^"'lo/o^' ] Whitlock, Un the East Mtirchison. 205 



great encouragement, and I resolved not to come away from the spinifex 

 without authentic eggs oi A.sfriatKs, &\tr\ if I had to camp out in their 

 actual haunts. 



I had been much astonished that I had found no nests of previous seasons. 

 Having discovered several old A/al urns nests, this was the more remarkable, 

 and rather discouraging. On the last day of the month things took a turn 

 for the better. In a tract of spinifex where the growth was rather stunted 

 and in the form of rings rather than clumps, I found a nest of the previous 

 season, and of the character I was searching for. It was placed on the top 

 and half-embedded in the spinifex. Outwardly spinifex stems formed the 

 bulk of the structure, but the woven part of the nest was of flat grasses, 

 and the interior warmly and neatly lined with buff-coloured vegetable down 

 from the plant known as D i crusty les fulva. It was a domed nest, with the 

 entrance at the side but rather nearer the top than the circumference. 

 Viewed from above the entrance was invisible, and I had to stand back 

 several yards before I could detect it All the nests I found were of this 

 character. In no sense could the nest be described as open or cup-shaped. 

 My experience therefore differs considerably from that of other field 

 naturalists {rnde descriptions Campbell's " Nests and Eggs," also North's 

 " Nests and Eggs of Birds found Breeding in Australia and Tasmania "). 

 Finding this old nest was a step towards ultimate success, and I took careful 

 stock of my surroundings. Hitherto I had imagined the most likely spot 

 for the nest would be in some natural gap or depression in the large and 

 vigorous clumps of spinifex. I was ciuite wrong. Of the seven nests I 

 found (old and new) all were in tracts where the growth was low and more 

 of the character of rings and lines than clumps. The only reasons I can 

 imagine why this should have been so are that where the spinifex is less 

 dense it shows more of the bleached stems of the plant, and thus the 

 materials of the nest readily harmonize in colour and aid in its concealment. 

 Also the sitting bird has a better view of approaching enemies, and can 

 more readily slip off to a distance until the danger is past. 



On 3rd September I found another similar nest, except that it looked 

 newer. I cautiously felt within. Apparently it was empty, and the lining 

 seemed to have been disturbed. I investigated further and became 

 conscious of two solid objects embedded in the down of the lining. Gently 

 tilting the nest up until I could look inside, I could just see a portion of the 

 shell of a white e'g%. I soon had the pair out, and had the satisfaction of 

 gazing upon my first eggs of the Striated Grass-Wren. They were pure 

 white in colour, sparingly marked, chiefly at the broader end, with pale 

 rufous-brown. They were nearly true ovals in shape. Texture of the shell 

 fine, with a slight gloss. I saw no signs of either parent, neither could I 

 hear the alarm note. Shortly afterwards I flushed a female right off her 

 nest. This was in the usual situation, but there was a low growth of acacia 

 amongst the spinifex, and the nest was right at the foot of one of these 

 bushes. This nest contained two newly-hatched young. The lining of this 

 nest was extremely neat, and formed a warm, soft bed, in the shape of a cup, 

 for the young to rest upon. I tried in vain to entice the female back to the 

 nest, but she utterly refused to show herself 



On the following day 1 found a fourth nest, containing two incubated eggs. 

 It was a very windy day, and I nearly walked past the sitting female before 

 she dashed off her eggs. The spinifex was again low and in the form of a 

 ring, the nest being placed on the inner side of the ring, where the bleached 

 stems of the plant were visible. In addition to some stunted acacias there 

 was a growth of a species of Erica. I had often seen and heard of Grass- 

 Wrens amongst tracts of these shrubs, but I had hitherto regarded such 

 localities as favourite feeding-grounds. On 9th September 1 found another 

 last season's nest, of the usual type ; but three days later, on the top of a 

 rise, and near a line of blood-wood eucalypts, 1 flushed a female from her 

 nest in very low and sparse spinifex. This nest contained three eggs, 



