56 CARTER, Xotcs on Some Australian Birds. UiI!m^ 



ashbyi, or the much smaller sub-species yzvcndolena-' that occurs 

 at Carnarvon? 



Page 144. Were the Bush Larks (Mirafra Jiorsfieldi) seen 

 in the vicinity of Geraldton, this species, or the more northern 

 form, zvoodwardi, that I have not as yet seen south of the 

 Minilya River? Mathews' List of Birds of Australia, 1913, 

 mentions no Bush Lark occurring in the south-west areas, or 

 south of the Onslow district. 



In rei)ly to Mr. Whitlock's query respecting birds of Dirk 

 Hartog Island — "If he (Carter) includes in the comprehensive 

 term of 'Wrens,' Wren-Warblers (Maliirus), Field-\\Tens 

 (Calamanthus), Scrub-Wrens (Sericornis) and Emu-^^'rens 

 (Stipitiirus)" — I say, yes. I did mean including them. The 

 nomenclature of the joint paper by ]\Ir. Mathews and myself 

 in the Ibis for October, 1917, was by Mr. Mathews, as stated 

 in the heading and also on page 571. In his Reference List of 

 1912, Maluri = "Wrens." For the same reason, Mahirus assimi- 

 lis (p. 182 of The Emu) was called the W'estern Blue-breasted 

 Wren. 



According to Mr. Whitlock's map showing the country that 

 he worked in Shark Bay, his "beat" on the Peron Peninsula did 

 not take him as far east as where the Mallee-fowl (Lcipoa) used 

 to breed. 



Mr. Whitlock surmises that the Scrub-Wren {Sericornis 

 hartogi) breeds towards the end of summer. It is certainly re- 

 markable that such a successful nest-finder as he is should fail 

 to find any breeding data. From my own experience on Dirk 

 Hartog, I should say that the regular breeding season is in the 

 winter months there, because on my second visit to that island, 

 commencing on September 28, I find recorded in my diary that 

 many small fledged young of this Scrub-Wren (and also Field- 

 AVrens) were observed by me on September 29, and the follow- 

 ing days, and one day Mr. Lloyd brought me a young Sericornis 

 that he had caught with his hands, as it was too young to fly. 

 Most of the small birds in the north-west and mid-west areas 

 breed after any heavy rainfall, irrespective of the season. Mr. 

 Whitlock experienced heavy rains in the 1920 winter. Were 

 there any earlier heavy rains that season in Shark Bay? In 

 which case the Sericornis might have bred then, but the other 

 small birds would also probably have done so. Mr. Whitlock 

 records having seen one brood of young Sericornis on his visit. 



Mr. \\'hitlock records .seeing several ]iairs of "Circus as.umilis 

 Allied Harrier?" on Dirk Hartog Island. According to the 

 R.A.O.U. Check-list of 1913 (which nomenclature he was 

 using). Circus assiniilis is the Spotted Swamp-Hawk, and the 

 Allied Harrier (v^wamp Hawk) is Circus gouldi. Personallv I 



