76 Monthly Conversazione. [^isf jliiy" 



Monthly Conversazione 



This monthly meeting of members of the R.A.O.U. was held 

 at the National ^Museum, Wednesday evening, ist June; Mr. F. 

 Keep in the chair. Mr. F. E. Howe read an instructive paper on 

 the genus Climacteris, and gave interesting field notes of the 

 breeding habits of many species. The paper will be published 

 at length in The Emu. An interesting discussion followed. 



The principal business of the evening was the inspection of 

 the "Tom Carter Collection" of bird-skins, which Mr. H. L. 

 White, with his usual far-seeing and patriotic }xjlicy. has ac- 

 ((uired for the National collection. The Carter Collection is ex- 

 tremely valuable and useful, seeing that it was the labour of so 

 careful an observer and explorer as Mr. Carter. Mr. Carter 

 spent 30 years in Western Australia, and his explorations extend 

 from the region of the North-West Cape to Albany — distance 

 apart nearly 1000 miles. The collection contains 800 skins of 

 over 300 species and sub-species of birds, chieflv western kinds. 

 The specimens are carefully labelled, with full data. 



Mr. A. J. Campbell explained some of the exhibits, and read 

 from The Ibis interesting notes concerning them, by Mr. Carter. 

 (See Ibis, 1920, pp. 679-719, and 1921, pp. 48-81.) These notes 

 are (^f importance to Australian ornithologists. A pair of Emu- 

 skins were contrasted — the dark south-western bird with the 

 sandy-coloured creature of the dry north-west. A Wood-Sand- 

 piper (Rhyacophihis iilarcola) caused much interest. It ap- 

 peared with two others of the same kind at an artesian-bore 

 swamp, near Maud's Landing ( North-West ). September, 1911. 

 The scapulars were curiously scalloped on the outer edges — 

 either worn away or bitten out by the bird. The first-recorded 

 instance of Wood Sandpiper in Australia was from \'ictoria. 

 There were many other Waders, the North-West Cape being a 

 ^ood "dumping ground." e>i)eciallv for far-northern migrants. 

 A I'abbler caused comment. It is smaller than Poniatostouius 

 siipcrciliosus, and has been named bv Mr. G. ^I. Mathews 

 (fa'endolenae, in honour of Mr. Carter's daughter. Among the 

 small fry Acanthiui inornata was found as far north as Carnar- 

 von, in some Melaleuca scrub and the Maluri, notably assiniilis 

 or occidentalis, were j/ientiful, while Mr. Carter's diligence 

 brought more than one new varietv of F'mu-Wren { Stif^itnrus) 

 to scientific light. Panialotus paUidus was deemed a good and 

 decided variety of ntbricatns. .Much interest centred round two 

 pairs of Tree-creepers {Climacteris), provisi(^nally labelled "C. 

 melauuro 7\.'ellsi." but evidentlv are not referable to Ogilvie- 

 Grant's dark variety, but are near relations of the more eastern 

 and central species C. snpercilosa. During Mr. Carter's long 

 residence in the North- West Cape district, he had never seen a 

 Tree-creeper. lUit during September, 191 5, he obtained the four 



