104 BIRDS OF AUSTRALIA. 



these eggs niulcr domestic fowls has failed, the egg having in 

 every instance been })roken by the bird under which it was 

 placed. 



" The native name for the bird on the Murray River is 

 ]\farrcd--JiO or Alaira-ko ; in Western Australia the name of 

 the bird is Nf/ow-o or Nffoio. The name in AVestern Australia 

 is given from the tuft on its head, Ngoweer meaning a tuft of 

 feathers. 



" I have found this bird in different parts of that portion 

 of Australia included between the 26th and 36th parallels of 

 south latitude, and the 113th and 141st parallels of east 

 longitude, and I think that there is every probability that it 

 inhabits a much wider range. It is found in all the scrubby 

 districts of South Australia. 



" The farthest point north at which I have seen the breed- 

 ing-places of this bird is Gantheaume Bay. The natives of 

 King George's Sound say the bird exists in that neighbour- 

 hood. I have never fallen in with its nests but in one de- 

 scription of coinitry, viz. where the soil was dry and sandy, 

 and so thickly wooded with a species of dwarf Leptospermum, 

 that if you stray from the native paths, it is almost impossible 



to force your way through. 



" Yours truly, 



" G. Grey." 



«' December 14th. 



" P.S. — I have, by cross-examination of several natives, 

 elicited the following account of this bird : — 



" There is only one male and one female to each mound : 

 they repair an old mound, and do not build a new one ; both 

 assist in scratching the sand to the nest. The female com- 

 mences laying about the beginning of September, or when 

 the spear-grass begins to shoot. Both sexes approach the 

 nest together when the female is about to lay, and they take 

 an equal share in the labour of covering and uncovering the 

 mound. After every sunrise the female lays an egg, and la^s 



