56 THE VICTORIAN NATURALIST, [Vol. XXVI. 



Habitat. — Lake Way, East Murchison District, Western Aus- 

 tralia. 



Remarks — Mr. H. L. White has done much recently to advance 

 Australian ornithology, and, in compliance with a request, I have 

 therefore much pleasure in associating with the present species 

 the name of Mr. F. Lawson Whitlock, who has collected during 

 the past few years for the Perth Museum and for Mr. White in 

 different parts of Western and North-Western Australia. 



Acanthiza ivhitlocki, of which two adult males and an adult 

 female were obtained, is more nearly allied to A. apicalis. From 

 that species, however, it may be distinguished by its greyish-brown 

 instead of olive-brown upper parts, rendering the rufous-brown 

 upper tail coverts more conspicuous, by its purer white under 

 parts, and the broader black sub-terminal band on the tail 

 feathers. Vernacularly it may be distinguished as Whitlock's 

 Thornbill. 



Possibly referable to this species is a mutilated fiat skin I 

 received in 1906 from Mr. Chas. G. Gibson, the Assistant Govern- 

 ment Geologist of Western Australia, who was collecting in the 

 Lake Way district during that year. This skin, which was for- 

 warded to me under the name of Acanthiza pyrrhopygia (?), is, 

 however, more of an olive-brown on the upper parts, but the 

 entire skin and feathers of the breast and abdomen are missing. 



THE FOX AND ITS VICTIMS : A SERIOUS SITUA- 

 TION. 



The following article, contributed to the columns of the Argus 

 of Saturday, 28th August, by "Wanda," points to a very serious 

 result from the increase of foxes, which, we fear, is not realized 

 either by the authorities or the general public, and should serve 

 to warn others, who may be contemplating elsewhere the introduc- 

 tion of foreign creatures, as to the possible results : — 



I am afraid it will eventually be agreed that the fox is the worst 

 of those three great pests which we owe to unthinking acclimatis- 

 ing enthusiasts. The sparrow is limited in its scope of action, 

 and the rabbit can be turned to commercial use. But tlie range 

 and scope of the fox is, in a sense, unlimited, and he is commer- 

 cially worthless. Like both the rabbit and the sparrow, the fox 

 has found this country so suitable, both as regards climate and 

 food, that he is spreading and increasing in numbers much 

 quicker than he does in his native land. In England the utmost 

 care has to be taken of him, so that a sufficient number may be 

 annually available for the national sport of fox-hunting. Foxes, 

 in England, are practically never shot, trapped, or poisoned, yet 

 they are never over-abundant. Here every man's hand is against 



