^°''i^J^''l ^^'^ River Excursion. 121 



covered with spinifex, was prospected, and a good number of birds 

 noted. 



On Sunday morning the South Austrahan Director of Irriga- 

 tion (Mr. M'Intosh) called on Capt. White, and intimated that 

 water-birds, and more especially Swans, were nesting on Lake 

 Barmera (or, as it is usually termed, Lake Bonney), a sheet of 

 water about 60 miles up-stream. This, then, was made the 

 objective, the leader being more impressed with the possibilities 

 of the lake than what he had formerly looked for — the country 

 " between Morgan and Renmark." This Sunday was one of the 

 hottest of days, but the great blue sky smiled as though it had 

 others to follow — as, indeed, it had. By steaming right on from 

 1.30 p.m. the prosperous settlement of Waikerie was reached 

 just as the church bell was " caUing the people to some other 

 prayers," and, after a brief halt, the Arcadia went right on till 

 10 p.m. Keeping up the pace next morning, the steamer reached 

 Bell Rock, the nearest point to Lake Barmera, and somewhere 

 adjacent to Cobdogla, early in the afternoon. At this point 

 it had been expected to find vehicles waiting to take excursionists 

 aci-oss the 6 miles of country to the lake ; but these did not 

 materialize, and so most of the party started out to walk the 

 distance. They were, however, prevented from reaching the 

 goal by a lack of knowledge of the locality, by the heat, and by 

 the very many objects of interest to be seen on the sand-hills close 

 to the river. They were really very pretty indeed, these sand- 

 hills, with the wealth of colouring given by white daisies, hop- 

 bushes of various greens, and numerous flowering shrubs. 

 Probably they would, in the youth of spring, provide a happy 

 hunting-ground for the ornithologist, for even in December birds 

 were plentiful and varied. Small companies of the beautiful 

 little M alter us assimilis darted in and out of scrub, to be joined 

 now and then by the fiery sprite M . melanotiis ; Pachycephala 

 gilberii emitted its Robin-like " Chup-chup " after every gunshot ; 

 Drymodes hrinuieopygins was quite common, and, after a harsh 

 ' ' Charr charr ' ' and a characteristic flick of the tail, did not run 

 away from anyone who stood quietly ; the Ocyphaps lophotes of 

 the whistling wings was very numerous, and so, too, was 

 Barnardiiis harnardi, as well as Artamus, Campephaga, and many 

 other common forms. But perhaps the prize beauty of the 

 region was CacaUia leadbeateri, the handsome Major Mitchell 

 Cockatoo. A number of these birds frequented an attractive 

 little billabong at the foot of the sand-ridges, and a lovely sight 

 they made in flight, when the rich colours of the under-wings and 

 crest were displayed. In the mud at the edges of this billabong 

 a number of Emu prints was noted, but the big birds them- 

 selves were not seen. The water was clean and soft, but 

 of little use as a thirst-quencher — and thirsts took some quenching 

 when the temperature was about 115° in the shade. 



On the Monday evening a sand-storm — a striking sight — gave 

 promise of a cool change, but the weather was much the same on 



