Vol. XXII. 



1923 



] Wlirri.OCK, 7";v> to fortcscuc River 273 



play-j^roLind again. I succe.s.sfully climbed the cliff at a nearer 

 point, in the neighbourhood of another wild tig tree. This tree 

 was in fruit, and as 1 s;i\\ a IJower-Bird tly to it, I presume 

 they were feeding on the fruil to some extent. 1 tasted one 

 myself and found it very insipid and dry. When I reached the 

 ])lay-gr()und there were three birds there. I watched for a long 

 time in hopes of getting a clue to a nest, but with no 

 success. The wild 'n^i, tree was nearing its last days, and gave 

 but little shade. I could see it had been at one time the host 

 of many Mistletoe [)lants, and also of climbing vines, the scars 

 of which were plainly visible around the main trunk. 



The heat and ants in the end tired nie out, and as I had lost 

 hope of finding a ncsl I sacrificed two of the attendant birds. 

 It went much against the grain to do so, but I reflected how 

 rarely an ornithologist visited these inaccessible ranges, and 

 that the specimens I secured would be put to a better use in 

 the H. L. White Collection than in furnishing a meal for some 

 lurking Rock Python. I returned to the spring, and was packing 

 up, when a Bower-Bird suddenly appeared from the north, in 

 a bush just behind me. I was fortunate enough to shoot this, 

 as it proved to be the only female out of the five specimens I 

 got. This is curious, as Mr. Tom Carter secured four females 

 and one male out of the same number, and is exactly the reverse 

 of my experience. On dissection this female proved to be fully 

 adult, with ovules the size of No. 6 shot. Like the males, she 

 showed signs of moult. The pink nape was very little in evi- 

 dence in this specimen. This agrees with my last East Mur- 

 chison experiences. The aborigines told me Bower-Birds are 

 seldom seen near the Fortescue River, though wild fig trees 

 grow in the adjacent cliffs. They know the bird as the 

 Tarra-dee. 



I returned to Mill Stream Spring October 11th, after vainly 

 attempting to locate other springs in the ranges. The abor- 

 igines are acquainted with them, but could give but little idea 

 of their distance away — "perhaps four mile, perhaps eight mile" 

 \vas all I could get out of them. For the remainder of the trip 

 I worked near the river. In spite of all my efforts I could find 

 neither nests nor young birds. I resolved to return home. I 

 left my very kind friends, Mr. and Mrs. Irvine, on 14th Novem- 

 ber, and I taice this opportunity of acknowledging the innumer- 

 able kindnesses in the shape of hospitality, advice and assistance I 

 received at their hands, and also for the readily granted permis- 

 sion to camp and collect on any part of the run I liked. I am 

 also indebted to Mr. Kenneth Cookson, one of the owners of 

 Mill Stream, for the interest he took in my work during a brief 

 visit he paid to the station. 



I left Roebourne 21st November, and landed at Fremantle a 

 week later. 



