166 THE VICTORIAN NATURALIST. 



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old masses of rock left when all softer material had been washed 

 away. The nest was made of salt-bush limbs, and only two or 

 three roots of rank grass were upon the surface as if for the 

 variety they provided. The diameters of the structure were 8.3 feet 

 X 5.5 feet, and the depression was very slight. Near one end of 

 the mass, upon the floor of which were numerous small twigs, I 

 stood and observed very little elasticity. The depth of the whole 

 was between 2 and 3 feet. The eagles seemed much disturbed 

 at my interference. 



Parrots and cockatoos were numerous. The " Toonat," or 

 Twenty-eight, Platycercus semitorquatus, Quoy and Gaim., would 

 daily feed among the horses in their open stables. Just above 

 Geraldton this, or a closely allied, species does not enjoy the 

 water supply available to the southern bird. As a consequence 

 it watches an opportunity to climb down the bucket rope of a 

 well (20 to 30 feet deep) to secure a drink. It then has been 

 observed to climb up and fly away. One case of drowning was 

 reported to the writer. The Yellow-cheeked Parrakeet, Platycer- 

 cus icterotis, Temm., which is the Western Rosella, would accom- 

 pany the " Twenty-eight " in its visits, and I secured birds in 

 different stages of plumage, excepting that of the nestling. It is 

 not so heavy a bird as the Rosella we know so well ; however, its 

 rich colour and yellow cheeks, instead of white, are full com- 

 pensation. I was too early to find them breeding on 25th 

 September, and was only able to find nests on 4th November 

 which could not be reached in the towering gums without the 

 means of a strong nerve, a gun, a string, and a rope. I was 

 greatly pleased in securing a specimen of the Red-capped 

 Parrakeet belonging to only genus of Psittaci peculiar to Western 

 Australia. In it there is but one species and the generic name, 

 Porphyrocephalus, applies specifically to the fine little Lory, 

 Glossopsittacus, that annually visits Victoria. There was only 

 one pair about the locality. It was breeding, I think, but one of 

 the pair seemed quite immature. 



Baudin's, or the White-tailed Black Cockatoo, had a nest next 

 to a potato field in a quiet part of the country near Denmark, but 

 it was high up in a dead gum, and remained there. The birds 

 used to come and go and not mind the regular faces near its nest. 

 In a valley near by I found a nest of the White-breasted Robin, 

 Eopsaltria gularis, Quoy and Gaim., containing two fresh 

 eggs (29/9/99). The nest was similar to -Eopsaltria australis, 

 but not so beautiful or strong. It had a partial external covering 

 of dry bracken. Depth outside, 2.5 inches ; depth inside, 1.5 

 inches; whole diameter, 3 inches; inside diameter, 2.25 inches. 

 It was placed four feet from the ground in a scrubby acacia. 



It is pleasing to one to note how certain little birds pick out 

 a water-sodden valley in a wide stretch of country, and there 



