Vol. XII. 

 1913 



White, Field Ornithology in South Australia. 



267 



Scene, Centre Kangaroo Island. 



FROM A PHOTO. BY (CAPT.) S. A. WHITE. 



and found bird-life scarce. Nearly all the birds I saw were Honey- 

 eaters. After breakfast we yoked up our team, but had not gone 

 far when the jibbing horse started his pranks. I sent the lad 

 off with him to Kingscote — a bare-back ride of over 30 miles 

 through rough country, with orders to return with another horse, 

 and we spent the greater part of the next two days observing 

 birds in the surrounding country. We found the few species 

 (mostly Honey-eaters) which exist in the centre of the island 

 confined to the creeks. An interesting bird, which came under 

 our notice for the first time, was the Kangaroo Island Fire-tailed 

 Finch, which Mr. Mathews has described as ZoncBginthii.s samueli 

 (vide Austral Avian Record, vol. i., part 4, p. 102). Amidst 

 the thickest of the undergrowth, generally in damp localities, 

 the mournful call of this bird could be heard. Here, too, we 

 came in touch with the Kangaroo Island Red Wattle-Bird 

 {Anellobia halniatnrina, Mathews, Austral Avian Record, vol. i., 

 part 4, p. loi), which seemed to be sparsely distributed over the 

 island. We found the Southern White-bearded Honey-eater 

 {Meliornis subassimilis, Mathews) to be fairly abundant here. 

 In the deep gullies, amidst the thick undergrowth, the 

 Kangaroo Island Crescent Honey-eater {Meliornis halmaturina) 

 was present in fair numbers. On the third day a fresh horse 

 arrived, and, after giving it a rest, we harnessed it up 

 with the other and began to travel steadily through the 



