164 THE VICTORIAN NATURALIST. 



in the adult male type described. It appears to me the rump 

 (which makes the key to the species) may be : — 



(a) Brown, as on the back. 



(b) Brown, slightly tipped with white. 



(c) White, in contrast to the back, though this appears more 



a question of upper tail coverts than rump. 



The tail quills in my Australian specimens also vary from others. 

 The centre feathers are each marked by some lo wide cross-bars 

 of brown with narrow alternating white bars. 



The measurements of the skins received are : — 



A. Adult male, 19^1/01 .. 



B. Imm. male, ii/io/oi .. 



C. Adult female, iS/io,'oi 



D. Imm. female, 18/10/01 



The plumage in general of A is darker than that of B. The 

 head of A is uniform brown ; that of B, brown mottled with white. 

 The relation of D to C is very much as B is to A, excepting that 

 the white markings of D are the most distinct of all the specimens, 

 being clearer and larger. The markings referred to are upon the 

 secondaries and scapularies. Eventually it may prove to be a 

 species confined to the East, and making its annual migratory 

 journey from Eastern Siberia to Australia. 



AMONG THE BIRDS OF WESTERN AUSTRALIA. 

 By Robert Hall. 



{ReadJjefore the Field Naturalists' Club of Victoria, loth Jan., 1902.) 



I LEFT Melbourne about the middle of September, 1899, for 

 Albany, and returned exactly two months later. Of this time 

 six weeks were available in our sister State for about 2,000 miles 

 of train travelling, a 9-days' cruise among the coral islands 

 adjacent to Geraldton, two visits into the heart of the magnificent 

 Karri country, and short journeys into various localities. The 

 flora was richly and beautifully displayed, with fields of flowers 

 everywhere — one stretch of 600 miles particularly being a 

 gigantic flower garden, gay with blooms of different genera, as 

 the soils varied during the run from south to north. At this 

 period of the year one sees wonderful sights, both faunal and 

 floral, but in this paper it is my intention to lightly speak of 

 the birds only, and give you some idea of wliat may be seen in a 

 rapid tour. 



There is a melancholy quietness about the inner south-west 

 corner of Western Australia, just as there is among the deeper 



