CHENEIiY—BirJs ol Wexln-u Darling. 135 



wai'd.s tlK! iu)i-'-\\est to auotliei- itortion of tlio lako where, 

 with lioulka Fred as gnide-iu-chiel'. we had fresh hope of dis- 

 coveriiiiA- Ihe cliisiNc fossil de{)0'siis. There is a windmill and 

 \V(dl soiin^ eijihl miles along' Ihe .Mnrnpeowie load, which, 

 of couise, is oidv a paek 'traidc. This was lo be (»iir ram}» 

 for thai eveuinji. \\'e left tiiis Iraek after some ihi<H' miles 

 ami ciir across towardis the I'ake-shore again. When crossing 

 some Hats coNcred with old-man salthush and cane grass we 

 tinshed some Hocks of very timid Parakeets, wliicli were feeding 

 on ihe cane-grass seeds. After some dillicnlly a sjx'cimen 

 was obtained. whi(di turned out to be .\ (opJiciita clajdiis. The 

 lasi lime I had met wilh this preliy <irass Panol was on a 

 creek in ihe Flinders IJange. where I hey were m'sting and (piite 

 lame. The ones we met witli here wei'e in Hocks an<i had 

 evid(Milly linislied breeding as tlu' ones shol were in immature 

 j,lnmage. On apiiroacddug the lake again. afUM- leasing these 

 well coN'ered tlais, ihe connti-y l»ecam<' again almost impassaide 

 Ui\- anyliiing bnt a bullock dray or camels. The blackboys, 

 now ihal their joy-ride on the cars was assured, did not appear 

 lo lia\(' any i(h'a as to where to take the ])ar1y to jind thi' fossil 

 reserxc. Dr. .Macgi!li\ray, howe\ er. left the Hnd^r, which was 

 nn ahead, and. leaving !>oulka Fre<l wiili .Mr. and Mis. lieywood 

 in I lie car. joim'd Sit-down -J immy in the horse-drawn bnckb-:)ard, 

 which had caught Uji lo us, and weni on down *o Ihe lakeslnn-e 

 in a iinal efi'ort to sec if any trace could he seen of .Mr. Zeitz's 

 old camp. The ]''ord. with myself and lau, was some distance 

 U'liind at the tinu'. \\'hen Ave joined tlie Dodge car i)arty they 

 l(»ld MS that they had seen a ]»aii- of |tai-rots which had alighted 

 on an acacia ([uile near the <-ar. From their descri])tiou they 

 wei-e <piite jtrohably Ihe S]»leudid (Jrass I'arrakeet, but 

 unfortunately neither \>\-. .Macgillivray nor myself was there 

 to identify them. Ileing luetly ki'en lo gel a sight of these 

 birds, if jidssibU'. 1 left Ihe cars, which went on for another mile 

 Ol' s(». and spent the lunch houi- circling around for a few miles. 

 I saw a Calamanthus. but could not obtain a specimen, allh<uigh 

 i liad one snapsln)t at a bird running thrmigh Ihe saltbiish. 

 The evening or early morning is the best tiiiu' to capture these 

 shy little gentlemen, when they sing on the top of a low I)nsh. 

 In the miildle of the (hiy they are mostly silent and one would 

 ne\-er guess their existence. AnotlK'r bird I was keen to se(» was 

 the IJaiided White-face, but althougji this was similar countr.\- 

 to that in which McCJilj* fouiul them earli<M' in the year and not 

 far from it geographicail\'. we never sighted on<' tlie wliole tri]). 

 Nor was any fnrlher sign of the strange parrot seen.- I was 

 disappointed and pretty weary by the time 1 i-eturned to our 



