Oct., 1909.] THE VICTORIAN NATURALIST. 71 



coquetting action, approaching within a yard or two of it then 

 rapidly darting away into the scrub, only to repeat the same 

 performance immediately afterwards. One has only to possess a 

 little patience and keep quiet and the Scrub-Robin will show 

 exactly where the egg or young one, as the case may be, is 

 located. 



Having taken a series of photos, of the Scrub-Robin, we pro- 

 ceeded to the nesting mound of a Lipoa, or Mallee-Fowl, 

 Lipoa ocellata, which Mr. M'Lennan had thoughtfully marked 

 down for us. All were eager to examine it, and my companions 

 were wildly excited, since it was their first introduction to the 

 nesting habits of these wonderful ornithological enigmas. This 

 mound, together with several others which we afterwards investi- 

 gated, greatly enlarged my knowledge of the Lipoa, and helped 

 me considerably in my monograph of the bird published in The 

 Emu (vol. viii., page 53), in which further details may be found. 

 On our way back to the homestead several honey-eaters, which 

 could not be identified, were seen flitting through the stunted 

 banksias, whilst the mouse-like hole forming the nesting burrow 

 of the dainty Golden-rumped Pardalote, Pardalotus xa'iithopygius, 

 was examined, and found to contain four white eggs, cradled in a 

 rotund nest of bark and fibre situated at the end of the burrow, 

 which was about 18 inches in depth. 



The following day we started to follow the Patchewollock Pad, 

 and while driving through the home paddock we noticed a pair 

 of Wedge-tailed Eagles apparently tearing a lamb to pieces and 

 feasting upon it. An expectant circle of Ravens surrounded the 

 eagles, but keeping at a respectful distance of about 15 yards, as 

 they waited in readiness to secure any scraps which the eagles 

 might overlook. Driving rapidly up in the buggy, the birds rose 

 and flew a short distance away to await our retirement. Exami- 

 nation showed that they had killed a large white domestic rooster 

 which had boldly engaged them in combat so as to protect the 

 hens. One of the station hands informed us that he had laid 

 poison for the eagles, and had destroyed over 200 in the course 

 of a year. Remonstrance seemed useless in a case like this, 

 but the large amount of good done by eagles in destroying 

 vermin, which more than counterbalances the harm done, was 

 not sufficiently convincing to the people living in this district. 

 The largest bird destroyed measured over 9 feet from tip to tip 

 of extended wings. It may be mentioned that our Wedge-tailed 

 Eagle, (Jroaiitus audax, often called Eaglehawk, is the largest 

 true eagle in the world, and specimens have been taken measuring 

 more than 10 feet across the wings. 



Our track passed close to a well-known land-mark of the district, 

 Mt. Jenkins, situated about long. 142° E. and lat. 35)^° S. It 

 is a pyramidal hill of sand rising about 150 feet above the 



