WESTERN AUSTRALIA 217 



The Cape Pigeon, which is a petrel, is beautifully 

 mottled and lays its eggs in open places on the 

 rocky cliffs. I have camped with them during a 

 blizzard on Kerguelen's Land. Occasionally it gets 

 as far north as King George's Sound but not to lay 

 eggs, as well as we know. The Snow Petrel, which 

 is one of its fellows, never leaves the Antarctic 

 Sea to nest. The smallest petrel (Wilsons) and the 

 Giant Petrel, annually spend the winter about our 

 shores. They are circumpolar. 



Of the land group most widely distributed species 

 we have the Pipit and its races. It is a protectively 

 coloured species, being rufous on red areas, brown- 

 ish on brown, and greyish on grey. This is shown 

 in map 98, c, c 1 c 5 , and collections of birds will 

 define the colour of the country on which they live. 



Mirafra, the Bush Lark, is just such another bird 

 distributed over Australia and varying with its 

 country. 



THE SOUTH-WEST AREA 

 (Plate 2, Fig. 74; Plate 3, Fig. 99) 



The south west area is divided into two portions. 

 There is the coastal plain, a narrow strip of country 

 west of the Darling and Stirling Ranges, and there 

 is the larger portion east of the ranges, with a 

 scarp dividing two vegetations; map 99. 



To all small ground loving birds the range is a 

 barrier to distribution eastward. Having a feeble 

 flight they do not seem to care to leave the vegeta- 



