I 2 Milligan, Notes on a Trip to the Stirling Range. [ Is f July 



The facts and incidents relating to their discovery will he dealt 

 with later on in this article. 



We also were successful in securing specimens of the scarce 

 Malurus pulcherrimus, the particulars of the finding of 

 which will also be dealt with as above indicated. We also secured 

 the egg of the White-tailed Cockatoo (Caly ptorhynchus baudini), 

 the nest and eggs of the Western Scarlet-breasted Robin {Petrceca 

 campbelli), and skins of the beautiful and singularly marked 

 Wattle-cheeked Honey-eater (Ft Hot is cratitia). A photograph 

 of the nest of the White-tailed Cockatoo is here produced. 



With every expedition regrets and perplexities arise with its 

 members. Ours was not an exception. One of the keenest of 

 the former to me was the loss of what I take to be a new Sericornis. 

 Whilst examining some thickets at the foot of Mt. Toolbrunup, 

 I disturbed a company of small dark chocolate-coloured birds. I 

 could easily have shot the whole company at close quarters, as 

 they were so fearless, but had I done so the skins would have 

 been mangled. To stand back at a reasonable killing distance 

 and still keep the birds in view was impossible. In a fit of im- 

 patience I did shoot one, but it was cut about almost beyond 

 recognition. After cursorily examining it at camp that night, 

 I cast it away, thinking I could secure others the next day. The 

 next day and many other days we tried to find similar birds, but 

 unsuccessfully. Verily " a bird in the hand is worth two in 

 the bush." 



One of my perplexities was in regard to Pardalotus omatus. 

 At several places in the " marlock " clumps we obtained specimens, 

 each of which possessed orange-yellow head spots. Usually spots 

 of that colour are taken as an external distinguishing sex mark, 

 but it could be scarcely possible that every bird we shot should 

 prove to be of the same sex. The matter was left over for cabinet 

 examination, but all the skins and many others met with a 

 misadventure after their arrival in Perth. Again, I was not 

 satisfied of the identity of the Dusky Miner (Manorhina obscurd). 

 The Stirling Range bird appeared to be much smaller than the 

 Swan River bird. The Black-faced Cuckoo-Shrikes (Graucalus 

 melanops) also appeared to be-much smaller, and some notes they 

 uttered were not familiar to me. Unfortunately these skins 

 shared in the misadventure before referred to. I was also in 

 doubt as to Acanthochcera lunulata. The specimen which I shot 

 in a secluded mountain gorge resembled A. mellivora as much 

 as the species named, and appeared to form a connecting link 

 between the two — that is to say, if it be possible to define a differ- 

 ence between the two species. Then, again, we secured several 

 specimens of the White-browed Spinebill (Acanthorhynchus 

 super ciliosus) and in every male specimen the head was black, 

 or almost so, not the greyish-olive of the mantle and back. Lastly, 

 Petrceca bi color produced, as it always has produced for me, 

 perplexity. Several adult birds were shot, in some of which 

 the mandibles were shallow, and the top one perceptibly hooked, 

 and in others fuller and boat-shaped without the hook. 



