1917.] British Association in Australia. 5l 



residence, Wittunga, near Blackwood, and, as will be seen, 

 was tlie means of my makin^i; the acqiiaiutaucc of several 

 rare species which I should otherwise have missed. 



I went alone to Blackwood by an early train on August 11, 

 and was received with the utmost hospitality by Mr. Ashby 

 and his family, who live in a district still partly covered by 

 scrub, though unfortunately falling into the builders' hands. 

 The garden at Wittunga is large, filled with fruit trees and 

 flowering plants, and fringed by a belt of virgin soil still 

 carrying a natural gi'owth of Eucalypts, which are a great 

 resort of the Meliphagidje. On and round the house 

 Mr. Ashl)y and his son pointed out the breeding-sites of 

 several species of birds already known to me, and shewed me 

 the actual nests of more than one pair of the White-bearded 

 Honey-eater (Meliornis novcp-hollayidice) in small trees or 

 bushes. This bird must lay its eggs very early in the year, 

 for all were hatched and the young were actually fledged, 

 though the Narrow-billed Bronze Cuckoo had only just 

 made its appearance and was not heard to full advantage. 

 We next proceeded to examine with the aid of field-glasses 

 the birds which were flying to and fro or flitting about the 

 tops of the highest Eucalypts ; this was very necessary, for 

 the numbers and the species appear to vary from day to day 

 at this time of year. Naturally, if alone, I should have 

 been somewhat uncertain of my identifications ; but here 

 the aid of Mr. Ashby and Mr. W. B. Alexander of the 

 Perth Museum, who was staying in the house, was of the 

 greatest assistance. The White-plumed Honey-eater or 

 Greenie was familiar, but I had not yet met with the 

 White-naped Honey-eater (Melithreptus atricapillus), which 

 was not uncommon, the Black-chinned Honey-eater {M. 

 ffidaris), the Spine-billed Honey-eater [Acanthorhynchus 

 tenuirostris), or the Tawny-crowned Honey-eater (Gly- 

 cyphila melanops). In a low fruit-tree a Brush Wattle- 

 bird (Anellobia chrysoptera) Avas sitting on two eggs ; the 

 Striated Tit-Warbler (Acanthiza lineuta) was seen with 

 -Zosterops ceerulescens and other common species near the 

 stables ; and I feel sure that it was here that I saw the 



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