Notes on West Auetralian Oology. 5 



corresp>ondiTig member of this Soc-ietv, -was tlie first to pre- 

 sent me with the eg^ of this graceful parrakeet, also with a 

 pair of live birds which now adorn mv a%-iaiy. 



Syn/Acv^i sordidus, Gould (Sombre Swamp-Qoail). — 

 Eggs pvriform, of a dirt j jellowish-white, minntelv spotted 

 all over with dull green or olive. Markings more assimilate 

 those of the Tasmanian, and are a little bolder than the 

 common swamp quail's (S. av^tralis). Shells very thick. 

 Complement of eg^. 8 to 10. Dimensions — (1) 3-04 x 2 4^ 

 cm., (2) 3-24 x 2 45 cm., (3) 316 x 2 44 cm. 



On a visit to Breaksea Island, at the entrance to King 

 George's Sound, I found this quail plentiful, and although 

 late in the season (2nd January^, the lighthouse ke€per3 

 pointed out a nest containing nine eggs, and kindly 

 permitted me to remove three for scientific purpc-ses. The 

 nest was a little hollow, lined with dead grass and sheltered 

 under a tus5<:»ck of grass amid rushes. 



Biziura lolfj-ta, Shaw ^usk Duck', invariably lays a pair 

 of eggs on the Eastern portion of Australia and Tasmania, 

 yet, howe%'er remarkable and unaccountable it may seem, 

 the complement is three in Western Australia I heard of 

 several nests with that numl-er, and t->jk one myself in a 

 Melaleuca swamp at Karri'iale. 



Sterna dougaUi, Mont. (Graoefol Tern). — ^I^gs rather 

 round in form ; colour varies from greyish to wann stone 

 colour, l»oldly marked with sf-ots and blotches of a dark 

 limber, patches of grey &iso apj'earing xmder the surface of 

 tlie shell Clutch, two egg=^ Dimensions — a ] 38 x 2*93 can.. 

 (2) 3-82 X 2-94 cm.: 6 '[l 3-96 x 2 82 cm., (2) 3-93 x 2 82 cm. 



Gilliiert, the able coadjutor of Gould, did not succee-i in 

 procuring &ggs, but was informe<i that these terns bree<i in 

 ^oveml^r. The following extra^jt from my note-bx'k 

 would make it apf^ear that Deceml-er was the chief laying 

 month : — " Graceful terns in companies of scores, found 

 nesting on parallel dead coral ridges, Pelsart Island, 

 Houtman's Abrolhos, 23rd December, 1889. Birds uttering 

 usual shriekinor cries. E-^^js two, but sometimes one, the 

 nest toeing a hollow made in the rough coral filled with finer 

 coial, shells, Ace: Coral, not the usual cream colour or 

 white, but bluish-grey, as if by long exposure to the 

 elements, and sustaining piatches of lichen {Lecidea . On 

 another ridge adjacent, were a few ternlets ^Siernula /i-erei^) 

 breeding : also two egirs, s-jmetimes one. Young in down 



