266 White, Field Ornithology in South Australia. [,sf April 



slopes. At length we reached the coast-line below Western River, 

 and slowly picked our way east for home. On the stillness of 

 the night the far-off call of the Boobook Owl came floating down 

 to us. We were glad indeed when we saw lights ahead. 



After " working out " the bird-life for many miles around, we 

 returned to the starting place, reaching Kingscote the day before 

 the boat sailed. The day of waiting was spent on Kingscote or 

 Beatrice Spit, which consists of a tongue of sand from a mile to 

 a mile and a half in length and a few yards in width. The 

 highest part of the Spit is only a few inches above high water 

 mark. Some salt-bushes grew here, and among them we saw 

 the Kangaroo Island Grass-Bird {Megalurus halmaturinus, 

 Mathews, vide Austral Avian Record, vol. i., part 2, p. 43). 

 The birds kept close to the ground when alarmed, passing from 

 bush to bush like mice. In some instances birds allowed the bush 

 which formed their cover to be trampled to pieces before they 

 shot out. When not alarmed, and not aware of the presence of 

 man, they perched on the topmost twigs of a salt-bush, and 

 uttered a pleasing song, resembling much that of the Maliiri. 

 (I remember landing on this spit, from my late father's yacht, 

 in 1879, and the sight which I saw impressed itself vividly upon 

 my memory. The whole of the Spit above high water mark was 

 covered with sea-birds' eggs, and it was with the greatest difficulty 

 that one could walk without stepping on the eggs.) A few Terns 

 and Gulls wheeled around us as we landed. About the middle 

 of the Spit a sad sight met our eyes. Large clutches of Cormorants' 

 eggs lay bleached and white in last year's nests, and the headless 

 bodies of the birds were scattered around. Next morning we 

 caught the boat for Port Adelaide. 



Mr. G. M. Mathews was anxious that we should complete our 

 work on Kangaroo Island. On loth April, igi2, we were once 

 again in the township of Kingscote. We arranged for stores, 

 transport, &c., and next morning started " out back." We took 

 the same route, to the west, as on the first trip for 8 or 9 miles, 

 and then travelled off to the south and climbed up the steep' 

 Koh-i-noor Hill. We found ourselves on the backbone or central 

 ridge of the island, some 700 or 800 feet above the sea. On this 

 central ridge most of the creeks had their source, and they could 

 be seen flowing on one hand to the north coast and on the other 

 to the south coast. Travelling on, we were soon amidst a suc- 

 cession of steep hills, for this high central ridge was cut through 

 by many gullies, forming the feeders and watercourses which ran 

 to the coast on either hand. We had surmounted only a few of 

 the hills when we discovered that we had a jibbing horse in our 

 team. His mate had to pull the trap to the top of each hill ; the 

 jibber would work only where the going was easy. At nightfall 

 we camped in a deep gully, now known as " Jibbing Horse Creek." 



Early next morning I walked for a few miles around the camp, 



