l88 Whitlock, On the East Murcliisoii. [i/'Trii 



but in their turn they are themselves superior in many respects 

 to those around the Coolgardie fields. They were equally lazy, 

 however, and persistent beggars, requests being made for 

 " bacca," " matchie," " pflour," and even my trousers. To gain 

 their goodwill I fed them freely, until I was tired of it, waiting 

 in vain for the nests and eggs, which were to come " after the 

 rain," or " when it come hot." In the end I had to enact the 

 " sulky pfellow," and only exchange food for weapons. My 

 dissimulation must have been weak or badly enacted, for when 

 I told one particularly persistent beggar that I was a sulky 

 fellow 1 was promptly called a liar, the term being qualified with 

 a white man's adjective. 



I must add that all the nests and eggs I took during the trip 

 are in the collection of Mr. H. L. White, of Belltrees. For the 

 names of the one or two plants referred to in my notes I am 

 indebted to Dr. Alexander Morrison, late Government Botanist 

 in this State. 



In conclusion, I can only hope that the following notes will be 

 of some interest to my brother ornithologists, also that they will 

 form another link in the chain of our knowledge relating to the 

 geographical distribution of Australian birds. The more we 

 know of the latter branch of ornithology the easier will be the 

 task of specialists in deciding on and discriminating between 

 varieties, sub-species, and geographical races of birds. 



Without nests and eggs of Stipiturus 7-tiJiceps and Acanthiza 

 wJiitlocki the trip cannot be called a complete success. But I 

 may perhaps be allowed to call attention to the fact that I was 

 quite alone in my work, and entirely dependent on my own 

 exertions. I never spared any trouble, and my energies were 

 often severely taxed. On one occasion I covered 44 miles in 

 15 hours under a hot and almost tropical sun. Local stockmen 

 and others shook their heads at me — " You will be found dead 

 in the bush some day " was their comment. 



Nomenclature — Mathews' " Handlist " {Evm, Supp. , vol. vii.) 



Emu {DroiiiccKS ?W7>a'-hollandtce). — Far from common on the East 

 Murchison. The only flock I saw was one comprising about a score or so. 

 This was on the western side of the rabbit-proof fence. On the spinifex 

 plains I encountered a pair or two. Seeing an Emu's head above the 

 spinifex one day when hunting nests oi Aniytoriiis^ I stalked it in the hope 

 of getting a photograph of a nest. It proved to be, not a sitting bird, but a 

 cripple, the tarsus being badly broken close to the toes. For all this the 

 bird appeared to be healthy and in no distress. 



Little Quail {Tumix velox).—\ occasionally flushed a Quail or two, 

 when searching for other things, but found no nests. They were most 

 frecjuent near Bore Well. The only one 1 managed to shoot was an 

 individual near my tent, which rather disturbed me by uttering its moaning 

 call during the night. The call sounded like a low, deep " Oo-ah," uttered 

 continuously for several minutes at a time. This proved to be a female bird. 



LlTTLK Dove {Geo^clia f7^;/^^?A?).— Generally distributed, but most 

 common and breeding in October near Milly Pool. 



