numerous in summer than winter. 



[A nest of a Bush-Lark, presumably M . scciiiida, was forwarded to me by 

 Mr. Berney (see illustration). It is domed, placed in a tuft of grass, and 

 composed of soft, greyish-coloured, dead grass-stalks, and lined with finer 

 material (grass). Dimensions — externally, 4 inches in diameter ; entrance, 

 \}i inches; egg cavity, \% inches deep. An egg accompanying the nest 

 resembles those of the ordinary Bush- Lark, but it is more glossy, and has 

 the markings more pronounced; dimensions, .8 x .58 inches. This egg is 

 typical of a set of authenticated M. sccunda taken in North-West Australia, 

 in which instance the nest was also completely hooded. -A.J.C] 



White-rumped Swift {Micropus pacificus). — A summer visitor, arriving 

 about the end of September, when circumstances are very favourable, but 

 as likely as not the first representatives will not be seen till November ; the 

 early part of April sees them off again. Verily, they are birds of passage — 

 they never seem to have time to stop. Attracted by their screaming, you 

 look up to see them racing high up overhead ; they are in sight for thirty 

 seconds, and then gone again. It is not often they come down low to feed, 

 and I never saw them settle. 



Spine taileu Swift {Chcrtura catidiKiitd). — This is a very irregular 

 summer migrant, never in any great numbers ; many years pass without 

 their appearing at all. 



