^'^lie^'l Chisholm, Three Species of the PachycephalincB. ±\ 



the nest and eggs, but the owners could not be persuaded to 

 return while the camera was in position. They had evidently 

 received a fright at the old nest. It was worth while, however, 

 to spend many hours in the vicinity, if only to hear the melody 

 of the birds. The call most frequently used was a ventriloquial 

 " Chup, chup," which seems to roll softly off the chest and swell 

 powerfully as it leaves the beak. It is not unlike the vesper hymn 

 of Eopsaltria. On yth October a third (igg was laid in the latest 

 nest. Still the birds were doomed to disappointment ; for on 

 I2th October one of the trio was gone, the other two eggs were 

 cold, and some of the horse-hair lining of the nest was ruffled. 

 It is difficult to suggest what was the cause of this curious con- 

 dition of things. The birds were whistling some distance away. 

 They came no more to that nest, but still clung loyally to their 

 chosen locality. But it was all of no avail. On the last day of 

 that month I found an empty nest, without any signs of young 

 having been in it. There seemed an additional touch of plaintive- 

 ness in the Whistlers' melody then : they had been thwarted for 

 the third time. 



I saw but little of P. gilberti subsequently until 22nd July, 

 1914, when, to my astonishment, the sweet, prolonged " Wee-e-e- 

 woo " sounded in the same locality. I had never before heard 

 the birds anywhere in the district during the winter months. On 

 almost every day of the week following I visited the locality in 

 search of the birds, but did not note them again till early in 

 August. Then I saw the female, which was fairly tame, feeding 

 among the leaves of trees, while her consort, which displayed 

 much wariness, kept about the litter of dead leaves and bark on 

 the ground. During the whole of that Spring they remained 

 constant to the same tract of timber, but were more often heard 

 than seen. The " wandering voice " departed with the spring, 

 but again echoed about the same spot at the end of the winter 

 of 1915. 



Notes from Western Australia. 



By W. B. Alexander, M.A., R.A.O.U., Keeper of Biology, 

 Museum, Perth. 



During the past summer (1915-16) several birds seem to have 

 extended their range further south than usual. Mr. J. Higham 

 brought me a pair of Warbling Grass-Parrakeets [Melopsittaciis 

 unditlatus) obtained at the WilUams. 100 miles south-east of 

 Perth, and informed me that Little Doves {Geopelia cuneata) had 

 been seen in the same localitv. I learn from Mr. M. W. Elliott 

 that at Dumbleyung. 50 miles further to the south-east. Warbling 

 Grass-Parrakeets also appeared. Mr. Elliott also sent me speci- 

 mens of the Black Honey-eater [Myzomela nigra) and the White- 

 fronted Honey-eater [Gliciphila albifrons), stating that he had 

 not met with either species in his locality until this summer. He 



