Vol. XIV. 

 1914 



1 Stray Feathers. 99 



helped the egg to roll inwards. As the Cuckoo grew, it came 

 nearer to the entrance. Becoming still larger, it had to leave the 

 nest. It rested on a ledge near by, and effectually prevented its 

 foster-parents from entering the tunnel so long as they had dainty 

 morsels in their beaks. It remained on the ledge at night, and 

 stayed in the vicinity until it was a large bird. 



A family of Blue Wren-Warblers {Maltiriis) had a nest in some 

 asparagus' fern on a verandah. Four young ones were reared, 

 and a second clutch of eggs was laid. When these hatched, the 

 first brood helped the parents to feed the second. They became 

 so tame that one could almost touch them as they flew to and 

 fro on their unselfish errands. Blue Wrens have been seen in full 

 plumage throughout the winter. One male was seen for a few days 

 with a greyish-black head, with a few tiny blue feathers ; soon, 

 however, it assumed the full cobalt colour. On the ist September 

 I saw a young one just beginning to assume the blue collar. This 

 year the^ Whitefaces {Aphelocephala) built early, and young ones 

 were found on the 28th August. The nest was composed simply 

 of grass, in the base of a " pipe " stem in a gum-tree.— Muriel 

 Cheney. September, 1914. 



* * * 



A Long-lost Bird.— Australian ornithologists especially must 

 be very interested at the re-discovery of John Gould's long-lost 

 bird, Xerophila pedoralis {Ann. Mag. Nat. Hist., series iv., vol. 

 viii.,' p. 192, 1872), and known now as Aphelocephala pedoralis 

 (Mathews's " A List of the Birds of Australia," p. 246, 1913)- 

 This bird was described from a single specimen supposed to have 

 been collected near Port Augusta, S.A. Dr. Morgan, Dr. Chenery, 

 and myself have hunted the country for hundreds of miles round 

 Port Augusta, but without success. Last year Mrs. White and I 

 covered 1,300 miles in our trip north of Oodnadatta, but did not 

 see a sign of the bird, although A . nigricincta and a bird closely 

 resembling .-1. p. castaneiventris were met with in numbers. On 

 29th June, 1914, when between 30 and 40 miles west of Oodnadatta, 

 Mr. J. P. Rogers, my collector and assistant, brought me two small 

 birds and asked what I thought of them. I at once recognized 

 the long-lost bird, and within a few hours procured several 

 specimens myself. They were in the company of A. mgncinda 

 and appeared Hke A. p. castaneiventris ; they resembled these much 

 in their habits, but their call was different, and they were much 

 more timid. When alarmed they flew straight away out of harm. 

 The call is a plaintive, low whistle, resembling a little the 

 animated twittering note of other members of the genus. This 

 species appears to be confined almost entirely to the table-land 

 country, which is covered with loose gibber stones, with a few 

 scattered low bushes. In the dry water-courses patches of mulga 

 {Acacia anetira) grew. A few points of rain fell over this country 

 last February, and evidently these birds nested, for the parent 

 birds were in company of their fully-fledged young. As far as 



