'^°'i-923^"J WHITLOCK. 7-r/> to Fortcscuc Rhcr 261 



The only other species of this genus noted during the trip 

 ■vvas the White-winged Wren {Malurns leuconotiis). liut this 

 species was comparatively rare, which accords with i)revious 

 observations made in what may be termed the heart oi the true 

 north-west. I saw more of this Mahinis later on in the ])lains 

 near the foot of the main Hamersley Ranges, and I found two 

 nests from which the young had recently flown. I may as 

 well mention here, that the year had so far, unfortunately, 

 proved a dry one. Up to the time of my arrival in Roebourne 

 only three inches of rain had then been recorded. These con- 

 ditions prevailed during the four months I was conducting my 

 observations. Xot a single day occurred with a com])letely 

 overcast sky. It was not until October that a few very local 

 thunderstorms occurred, the fall of rain being meagre in the 

 extreme. The natural result was that the necessary food being 

 absent, birds, with very few e.\cei)tions, did not breed. 



My earliest efforts were directed to the country in the neigh- 

 bourhood of the river, and to the plains of Spinifex (Triodia) 

 and grass intervening between it and the ranges, distant some 

 fifteen miles. It was not until the end of September that I 

 camped at the foot of the latter. Bird life near the river was 

 plentiful enough, though the numbers of species obser\ed was 

 not great. 



Amongst the most cons])icuous were Magpie Lark (CraU'ma 

 cyanolcnco) , Blue-winged K(xjkaburra {Dacelo leaclii), Sacred 

 Kingfisher (Halcyon saiictns), with scattered pairs of Red- 

 backed Kingfisher (Halcyon pyrrJiopyghis). Late in October 

 a ])air of Sacred Kingfishers were flying in and out of a cavity 

 in a large Cajuput, but I am very doubtful if they really nested 

 there. The fawn-breasted birds were quite as noisy as usual, 

 especially in the morning and evening. I found them in ])arties 

 of three to five. T could detect no young birds amongst them, 

 and saw no signs f)f pairs which had taken u]) their stations 

 near hollow-limbed trees. 



The Dusky Miner t Mycanflui obsciira) was common among 

 the river gums in parlies f)f five to eight. The Pdack- 

 faced Cuckoo-Shrike ( Graiicahis novcc-Jiollandicc) was also 

 present, and was one of the few species I found nesting. Three 

 nests were observed, but all .in inaccessible situations, being 

 placed in a small fork near the end of a horizontal limb of a 

 Eucaly])t. A little aboriginal girl brought me a fully fledged 

 young bird, when camped nearer to Mill vStream homestead in 

 November. About that period the Cajuputs were much in- 

 fested with a large grey grub. The Cuckoo-Shrikes re.sorted 

 to these trees in small flocks, and they, with the assistance of 

 the Crows, must have destroyed numbers of them. 



The Crow on the Fortescue, as far as I could make out, was 

 exclusively the smaller Short-billed Crow (Corviis hcniictti). 



