28 Macgillivray, The Region of the Barrier Range. [ist^'july 



Black-and-White Swallows were sheltering from the wind. A 

 Kingfisher had just finished its tunnel and nesting chamber. 

 The tunnel is rarely more than a foot in length, and slopes 

 slightly upwards ; the nesting chamber is commodious, and the 

 eggs, usually five, are placed on the soft earth of the floor. Eggs 

 are usually laid from the middle of September until the end of 

 October, rarely earlier, but later if spring rains ensure a suffi- 

 ciency of food for the young. These birds feed on all kinds of 

 insects, lizards, and small snakes ; these are more plentiful 

 during a good season, but never scarce. Many Ravens' nests 

 were passed by ; most contained young. 



We tramped wearily along the creek, where the timber had 

 all been cut out, and came to a good waterhole, where we 

 lunched. The timber now improved. A Cockatoo's nest (three 

 eggs) was found, then another 25 feet up (four eggs). Two feet 

 from this hollow, in the same tree, three young Mallee Parrakeets 

 were snugly ensconced. A Boobook Owl flushed from an empty 

 hollow of the same tree, on the top of which a Whistling Eagle 

 was renewing an old nest. One Cockatoo's egg, was found in a 

 spout, and a Tree-Swallow {Petrochelidon nigricans) in another 

 spout had three eggs. Jim M'Lennan here met us, having 

 ridden back from camp with two horses. We scorned the 

 proffered assistance, and tramped on, to find a Cockatoo's nest 

 in the next tree and to flush a Goshawk {Astur fasciatiis) from 

 a nest which she was just completing. Soon after we met the 

 other members of the party, who reported having found nests of 

 the Grallina, Cockatoo, Miner, Magpie, and Kestrel. M'Lennan 

 and I had some tea, rode on in the trap for about 2 miles, then 

 took to the creek again, accompanied by Dr. Dobbyn. Cocka- 

 toos were here in large flocks ; Rufous Song-Larks and Chats 

 were also plentiful. A Whistling Eagle's nest contained two 

 rather small eggs. We came to a part of the creek which had 

 been visited by the hail and wind storm whose effects were so 

 marked on Yalcowinna Creek. Here, though the bed of the 

 creek and the bank on the lee side were strewn with branches 

 and limbs, and many trees only stood as bare trunks, the marks 

 of the hail were not so deep on the bark. A tragedy of the 

 storm was revealed to us ; a large limb had fallen across 

 another, and firmly wedged between them were all the tail 

 feathers of a Kestrel. Many Cockatoos' nests were noted after 

 we had passed the path of the storm, and we soon arrived at 

 Stone Hut. The occupant was away at the shearing. We found 

 the team unyoked. A nest of the Little Falcon {Falco Innulatus) 

 was shown us in a tall tree directly below the hut. It was on 

 the topmost branch. After a short rest M'Lennan and I 

 followed the creek until darkness turned us back to camp. 



Next morning M'Lennan climbed to the Falcon's nest, only 

 to find that it was just ready for eggs. Breakfast over, we made 



