204 Whitlock, Spotless Crake and Western Ground-Parrot. [,5^ Apni 



the most silent and unobtrusive bird I have yet encountered 

 in Western AustraUa. Occasionally one may unexpectedly 

 flush an individual in some more or less frequented spot ; 

 but as a rule to find these birds one must go to the un- 

 disturbed flats and systematically tramp through all the closely- 

 growing vegetation, and, if in luck, an odd bird, or at times even 

 a pair, may be flushed, with a startling suddenness, into a flight 

 of 40 or 50 yards, when they drop into the herbage again just 

 as suddenly as they rose. I have never seen this species fly at 

 a greater height than 8 or 9 feet. The flight is slightly undulatory, 

 but very different to that of ordinary Parrots, the wings being 

 very rapidly beaten at intervals, with periods of gliding flight 

 more like that of a Quail between, the tips of the wings being 

 pointed downwards like those of the latter bird. It never flies 

 any great distance, and when about to alight appears to fall 

 headlong to the ground. Usually it can be flushed again if 

 followed immediately, as it does not appear to run along after 

 alighting. Once or twice I have been able to watch a bird at 

 close quarters. Despite its long legs, it does not appear very 

 active on the ground, but it certainly moves with more grace and 

 greater ease than the average Parrot, the awkward, waddling gait 

 of the latter being quite absent. 



The early settlers in this district tell me this species is not so 

 frequently seen as formerly. Common, in the true sense of the 

 term, I can hardly believe it ever was, and, with the numbers of 

 large lizards haunting the flats, the wonder is it has not been 

 exterminated years ago. Mr. James Knapp, who was born in 

 this district over fifty years ago, states that as a boy he has more 

 than once marked a bird down, and by carefully crawling on 

 hands and knees has knocked it over with a stick. He attributes 

 the diminishing numbers of these beautiful Parrots to Quail- 

 shooters ; but there are many square miles of flats as absolutely 

 undisturbed now as they were fifty years ago. Bush-fires are 

 probably more frequent now than formerly, and in dry seasons 

 there may be some destruction of young not yet strong enough on 

 the wing to escape. 



In the spring of 1912 I spent many tiring hours tramping the 

 flats on behalf of Mr. H. L. White, of Belltrees, N.S.W., in quest 

 of the eggs of this species. Though I not infrequently flushed the 

 birds, it was not until after weeks of plodding search that I dis- 

 covered a nest containing two young birds a few days old. This 

 was on 20th October. The nesting-site was on a low but dry 

 ridge, thickly clothed with herbage, amongst which a few small, 

 rounded, prickly bushes were growing — probably a species of 

 dwarf Hakea. A sHght hollow had been scratched out by the 

 parents and scantily lined with dry grasses. The young birds 

 uttered feeble and quei"ulous cries when handled. Their bodies 

 were clothed with a neutral-tinted down, with beak, legs, and 

 feet lead-coloured. I photographed them as they lay in the nest. 

 I saw absolutely nothing of the parents, nor could I flush them 

 near at hand. 



