24 Alexander, Ohsevvations at Bremer Bay (W.A.) [,sf''juiy 



Observations at Bremer Bay (W.A.) 



By W. B. Alexander, M.A., R.A.O.U., Curator, Museum, 



Perth. 

 Probably few parts of southern Australia are less known at the 

 present day than the southern coast-Une of Western Australia 

 between King George's Sound and the Great Australian Bight. 

 In the extent of about 400 miles there are only two small towns, 

 Hopetoun and Esperance — the former the port of the copper- 

 mining town of Ravensthorpe, the latter the centre of a small 

 agricultural area, and the nearest point on the coast to the 

 Coolgardie goldfields. Before the construction of the railway 

 from Perth to Kalgoorlie Esperance was a thriving port, as it has 

 a fine harbour. The opening of the railway diverted the gold- 

 fields traffic to Fremantle ; but, on the completion of the railway 

 at present under construction to connect Esperance with Cool- 

 gardie, the port will doubtless regain some of its former prosperity. 

 Apart from these two towns, the only other habitations along the 

 coast-line are a few isolated sheep-stations and the relay stations 

 on the overland telegraph line which connects Western with 

 South Australia. When, therefore. I was invited to join a party 

 of sportsmen who were proposing to spend a holiday at Bremer 

 Bay, in January, 1916, I gladly accepted the invitation, in the 

 hope of learning something of the natural history of this little- 

 known region. 



We left Albany at i o'clock in the afternoon of Wednesday, 

 19th January, by the s.s. Eticla, and steamed out of King George's 

 Sound against a strong easterly wind, which made our voyage 

 decidedly unpleasant. It was an agreeable surprise to me to 

 note the presence of a number of Albatrosses, which proved to be 

 the Black-browed {Thalassarche melanophrys), a species as to 

 whose claims to inclusion in the Western Austrahan hst I recently 

 raised a doubt.* Some of the birds seen were apparently adult, 

 but in others, which I judged to be immature, only the base of 

 the bill was yellow, the tip being dark. Captain Fred. Douglas, 

 who has been engaged in the navigation of the coast between 

 Albany and Esperance for 50 years, was acting as a temporary 

 officer on the Eucla, and his knowledge of this coast-line is 

 unrivalled. In reply to questions, he informed me that 

 " Albatrosses " were only to be seen in winter, and then generally 

 well out to sea ; but the " Molly-hawks " were always on the 

 coast. He had never seen their nests, but believed that they 

 nested on some of the islands of the Recherche Archipelago, as 

 he had often seen them settled on these islands. More numerous 

 than the " MoUymawks " were Mutton-Birds, which I at once 

 noticed were different from those seen on the west coast, as they 

 lacked the wedge tail of Thyellodroma paciflca, and a pale patch 

 at the base of the beak was conspicuous. This was the Flesh- 



* Emu, voL .XV., p. 183. 



