THK VICTORIAN NATURALIST. 57 



growth of the creek banks — a red-backed one, possibly M. 

 dorsalis, and another which I take to be M. lambertL 



Rhipidltra tricolor. — This familiar Fan-tail is seen around 

 almost every homestead. Both the bird and its eggs are 

 smaller than Victorian examples, but are in every other respect 

 identical. I have distinct recollection of some epidemic killing 

 off nearly all these little birds on the downs country during one 

 autumn. They first became unable to fly, and then, becoming 

 weaker, gradually died in the course of a day or two. 



Lagenoplastes ARIEL. — The Fairy Martin, the principal 

 representative of the swallows, is never very numerous. 



MiCROPUS PACiFicus. — The VVhite-rumped Swift is usually 

 seen for a time during the wet season, and the Blacks, seeing it 

 always on the wing, are firmly convinced that it is a bird without 

 legs. 



EuROSTOPUS ARGUS. — The Spotted Nightjar is most often met 

 with amongst the spinifex and stones of the ranges, where it is 

 tolerably common. 



tEgotheles, sp. — Examples of this genus have been noted 

 only, but not handled, so that the species could not be deter- 

 mined. 



PoDARGUS PHAL/KNOIDES. — The Freckled or Moth-plumaged 

 Frogmouth is a bird whose mournful moaning call — very like that 

 of the Victorian representative — and general appearance has im- 

 pressed the Blacks with a belief that it is a child of the Evil One, 

 or, as they term that mysterious creation of superstition and 

 ignorance, the " debbil-debbil." The nest is generally con- 

 structed in December, and usually contains a clutch of two eggs, 

 although my brother once took four from a nest in a tree only a 

 few yards from his house. 



EuRYSTOMUS AUSTRALis. — The noisy Dollar-bird is quite a 

 common spectacle all over the district. . 



Merops ornatus. — Bee-eaters remain throughout the year, 

 and nest in October and November. A very favourite food is a 

 white butterfly, the imago of a processional caterpillar. 



Halcyon sanctus. — The Sacred Kingfisher, its red-rumped 

 congener, and Leach's Jackass look after the interests of the 

 Kingfishers. 



CucuLus pallidus. — The Pallid Cuckoos are present during 

 the spring and summer months. 



EuDYNAMis cyanocephala. — The Koel arrives with the first 

 summer rains, generally about the end of December, and does 

 not take its departure until about May. 



Scythrops nov/E-hollandi/e. — The Channel-bill arrives and 

 departs about the same time as the former bird, and both are 

 fairly numerous. Crows (C. coronoides) are the usual foster- 



