''"'iS"] WHITE. Trip to Cape York Pcmnsnla. 105 



?.??'''v?^/ny'^.''l"''^i"^^''"/^ ffugging- call of the male was heard once. 

 Climb 40 feet to the fork of a big- messmate, keep imitating the call 

 at mtervals, till hnally the bird again replies. I see the female walk- 

 ing about in the grass beneath me. Get dcwn and search all around: 

 no luck.^ The male has another call, "Chirp-chirp-chirp-kwaare- 

 kwaare." The first notes were short and rapidly uttered- the last 

 two were of longer duration, much louder and with a distinct pause 

 between. 



12/3/22.— While walking through a patch of short grass, a Turnix 

 flushed from close alongside my right foot. On looking down I 

 saw a dome of dry grass amongst the green, which I thought was a 

 rat's nest. A close examination proved it to be the Icng-sought nest 

 of Tuniix ohvu, containing four flne eggs. Nest ovoid, entrance in 

 large end, composed of fine, wiry, dry grass-stalks, a few straggling 

 ends of which stick out over the entrance for 7 inches; lined with 

 short bits of fine grass, and a couple of eucalypt leaves (messmate)- 

 placed in a shallow depression in ground amongst fine short grass not 

 interwoven with it; top, sides and back of nest very neat, no straggling 

 ends. Dimensions, outwardly from entrance to rear 6i inches, depth 

 bh inches, width 5 inches; entrance, 4 inches diameter. Inside, from 

 entrance to rear, bl inches; depth, 4i inches; width, 4 inches. 



13/3/22. — Heard a male calling differently from any previous call, 

 a deep-toned whistling, "Chu-chu-chu," rapidly uttered. Every time 

 I imitated the call of the female he replied with this call. 



17/3/22.— Tommy heard a Turnix calling in a grass pocket. Search 

 well, and find a nest with a broken eggshell in it; two more broken 

 eggs near by, showing teeth marks of some reptile, which Tommy 

 says was a goanna. 



22/3/22.— Flushed a bird again, which I feel sure has a nest close 

 by; search thoroughly, and found it about 150 yards from where 1 

 first heard the bird calling; take two photos; camouflage the camera 

 with grass and bushes in the hope of snapping the bird. After an 

 hour go to the camera, and the bird flushed from a couple of feet 

 to the side of the nest, being too scared to go into the nest. Nest 

 was placed in a shallow depression between a stool of long grass 

 and a small shrub. Eggs heavily incubated. 



24/3/22.— After breakfast Tommy brings horses, and as it will be 

 some considerable time before I finish my job, I send him along to 

 look round place where we heard Turnix calling yesterday after- 

 noon. About an hour and a half later I heard Tommy returning at 

 a gallop, and wondered what was wrong until I caught sight of his 

 face. There wasn't room for the extra, smallest portion of a smile 

 on his black face, and he was that excited he could hardly speak. At 

 last he blurted out: "I findem nest, four hegg this time, quite fresh 

 one." I eventually got a collected account from him. Take camera 

 and extra film cartridge and go along with Tommy. ■ The nest was 

 situated in a thinly grassed patch— thin stools of long grass widely 

 scattered with fine short grass growing between — at the base of a 

 stool of long- grass. It contained a lovely set of fresh eggs, one 

 rather strikingly marked in comparison with the others. 



27/3/22. — Tommy noticed a track through the grass, and on look- 

 ing closer found the nest of Turnix containing four eggs some dis- 

 tance away from where we previously flushed the bird. Nest placed 

 at the base of a stool of long grass among short fine grass, and 

 under a small creeping plant, which almost completely hides the nest 

 from view. 



The diary contains other instances of nest-finding. Numbers of 

 eggs are appare.ntly destroyed by lizards (goannas). 



