Vol. XII 

 1912 



1 Stray Feathers. 47 



river frontage for comparison of measurements, &c., as follows : — 

 Myzantha garrnla, shot Schwetze's Landing, 6/1/12. — Total 

 length, II inches ; wing, 5|- inches; culmen, i inch; tarsus, i-| 

 inches. Iris dark brown ; feet, upper side brownish-yellow ; 

 bare skin behind eye yellow ; eyelid white. Myzantha melanotis, 

 shot 5/1/1912. — ^Total length, 10 inches; wing, 4^ inches; culmen, 

 lye inches ; tarsus, i| inches. Iris grey-brown ; feet brown ; bill 

 dark yellow ; bare skin behind eye, and upper and lower eyelids, 

 yellow. — Edwin Ashby. Blackwood (S.A.), 13/3/12. 



Birds of the Mallee near Schwetze's Landing, River Murray, S.A., 



observed $th January, 1912. — The locality under observation is 

 about 5 miles east of the Murray. In a narrow strip of standing 

 mallee only 6 chains wide, between two wheat paddocks 

 cropped this season, the Mallee-Fowl [Lipoa ocellata) had made a 

 nest in the early spring, and from the recent scratching it was 

 evident that at this late date there were eggs in the mound still 

 undergoing incubation. One of the birds was seen by some of our 

 party feeding in the stubble near the scrub. We examined a large 

 excavation, a foot or so deep, that had been scratched out by the 

 birds in the spring and then deserted for the place above referred 

 to. My friends, who had often seen the birds, could assign no 

 reason for the desertion of the first position ; probably it had to 

 do with the hardness of the subsoil, or some obstruction met with. 

 A good deal of the mallee was in flower, and had attracted great 

 numbers of White- fronted Honey-eaters {Glycyphila alhifrons) and 

 a fair number of its near relative — G. fulvifrons. The varied cries 

 and whistling notes of these two species, chiefly the former, filled 

 the scrub with lively sounds. Single specimens of the Red-rumped 

 Ground-Wren {Hylacola cauta) were seen from time to time 

 running quickly across small open spaces between the thick under- 

 growth. In these rapid runs the tail was often not carried erect, 

 whereas when moving amongst the stems of the bushes it was 

 always erect. The Red-rumped Tit {Acanthiza pyrrhopygia) was 

 fairly common, but its allied species, A . uropygialis, so common in 

 the more open mallee near the river, was not met with here. In 

 the larger blocks of mallee the low warning whistle of the vScrub- 

 Robin {Drymacedus bnmneipygius) was heard. As one moved 

 quietly through the bushes the birds would allow one to approach 

 very closely. While keeping themselves more or less hidden from 

 the observer's view by the mallee-stems, their large black eyes 

 might be caught staring at the intruder with curiosity. The 

 Chestnut-backed Ground-Bird {Cinclosoina castanonotum) was fairly 

 numerous, running for long distances in preference to flying, but 

 keeping the stems of bushes between itself and its pursuer. The 

 flute-like notes of the Bell-Bird {Oreoica cristata) were heard several 

 times during the day, and one specimen was unintentionally shot. 

 The specimens of the Brown-headed Honey-eater [Melithreptus 

 hrevirostris) obtained were very bright green on the back ; 



