72 THE VICTORIAN NATURALIST. [Vol. XXVI. 



plain, and is one of the highest elevations of that part of the 

 country. A couple of Mallee- Fowls' nests were visited and 

 searched, one of them containing two eggs. A nest of the 

 Chestnut-rumped Ground Wren was found carefully hidden in 

 fallen bark at the base of a Mallee bush, and contained three 

 typical rich brown eggs. A Scrub-Robin's nest with the usual one 

 egg was also found, but though a Chestnut-backed Ground-bird, 

 Gindosoma caslanonotum, was seen running over the sand 

 through the scrub, and a diligent search was made, no nest 

 could be found. Fresh tracks of Dingoes were noticed, and several 

 skeletons of these marauding creatures were seen, the remains of 

 animals cast aside by the trappers. A few kangaroos were seen 

 feeding in an open glade, and hopped jauntily along some 

 distance in advance of us. Several Choughs' nests containing 

 young birds were seen, as well as those of the White-browed 

 Babbler, Pomatorhimhs superciliosus, both useful insectivorous 

 birds. As the country is almost waterless at this spot the 

 Choughs must have had some difficulty in building their mud 

 nests ; to do this they probably regurgitated enough saliva to 

 make the mortar sufficiently plastic for the purpose, while it was 

 further strengthened by the use of grass-stems, which the birds 

 intermix with the mud before cementing it into a solid mass. A 

 remarkable fact about these mud nests is that they are always 

 built with a larger diameter at the top than at the bottom, thus 

 protecting the foundation of the nest from destruction by rain, 

 which if it were not for the larger rim would be quite exposed 

 to the elements. 



The next day, the i8th of September, found us on the way for 

 the Heath Pad. These " pads," or rather bridle tracks, are made 

 by causing a horse to drag a log through the scrub, thus crushing 

 it down, and after being formed remain visible for some time. 

 Along them the Dingoes are wont to roam, and there the Dingo- 

 hunter usually sets his traps in the sand underneath the track, so 

 that any of these wandering enemies of the squatter's sheep 

 may be caught. Another method is to doctor a bush with oil of 

 rhodium, and then set the traps in the sand close by. The 

 Dingoes come sniffing round the bush and step into the hidden 

 trap. The best lure, however, is the contents of a Dingo's 

 bladder, for it is a fact not generally known, and which bears on 

 the scientific affinity of the Dingo to the ordinary domestic dog, 

 that it loves to micturate on the spot where another of its kind 

 has performed the same act. Dingo traps are huge steel affairs, 

 weighing many pounds. They are never fastened to a stake 

 because the animal would twist its leg off and escape on the 

 remaining three if this were done. As it is the traps, some 8 or 

 lo lbs. in weight, are often dragged 7 to lo miles away from 

 the spot where set, until the animal becomes exhausted. Owing to 



