Vol. Ill 

 190, 



* I,_ ] Carter, Birds Occurring in the Region of N.W. Cape. 37 



February, 1902, in the distressing drought then prevailing, I was opening 

 out a soakage of water at Tantabiddy, 10 miles S.W. of N.W. Cape. I 

 had moved all stock to the Exmouth Gulf, with much trouble and loss, 

 only to have some hundreds of sheep poisoned by some unknown plant, 

 so we had to " get up and git " out of that as soon as possible, and I came 

 back on our tracks with a native boy, hoping to get a supply of water at 

 a soak where we had watered horses going up. The native and self had 

 not been working long when he put himself hors de combat by smashing his 

 big toe with a 5 lb. sledge hammer. The soak was in a patch of thicket which 

 cut off all wind, and the sun was blazing down on me as I was working 

 my hardest to get some water fit to drink, for we found three poisoned 

 dingoes in the hole, which had to be thoroughly cleaned out. Consequently 

 I was not in a very amiable temper, and heard extraordinary noises going 

 on in the thicket close to where the native was nursing his injured toe. 

 After some time I said to him — " If you can't work, you need not make 

 those idiotic noises," when he indignantly replied — " That nothing mine, 

 that bird ; " when I jumped out, knowing it was something out of the 

 common. Seeing a bird creeping about in the scrub, I fired with a 450 

 Colt revolver (my only firearm at the time), and secured what I have no 

 doubt was C. guttata from the description in Gould's "Handbook," which I 

 had with me. I had no preservatives and the bird naturally was badly 

 smashed, but I made a skin of some sort and sent it to Melbourne 

 Museum, and received a reply to say that only a mass of loose feathers 

 arrived. In April the same year, a similar bird was seen in dense fig trees 

 in a deep gorge near the house, and not molested, hoping it would breed, 

 but it was not seen again. If the birds were C. guttata, of which there 

 is little doubt, it was the first record for W.A., as already mentioned in 

 Mr. A. J. Campbell's " Nests and Eggs," pages 202 and 203. 



(33.) Amytis striata (Striated Grass-Wren). — These birds were seen on 

 two occasions only, at the same locality — viz., a rocky " kopje " on the 

 table-land country, with low scrub and patches of spinifex round. The 

 birds darted across the intervening bare spaces at incredible speed, with 

 tails erect, uttering a trilling chirp. On 21st May, 1900, a family was 

 observed there, the young having just left the nest, which was found in 

 the top of a bunch of spinifex. It was bulky, loosely made of leaves and 

 fibre, and only half domed. The male bird sat quietly in a fig tree until 

 observed by my black boy, when I shot it, surprised to see it so quiet in 

 such a situation, which was contrary to its usual habits. One young 

 bird was captured alive, after a long chase through spinifex bunches. 



(34.) Acanthiza uropygialis (Chestnut-rumped Tit). — This active little 

 bird occurs in inland scrub, and may be seen feeding in the white gums, 

 uttering its cheerful little note. 



(35.) Sericornis (Pyrrhol^mus) brunnea (Redthroat). — This species 

 is not uncommon in the scrub among coast hills and also inland. It is very 

 quiet and unobtrusive in its habits, and would not be much noticed were 

 it not for its beautiful song. 



(36.) Pomatorhinus superciliosus (White-browed Babbler). — This 

 sprightly bird occurs rather sparingly in inland thickets, especially those 

 composed of snake- wood and " wanyoo." 



(37.) Pomatorhinus rubeculus (Red-breasted Babbler). — This species 

 was only noted in the scrub in the bed of the Minilya River (95 miles 

 south). A small colony had their bulky nests in a large white gum not 

 far from the station house. 



(38.) Cinclorhamphus CRURALis (Brown Song-Lark). — This was a very 



