573 Mr. T. Carter o?i the Birds of [Ibis^ 



Dromiceius novahollandiae woodwardi. 



The Emu was not observed ou Dirk Harfcog Island, and 

 no records or traces of its having formerly existed there 

 were obtained. 



These birds were fairly numerous on the Peron peninsula 

 and breed there. Several were seen in the vicinity of the 

 large mangrove lagoon fifteen miles north of Denham, and 

 also further south. To obtain fresh water to drink they 

 must come in to the sheep and cattle troughs, where they 

 are easily shot ; and, as the peninsula is fenced off from the 

 mainland at the narrowest part and has many other sub- 

 division paddock fences, the extermination of those now on 

 the peninsula would seem to be only a question of a few 

 years, although no doubt some birds from outside may 

 succeed in getting over the fences. 



Leipoa ocellata ocellata. 



No Mallee Fowl were seen on Dirk Hartog Island nor any 

 old nesting-mounds, and no records were obtained, but a 

 few pairs still breed on the Peron peninsula, and young 

 birds recently hatched were brought in to Denham about 

 three years ago, according to reliable authority. Mr. Mead 

 kindly took me out a long way in order to find some nesting- 

 mounds which had been recently used, but, although we rode 

 many miles through very dense and high scrub, we were 

 unable to find them. 



In view of the near extinction of this fine species in 

 mid-west (coastal) Australia, I think it Avell to put on 

 record that, when I was '' new-chumming" on the Boola- 

 thanna Station, about twenty miles north of Carnarvon, in 

 1887, Mallee Fowl were abundant in the coastal scrubs 

 north of the Gascoyne Iliver as far as Cape Farquhar, and 

 the station natives used to bring in the eggs to eat. This 

 coastal country was then unstocked and in its virgin state. 

 When asking Mr. Gerald Lefioy (who has his sheep-station 

 near Cape Farquhar), in August 1916, whether he ever 

 saw any Mallee Fowl or " Gnows'^ (wliich is the aboriginal 

 name), he said, he met with the last live one about 1900, 

 although many of their old nests are still in evidence. 



