78 ASHBY—Giypsland Bird Notes. 



towards me on the charred and blackened surfaces of fallen tim- 

 ber. I found it necessary to wait till they turned their conspicu- 

 ous breast, before one could shoot them. 



Now for the birds that are still around Yinnar. Of the 

 parrots, the day before piy arrival, the Victorian King. Parrot 

 {Alisterus cyanopygius neglectus Mat.) was seen near the 

 homestead, but no further specimens put in an appearance dur- 

 ing my stay. In the open valley bordering Middle Creek, 

 Rosellas {Platycercus eximius, 8. & N.) were very numerous, 

 but they were not seen back in the scrub, their place there being 

 taken by the following species. The Crimson Parrot {Platy- 

 cercus elegans Gmelin), while sometimes seen in small flocks in 

 thu timbered ranges, was in the forest move oiten seen in twos 

 or threes, always highly coloured specimens, mostly males, 

 sometimes females, which are a little less highly coloured. Not 

 once did I see any highly coloured adults in the orchard, in the 

 valley near the homestead, although large flocks of the young 

 birds, green and red, were always to be found eating the fruit 

 there. This seems to be the usual habit, for my friends thought 

 that the highly coloured birds of the forest were a different 

 species, because they did not mix with the green ones. 



There were several Gang Gang Cockatoos {Callocephalon 

 galeatum Lath.) feeding in the tops of the gums on the borders 

 of the forest, their strange, murmuring notes guiding us to their 

 position, and a very fine cock-bird was secured. 



Along the banks of Middle Creek, under the shade of the 

 willows, the Victorian Mountain Thrush (Oreocincla lunulata 

 'Jeiidyl Mat.) was quite common, and a fine specimen was ob- 

 tained. It is a little lighter than specimens from S.A., but 

 differs very widely from the specimen I shot at Mallanganee, 

 N.S.W., on 9th November, 1912, this latter evidently being (0. 

 heinei Cahanis) . My son, A. K. Ashby, who has just returned 

 from the same locality, brings back a skin of the Victorian Spot- 

 ted Ground-bird [Cinclosoma punctatum neglectum Mat.), 

 which is rare in the locality, and was not seen by me. This 

 specimen differs considerably from South Australian speci- 

 mens in my selection, and needs further investigation. 



Psephodes olivaceus scrymgeouri Mat. (Victorian Coach- 

 whip Bird) — which, in the Yinnar district, is always known as 

 "Stock-whip vBird;" is fairly common, but at this season of the 

 year the birds hardly made a sound, except one very wet day, 

 when they were making their astounding "crack" in fine style, 

 we obtained a fine female ; it is curious how often a female is 

 shot when the huntsman is following the notes of a male. 



