I "4 CARTER, Birds Occurring in the Region of N.W. Cape. f 7t h™an. 



50 miles across) which occurs there, and many natives had come t here- 

 to secure the eggs. 



jobi] TURNIX VELOX Little Quail). — After good rains these skulking 

 little birds occur everywhere in open grass and spinifex country, and when 

 riding one constantly flushes them, or sees them running about like mice 

 from tuft to tuft. The natives try to catch them with their hands, and 

 when the}- fail, as is frequently the case, they say the bird is a " cunning 

 fellow." The note is a loud " coo-00," most frequently uttered at night, 

 and I judge the birds are largely nocturnal in feeding. The eggs are laid 

 any time after rain. 



107., Hypot.exidia PHiLipriXEXSlS (Pectoral Rail). — These birds seem 

 to be generally distributed when grass is plentiful, but are so shy that 

 their presence is easily overlooked. On two or three occasions the remains 

 of specimens, killed by cats or hawks, were observed. One was shot on 

 the beach at Point Cloates in the drought, 15th October, 1891, and another 

 shot while running about in the sheep-yards at the shearing shed, 27th 

 July, 1 90 1. 



(108.) Microtriboxyx vextralis (Black-tailed Native-Hen, Chandilla). — 

 Very common in some good seasons, the banks of the pools being alive 

 with them as long as the water lasts. Several clutches of eggs were found 

 from 13th July to 3rd August. In June, 1897, when a flood broke up 

 the great drought, there were countless thousands in the immediate vicinity 

 of Geraldton, doing great damage to the corn crops. 



(109.) FuLICA AUSTRALIS (Coot). — An occasional visitor when water is 

 plentiful, notably in 1898 and 1900. 



(no.) EUPODOTIS AUSTRALIS (Bustard, Padderra). — In good grass seasons 

 these birds are very abundant. On the open grassy plains they can be 

 seen feeding sometimes as far as the eye can reach, in pairs or small mobs, 

 like a flock of sheep " on a good spread." As a rule they are exceedingly 

 wary on the coast and can rarely be shot there except from a buggy. They 

 apparently lay after any rain, as eggs were taken on various dates from 

 4th June to 2nd October. There is hardly any nesting material, and 

 two eggs appear to form the clutch as frequently as one. These birds are 

 nocturnal, or partly so, in their habits, as in the breeding season their 

 loud call can be heard all through the night, and many times, when camped 

 out, I have seen and heard them fly close over the camp. 



(in.) BURHIXUS GRALLARRS Stone-Plover, Wee-lo). — Evenly distributed 

 over the country, but nowhere seen in large numbers. On the coast they 

 occur mostly in the winter, and pass the day sleeping on the stony ranges, 

 where I have frequently disturbed them. My experience in securing a 

 specimen for a skin was decidedly unpleasant. My camp, consisting a- 

 usual of a breakwind of scrub, was pitched on a flat where the birds had been 

 heard at night. About midnight I was roused by the melancholy cry of a 

 bird, apparently quite close. Lying flat on the ground, a long, shapeless 

 object, apparently a dead stump, was all that broke the sky line, but 

 suddenly it flew away, much to my surprise, as its outline in no way 

 resembled a bird. Evidently it had been standing watching me, with 

 neck much up-stretched. Immediately afterwards its cry came from 

 behind the camp. Crawling round, gun in hand, and whistling a reply 

 to the bird as well as I could, I saw apparently another stump at an 

 unknown distance. Lying flat, the gun had to be held to my cheek in 

 order to clear the grass, &c, and I blazed off a No. 2 cartridge, receiving, 

 in doing so a tremendous blow on the bridge of nose and upper lip, which, 

 with a shower of sparks and strong backward wrench to my head, irri- 



