182 \\^HlTLOCK, Notes from XiiUarhor Plain. Ti^ffan.'* 



east of Geraldton. Some time afterwards I met with C. super- 

 ciliosa about 30 miles to the south of Mulliwa. In the Wongan 

 Hills, much further south, but in the same line of country, I ob- 

 tained C. rufa. But at Southern Cross, further to the east, I 

 met with C. siiperciliosa again. On travelling down to Norseman 

 (Lake Dundas), the same species occurred north of Lake Lefroy. 

 At Norseman, C. rufa alone was breeding neai my cam]). It 

 was therefore puzzling lo find C. rufa without C. supercUiosa at 

 Zarithus. 



At Naretha, however, the gums having cut out, some forty 

 miles to the west, C. rufa had disappeared, and its place was 

 taken by C. sitperciliosa. The latter species was breeding in the 

 hollow stems of dead trees. The first broods were on the wing 

 early in September. 



In view of Mr. F. E. Howe's excellent paper on this genus (see 

 Emu, vol. xxi., part 1), the foregoing notes on the peculiar distri- 

 bution of two of the western species may be interesting. 



The Frogmouth (Podargus str'u/oides) was nesting as far east 

 as Naretha, and I flushed an individual of the Owlet Nightjar 

 {JEgotheles cristata) from a hollow tree in the same localitv. 



New rAKKOT. 



At Zanthus my attention was attracted by a I'arrot in captivity 

 at the house of Mr. de Marcaux, of the loco, department. I 

 could not place it, and on enquiry I was informed it had been 

 taken from a nest in a Casuarina tree about five years previously 

 at Naretha. It was called an "Oak Parrot" from the surround- 

 ings of its haunt. It was obviously an adult bird, and beyond 

 classifying it as belonging to the genus Psephotus, I could not 

 further identify it. Mr. H. L. White passed through Zanthus 

 on August 1st, and after talking the matter over with him, it was 

 decided I should at once go on to Naretha, and If ])Ossible secure 

 specimens, and hand them to him on his return journey a week 

 later. I was able to carry out this arrangement, and soon after- 

 wards received a wire confirming my opinion that the bird was 

 new to science. 



My next task was to learn all I could of its habits, and also to 

 procure a clutch of eggs for description. Not much seemed to 

 be known of the bird locally, and what information I gleaned 

 as to its abundance or otherwise, was somewhat contradictory. 

 On one point, however, my informants were unanimous. Its 

 haunts were the clumps of casuarinas growing on the limestone 

 outcrops, on the edge of the plain. I found this correct, with 

 the exception that at feeding time, it was no use lo look for it 

 in such haunts. It was a simple matter, however, to go to an 

 isolated cluni]) of casuarinas, where a pair or more might be 

 breeding, and to wait there until the birds came home. As in 

 the case of other species, the male Naretha jKirrot returns with 

 the female to the nesting tree, and waits until she enters the 

 nest-hole. He then flies away. But as the clumps of casuar- 



