46 Stray Feathers. [,sfT.!i 



shades of reddish-brown and a few markings of dull purplish-grey, 

 the latter appearing as if beneath the surface of the shell. The 

 pair of eggs measures in inches : — [a) 0.77 x 0.55, (&) 0.77 x 0.53. 

 They were taken for me by Mr. Roy Hislop, near Cooktown, 

 North Queensland, on 25th November, 1909, and the parents 

 were forwarded with the eggs. — H. L. White. Belltrees, 2/6/12. 



Description of Nest and Eggs of Western Emu- Wren {Stipitnrus 

 westernensis), {Emu, vol. xi., p. 223). — Nest. — Dome-shaped, but 

 not completely hooded. Total length. 5 inches ; breadth, 3 inches ; 

 depth inside, from lower edge of entrance, 2 inches ; diameter of 

 entrance, i inch. Composed outwardly of long, narrow strips of 

 thin bark, which are soft and much weather-worn, matted together 

 with cobwebs and the green egg-bags of spiders. Lining consists 

 of fine grass, a few feathers, and a quantity of short brown silken, 

 hair-like stems, which are neatly worked into the front portion. 

 Eggs. — Swollen ovals in shape ; surface of shell fine, but without 

 gloss. Ground colour dull white, over which are scattered spots 

 and specks of dark and light reddish-brown and pale umber. In 

 (a) these markings are more confined to the larger end, while in (b) 

 they are more closely set together at the smaller end. The pair of 

 eggs measures in inches : — (a) 0.65 x 0.48, (b) 0.63 x 0.48. Taken 

 by Mr. F. Lawson Whitlock for me at Wilson's Inlet, S.W., 

 Western Australia, on nth November, 1911. The eggs were much 

 incubated. Female was flushed from nest, which was placed low 

 down in long, coarse grasses. — H. L. White. Belltrees, 5/4/12. 



Occurrence of Myzantha melanotis, Wilson, near the Murray, 



S.A. — On the 5th January of this year I spent a day in the 

 mallee, about 5 miles east of Schwetze's Landing, 11 miles above 

 Marmion, on the Lower Murray. I found the above-mentioned 

 species in exactly the same patch of mallee in which I met with it 

 in January last year (1911). My friend, Mr. G. Mann, told me 

 then (in January, 1911) that the Miner in the mallee was in his 

 opinion distinct from the species frequenting the large red 

 gums {Eucalyptus rostrata) growing along the banks of the river. 

 He stated that some of the notes were distinct, and that the 

 mallee species was much more active on the wing than the other 

 — he had watched them catching insects on the . wing. Although 

 I saw the bird in January, 191 1, and tried to get within shot, I 

 did not succeed in obtaining one, my friends being in a hurry to get 

 home with their teams. This year I saw nothing of the bird until 

 we were on the return journey, when, at the same spot, I heard 

 them calling, and secured one. I agree with previous writers that 

 it is nearly allied to the Western Australian species, M. obsciira, 

 though distinct therefrom. I believe the locality where Captain 

 S. A. White met with it was about 40 miles back from the 

 Murray. The next morning I shot a specimen of M. garnila on the 



