MORGAN— A 7'rip to Xorlh-West Australia. 109 



leuglh aud weighed niue ouuce.s. They also caught a number 

 of tish locallx known as "mud cod," which were excellent for 

 the table. On June 23rd Mr. Chalmers, the manager of Kim- 

 berley Downs Station, kindly sent over for us, and we left for 

 that station, situated 30 miles east of Meda. On the road we 

 came across the Black-tailed Treecreei>er (('liiiKK-trris tncla- 

 iiuru), a bird very similar in habits and notes to oiir Brown 

 Treecreei)er. They are uncommon, only three birds being seen 

 during the trip. The only other Treecreeper seen was the 

 ^^'hite-wing•ed Treerunner {Neofiifta Jcucoptcra i, which seems to 

 me to be a very distinct species. At Kimberley Downs is the 

 only hill we saw in the district. It is called Mt. Marmion, 

 and is only about 3(30 feet high. I climbed to the top and 

 found there a large ilock of Little Wood-swallows \Artamus 

 minor) in possession of one of the precipitous sides. We 

 spent most of our time at Kimberley Downs on the banks ol 

 the Lennard River, collectii>g birds and insects. Near the 

 river is a fine swamp, feeding upon which were hundreds ot 

 Magpie Geese (Ansd'anus semipahnatus \, besides Egrets, 

 Spoonbills, Ibises, and White-necked Herons. On another 

 smaller swamp T had the good fortune to see .. tine P'air of 

 Jabirus ( Xcnorhijnrhus asiaticus). I had a line view of them 

 from about 100 yards distance, and was so absorbed in ^^atch- 

 ing them Avith the field-glasses as they hunted frogs in the 

 shallow water that I quite forgot to take a ph(»to. of them. 

 Tliey aie not connuon on the Tx^nivard River. ])Ut 1 was told 

 are mucli more s<> on the Fltzroy. In s]»ite of their rather awk- 

 ward a])pearance they are nimble enough in the water, and 

 wrought great havoc amongst the frogs whilst 1 was watching 

 tlK'iii. On the grass tlats the l^ittle Orass ^^'arbler iCisticohi 

 c.vilis) is Ncry common. They rose like lion buttertlies on 

 either side of the track as we drove along, but we saw nothing 

 of the Grass Riids { McrjahiiKS) or of the Reed A\'arbler (Arro- 

 ccphaliis). On the creek near Kimberley Do\\us homestead 

 were some large i)ools. the trees about them being, as usual, in 

 possession of a huge flock of Bare-eyed Cockatoos, which regu- 

 lai-ly at 5.4.") a.m. ea<-h morning flew screaming over the home- 

 stead on their way to their feeding gi-ounds on the plains. 

 There was also a good-sized Hock of Xaidveen Herons (Xijcti- 

 corax calcdoiiiciis) at this ]iool and a few Darters (Aiihiiic/ii 

 norac-hollaiKliar). all of them with wliite breasts. Tender the 

 verandah of the homestead were the remains of some Fairy 

 ^lartins' i fjif/mophisfrs ariel) nests, but we saw none of the 

 hirds. Swallows generally were quite rare. A few pairs ol' 

 Tr(H' Swallows { Jfj/loc1irlido)i iii(/ri<-(iiis) and a j»air of Welcome 

 Swallows (Hiru)ido iieoxcna) about the Derby jelty were all 



