Vol. XII 

 1913 



1 White, Field Ornithology in South Australia. 1 85 



steamer came up the channel on her way to Milang the launch 

 followed her. In the Narrows we ran alongside and transhipped 

 our belongings, saying good-bye to the little launch and her 

 owner. 



Birds of Port Germein, South Australia. 



By J. W. Mellor, R.A.O.U., Adelaide. 



A TRIP to the little town of Port Germein, on the eastern shores 

 of Spencer Gulf, South Australia, will repay an ornithologist. 

 There are many different kinds of country within the vicinity. 

 The water of the gulf recedes about a mile at low tide, leaving a 

 wide expanse of dry sand and shallow pools for the Waders. 

 About 6 miles inland the lofty Flinders Range runs parallel with 

 the gulf, giving steep hillsides and deep ravines in which Honey- 

 eaters and Parrots delight. Between the mountains and the sea 

 there are patches of mallee, sheoak, and tea-tree country, also 

 salt-bush and blue-bush flats. Along the gulf are salt samphire 

 flats and mangrove swamps, which are flooded in rough weather, 

 when high tides cover the low lands. 



My last visit to the district was made in August, 191 2. After 

 taking part in a rifle competition in connection with the Port 

 Pirie Military Rifle Club, I caught the Port Germein mail coach 

 on 22nd August. We reached our destina<-ion at about 8 o'clock 

 that night. A walk on the noted Port Germein jetty prepared 

 me for sleep. The pier is between i and 2 miles in length. 

 It spans the shallows previously mentioned, and ends in com- 

 paratively deep water. Next morning an early start was made. 

 With a pack on my back I set out for a day's tramp along the 

 flat country between the gulf and the ranges, where salt-bush and 

 blue-bush were plentiful. It was not long before the White- 

 winged Wren [Malurus leucopterus) was observed in the salt- 

 bushes. The males were shy, and would not allow one to approach 

 closely. After tramping many miles towards the rising grounds, 

 where there were mallee, tea-tree, and other vegetation, the salt- 

 bush forming good undergrowth, I halted for lunch. 



My quest after birds had not been as successful as I had antici- 

 pated up to the present, for, although I had identified a few 

 species, the bird of my desire, the Darker Turquoise Wren 

 {Malurus whitei), had not appeared. This species was named 

 comparatively recently by Mr. A. J. Campbell, after the late Mr. 

 Samuel White, of the Reedbeds, South Australia. Practically 

 nothing has been recorded regarding the habits of this beautiful 

 little Wren, and its habitat, I believe, has not been defined. I do 

 not consider it to be a bird of the interior at aU, as stated by Mr. 

 Campbell, but of local habitat, near Spencer Gulf. While I was 

 eating the mid-day meal a flash of light, as it were, passed before 

 me into some bushes not far away. This " light " was the object 

 of my search. I waited breathlessly for another ghmpse of the 



