Vol. X. 



igio 



1 Macgtllivray, The Region of the Barrier Range: 23 



tained three eggs. The birds sailed uneasily round the tree, 

 but made no attempt to molest the climber. After a further 

 tramp over a dry stretch of creek, we came to a clear pool, and 

 noted fox and Emu tracks on the damp sand. In an old, 

 rugged tree near by a Kestrel {Cerchneis cenchroides) had her 

 clutch of five eggs, a Cockatoo coming from a second hollow. 

 Two more Bare-eyed Cockatoos' nests were found, each contain- 

 ing Gggs. A Boobook Owl vacated a hollow, in which two 

 eggs were seen. The " feed " along the creek had now almost 

 reached the vanishing point, and there was a corresponding 

 scarcity of bird life. It was useless to proceed further, so we 

 turned back, cutting off a large bend in the creek. On the way 

 we heard a horse-bell jingling, and, two of us going in search, 

 the wanderers were brought back and short-hobbled on the 

 green feed again. Next morning Barney was out before break- 

 fast, among the small gums near the camp, and soon reported 

 the finding of two nests of the Mallee Parrakeet, one with a 

 complete clutch of five eggs on the point of hatching, and the 

 other with two eggs only. One of those curious sand lizards 

 {Gyninodactylus milusii) paid our breakfast table a visit, and 

 was allowed to walk about in its peculiar, stilty way. Two of 

 us went out with the horses to bring in the trap, while the 

 others walked over the flats down the creek to where we com- 

 menced on the previous day. A Kestrel flew from a hollow in 

 a large gum. Higher up in the same tree a Whistling Eagle 

 was re-lining an old nest, under which a Yellow-rumped Tit 

 {AcantJiiza chrysorrhoa) had her home. A 'possum was seen 

 sleeping the day away in still another limb. In the next tree a 

 Little Eagle was building and a Grallina was sitting on eggs ; a 

 Boobook Owl flew from one of the tree's hollow limbs, and in 

 another hollow a Cockatoo had her clutch of three eggs. In a 

 small eucalypt near at hand was a compactly-built nest of the 

 White-browed Babbler, with an incomplete clutch of three eggs. 

 A Little Nightjar {yEgotheles novcB-JiollandicB) flitted away from 

 her leaf-lined hollow, in which she had not yet laid. These 

 interesting little birds are common throughout this country, and 

 their " Churr-churring " note is frequently heard at night ; they 

 nest during September and October, laying four, or, very rarely, 

 five eggs. Usually the eggs are pure white, but sometimes 

 possess indistinct spots or markings, which in some form a zone 

 at the larger end. A small colony of the Purple-backed Wren 

 {M alums assimilis) was disturbed searching for smaller insect 

 forms among the undergrowth along the creek bank. In a 

 hollow tree nearly opposite the camp a Bare-eyed Cockatoo's 

 nest contained four eggs. The usual clutch is three. In another 

 tree a Kestrel had just completed laying her clutch of five eggs, 

 which I find to be the normal clutch, though six eggs are some- 

 times laid. Kestrels usually choose a large, open hollow, and 



