Ctl ENER Y - Noiea on Birds. 1 1 3 



married to a full-blooded aboi-ininnl named Witcliitie. Tbi.s 

 lady, I was told, did not appear to feel her position as an out- 

 cast in a blacks' camp, and referred to Iier husband as "Mr. 

 Foi^bes." There were also Wo copper-coloured young Forbes 

 as the result of the experiment. The diet of carpet snal^e, 

 lizard and rabbit, with an ocasiomil kangarw) or dingo pup as 

 a tit-bit. ay>]ieared to agree with fhe lady. 



So much for this digression, but t.h<^ ca.se appeared to me 

 wortJiy of comment. 



Slionly after }»assing into South Australia a \\'('<lg(^-taile(l 

 Eagle was flushed froni her nest in a low swamp gum-tree on 

 the right of the track. On climbing a limb on the far side one 

 could look doAvn on to the nest and two fine eggs were visible 

 but all one's eft'orts to climb over the edge of the nest from 

 below or to cross over to it from another limb proved futile. 

 and without a rope we were compelled to give it uj). A littie 

 later we reached Tilcha (Jut-station, near a creek of the same 

 name, and here we were provided with a late luncheon by ]Mr. 

 and 3Irs. -lackson. After a chat with the men we left on the 

 last stage of onr journey for Tilcha bore, 2b miles on, and 

 thence to Callabouna hut. The country around Tilcha is 

 more open again, but some sandy patches were met with I)efore 

 reaching the bore. 



There was ])ractically no bird life of interest seen on the 

 way, although the country was in good heart everywhere — 

 shrubs in bloom and wild (lowers in abundance. 



Tilcha bore water is hot and, after rising a foot above the 

 pipe discharges into the creek, which it kee])s i-unning foi- some 

 twenty miles through sandy country, and by this fact one can 

 realise that the tiow must be of considerable volume. The 

 trees in the immediate neighbourhood of the hot water ai-e dead, 

 but lower down, when the water has cooled, and by so doing 

 his deposited some of its ''salts in solution." the trees and 

 vegetation on its banks seem to thrive and the stock drink ir 

 freely. On humans, until they get nsed to it, it acts as most 

 mineralised wafers do, and has a tendency to reduce corpu- 

 lence. On crossing from one side of this creek to the othei', 

 while following an alleged track, one of the cars — the Dodge — 

 became bogged, and by the time we had it out of difficulties it 

 was time to canijj. The sandhills in this i^egion run in a generai 

 dii-ection east and west — the prevailing winds being nortli arid 

 south — and our road fortunately was almost due west. If it 

 had not been for this fact no car could have negotiatt'd the 

 sandhills, which were as steep as the side of a house and 

 threatened to obliterate the creek in places. Timber — mostiv 



