^6 Macgili.ivray, Ovnithologists in North Queensland. [^J 



Emu 

 Oct. 



day for Claremont lightship to catch the s.s. Suva to take us 

 home again. 



After we had left the Claudie River Mr. M'Lennan remained on 

 mitil nth March, when he left for Lloyd's Island, sailing at a later 

 date for Thursday Island. On 21st May, 1914, he left Thursday 

 Island in a small two-ton cutter for the Archer River, on the western 

 side of Cape York Peninsula, taking three months' provisions with 

 him for himself and Mohr, who had been with us on the Claudie, and 

 who acted as cook and camp attendant generally. The first anchor- 

 age was Crab Island, 28 miles from Thursday Island. Next morning, 

 in trying to negotiate a passage between the island and mainland, 

 the boat got stuck fast on a sand-bank. As this, with a falling 

 tide, necessitated some hours' wait, M'Lennan and Mohr went 

 ashore for breakfast, noting numbers of Sterna hergii, a few 

 Pelicans, Curlews, and Reef-Herons on the banks. A Bower-Bird 

 (C. orientalis). Crimson-winged Parrots, two species of Graucalus, 

 Coucals, Leach's Kingfisher, Drongos, Fig-Birds, Friar-Birds, 

 Yellow Honey-eaters, Wood-Swallows, Grallinas, Crows, and 

 Whistling Eagles were noted, and several others heard calling. 



A start was made at 2.30 p.m., and, as the wind had changed to 

 south-west, it necessitated a close haul down the coast. A heavy 

 rain squall struck the boat, the jib sheet was carried away, and 

 they had a lively time until they got the jib rigged again. A 

 good anchorage in No. 2 River was reached at sunset. Here 

 a large flock of thousands of Curlew, Whimbrel, Little Whimbrel, 

 and several smaller flocks of hundreds of the smaller waders were 

 circling round the sand-banks at the mouth of the river, evidently 

 congregating for their flight to the other side of the world. 

 Terns, Noddies, Pelicans, and Egrets were also noted. Up the 

 river a large flock of Straw-necked Ibis was circling high in the 

 air. Several different bird-calls, mostly of migratory species, 

 were heard during the night. 



On the 24th the boat anchored off the mouth of the Batavia 

 River, about 90 miles from Thursday Island. On the 27th inst. 

 it anchored early some distance beyond Albatross Bay. M'Lennan 

 went ashore and walked inland a couple of miles through 

 messmate forest country. Birds were not very plentiful. The 

 following were noted : — White-bellied Sea-Eagle, Osprey, Crow, 

 Cracticus mentalis, Graucalus melanops, Pachycephala pallida, 

 Micrceca flavigaster, Pcecilodryas siiperciliosa, Myiagra concinna, 

 Rhipidura tricolor, R. setosa, Climacteris melanonota, Stigmatops 

 ocularis, Ptilotis flava, Friar-Bird, Melithreptiis albogularis, Malurus 

 dorsalis, Arlamus hypoleiicus, M crops ornatus, Coucal, a Bronze- 

 Cuckoo, Pardalotus (? sp., heard calling), Gerygone albogularis. 

 Halcyon macleayi, Dacelo leachi, D. maclennani, Collyriocincla 

 superciliosa, Cacatua galerita, Trichoglossus septentrionalis, Drongo. 

 Podarg'us paptiensis, Caprimulgus macrurus, and White-fronted 

 Heron . 



The mouth of the Archer River was reached on the 29th May, 

 and some difficulty experienced in entering it owing to numerous 



