? 9 C i8'] Wilson, Ornithological Trip to Nhill District. 93 



AN ORNITHOLOGICAL TRIP TO THE NHILL DISTRICT. 



By F. Erasmus Wilson. 

 {Read before the Field Naturalists' Club of Victoria, gth Sept., 191 8.) 



Accompanied by my wife, I left Melbourne by train on 3rd 

 October, 191 7, en route for Winiam East, a district lying about 

 10 miles south-east of Nhill, and bordering the northern fringe 

 of a so-called desert, which stretches for some 20 miles 

 towards the Grampians. Next evening we arrived at the home 

 of our host, Mr. Robert Oldfield, who had kindly invited us 

 to spend a holiday with him. 



Four types of country are found in this district, viz. : — (a) 

 Well-grassed flats, timbered with a variety of White Gum, 

 Grey Box, Eucalyptus goniocalyx, and Buloke (Casuarina). 

 (b) Buckshot ridges, which are densely clothed with Broom- 

 bush, Melaleuca uncinata, interspersed with mallee eucalypts 

 of two varieties, Casuarinas, Hakeas, and the beautiful holly- 

 like Grevillea, G. eequifolium. These ridges derive their name 

 from the fact that the soil is thickly strewn with ferruginous 

 pebbles somewhat resembling shot in appearance, (c) White 

 sandy country, upon which the principal vegetation is Brown 

 Stringybark, E. capitellata, a species of Banksia, and an 

 occasional Murray Pine (Callitris). (d) The above-mentioned 

 desert, which is mostly low-lying, flat country, with occasional 

 sandy hillocks dotted about. Stunted Sheoke, C. distyla, a 

 dwarfed growth of Banksia, and many kinds of short flowering 

 shrubs abound, whilst the hillocks are scantily covered with 

 Brown Stringybark. 



Apart from the desert, the country is essentially mallee, but 

 one misses the dense tracts of Porcupine Grass, Triodia 

 irritans, that are met with further north, and which provide a 

 home for such interesting forms of bird life as Amytis and 

 Stipiturus. Porcupine Grass is found in the district, but only 

 in small, isolated clumps, and the most diligent search failed 

 to show any trace of the forms above mentioned. Otherwise, 

 the ornithological fauna is much the same as that of the Kow 

 Plains district, with one notable exception — viz., the Chestnut- 

 backed Ground-Bird. Although the country is eminently 

 suitable for this bird, I did not come across it in any of my 

 rambles, and inquiries made locally convinced me that it does 

 not inhabit the locality. 



On the flats are many dead eucalypts, the hollow limbs of 

 which provide ideal nesting-sites for the Parrot tribe. The 

 Red- backed Grass-Parrot, Psephotus hcumatonotus , is by far 

 the commonest species, and at the time of my visit most of 

 them were busily engaged in rearing their broods. I was 

 much interested in observing a male feeding his mate, which 



