40 Mr. A. H. Evans : loith the [Ibis, 



of tlie various flowering wattles (^Acacia) are even more 

 conspicuous, and the Wattle is as much an emblem of tlie 

 flora as is the Emu of the avifauna. 



But to return to our birds. The place of the Robin of 

 our gardens was here filled by the brilliant "Blue Wren " 

 {Malurus cyanochlamj/s) , of which several males were in 

 possession of the lawn, each accompanied by a small bevy 

 of brown females. These lovely little blue-and-black 

 songsters were common at Camden, as elsewhere, and bred 

 in the bushes bordering the grass ; but none of the nests 

 were yet occupied. The Brown Flycatcher (Micraca 

 Jascinans) and the Willie Wagtail {Sisura inqideta) were 

 perhaps the most prominent of the other small birds 

 •which we were beginning to recognise, while a quantity 

 ■of old nests of a Finch (? Stagonopleura guttata) almost 

 filled a most thorny bush at one extremity of the actual 

 garden. It was a great pleasure to hear for the first 

 time the sweet voices of the Mistletoe- and Diamond-Birds, 

 though both were at the tops of high trees and difficult 

 to see ; they were accompanied by White-eyes (Zosterops 

 carulescens) and the first members of the great family of 

 Honey-eaters (Meliphagidre) that wc had seen, which were 

 no doubt chiefly "Greenies" [Ptilotis penicil/ata). Later in 

 the day the notes of that characteristic Australian species, 

 the Kookaljurra or "Laughing Jackass '' (Dacclo gigas), 

 were heard in the distance, varying from low gurglings to 

 loud guffaws, but always unmistakable and most striking to 

 a new-comer. This Kingfisher is most noisy in the evening, 

 but almost equally so in the early morning ; parties are 

 constantly seen sitting on the same branch or on a tele- 

 grapli wire, but when they cry they commonly separate and 

 answer one another from a distance. 



Next day, soon after sunrise, we were awakened by the 

 loud melodious notes of the "Black Magpie^' (Strepera 

 graculina) and the Black-backed "Magpie^' {Gymnorhina 

 tihicen), which quite overpowered those of the other songsters. 

 The Black Magpie was common and most conspicuous as 

 it flew from tree to tree in fearless fashion ; unlike the 



