^°'-^''-l Notes and Notices. 6^ 



1912 J o 



the majority of the party having gone southward to explore the 

 country between the Queensland border and the telegraph line, 

 Captain Barclay and Mr. Hill proceeded on horseback to the 

 Katherine, and arrived there on 13th April, thence to Pine Creek, 

 and finally to Darwin by rail, which place was reached 17th 

 April. While at Darwin Captain Barclay received instructions to 

 carry out extensive exploration work at the Gulf of Carpentaria 

 and on adjacent islands, Mr. Hill being appointed naturalist to 

 the expedition. However, Mr. Hill's rupture now began to cause 

 trouble, and he had to proceed to the Naval Hospital, Hong Kong, 

 and submit to operative treatment. Members will be extremely 

 glad to learn that his father, Mr. G. R. Hill, Melbourne, has re- 

 ceived a cablegram announcing that his son had left the hospital, 

 and in due course hoped to return to Darwin, then on to the Gulf 

 region to rejoin Captain Barclay. 



Mr. C. Price Conigrave, F.R.G.S., &c., formerly of the Perth 

 (W.A.) Museum, after his adventurous exploring work in the far 

 North- West (see Emu, vol. xi., pp. 267-269), has decided to settle 

 in Melbourne. He commenced a short series of lectures in that 

 city on 29th June, when the veteran explorer, the Right Hon. 

 Sir John Forrest, G.C.M.G., occupied the chair The opening 

 night was specially under the auspices of the Union, the Bird 

 Observers' Club, and other kindred societies. Mr. Conigrave 

 recounted in admirable fashion how he and his comrades (Messrs. 

 L. Burns and Roy Collison) gave up the comforts of life for a 

 season to endure hardships — not to mention imminently risking 

 their lives — in the sacred cause of scientific knowledge. The 

 lecture was abundantly illustrated with a series of splendid photo- 

 graphs, not only taken but developed en route. Not of the least 

 importance to the R.A.O.U. is the fact that the whole of Mr. 

 Conigrave 's field-notes on birds will appear in The Emu. This is 

 by arrangement with Mr. Gregory Mathews, who has been ex- 

 tremely fortunate in procuring the bird collection — some 400 

 specimens. 



New Zealand Albinos. — A large number of albino forms, more 

 or less complete, have been recorded of New Zealand birds. I 

 now add two other records of birds in Mr. O'Connor's private 

 collection, one recently obtained in the neighbourhood of Wel- 

 lington, and the other from the Nelson district, in the South 

 Island. 



I also desire to record that in December last a very beautiful 

 specimen of an almost pure albino of Ev.dynamis taitoisis was 

 brought into town. The whole bird was of a snowy whiteness, 

 with the exception of a slight indication of the brown bars under 

 the tail. The legs were a beautiful lemon-yellow, and the tail 

 was of an ivory whiteness, showing a little yellow at the base. 

 I did not see the eye soon enough to note the colour, but, as 

 stuffed, the iris is given as a pale grey colour. 



Mr. O'Connor's specimens are a partial albino South Island 



