Il8 Chandler, Notes on Pardalotes. [isf'oct 



cream ; irides dark brown ; bill greenish-black ; gape cream ; 

 mouth orange. 



Three immature skins in my possession show the following 

 phases of i)lumage : — {a, about six weeks old) head pale yellow, 

 narrowly centred with creamy- white on crown ; base of feathers 

 dusky-grey ; lores light orange ; brows creamy ; throat pale 

 yellow ; first primary faintly edged with white ; third and fourth 

 primaries boldly edged with white ; speculum orange-red ; bill 

 blackish ; legs and feet neutral tint ; gape pale yellow ; irides 

 dark brown. (&) This specimen is just changing from immature 

 to adult plumage. Two black feathers, centred with white, have 

 appeared among the yellowish feathers on the head. Lores pale 

 yellow ; eyebrows creamy-yellow ; first primary faintly edged with 

 dirty white ; third primary white ; speculum orange-red. (c) This 

 specimen is evidently a little older than the preceding one. The 

 head is assuming the black of the adult bird, and a number of the 

 striated feathers have appeared. The lores are yellow and the 

 eyebrows white ; very faint fringe of light buff on first primary ; 

 third primary white ; speculum orange-red. This skin is of special 

 value, for an examination of the head reveals the fact that the 

 change of plumage is brought about by an alteration of colour in 

 the feathers as well as by moult. The yellow feathers on the head 

 of the younger specimen are here superseded by grey ones. Some 

 of the feathers on the forehead have reached the black hue of the 

 mature bird, while others are in intermediate stages of dusky-grey. 

 It is interesting to notice that, although the feathers on the fore- 

 head and eyebrows reach the adult stage of plumage by a change 

 in colour, the striated feathers on the crown are produced by moult. 

 This is obvious from a few young quills showing beneath the feathers 

 in specimen {b). The yellow feathers on the throat are moulting, 

 but their successors are pale when compared with the rich colour 

 of the adult bird. 



Bird'Life on Sandy Creek, Riverina, New South 



Wales. 



By Charles Gubanyi. 



Part L — Autumn and Winter. 



Along the main Southern railway line of New South Wales, 

 between the Murrumbidgee and the Upper Murray Rivers, stretches 

 a slightly undulating, rich agricultural country — the Riverina. In 

 its original state the eastern part of the district was fairly heavily 

 timbered, grey box, red gum, and cypress-pines being the principal 

 trees on the plains, while the hillsides and granitic ridges supported 

 ironbarks, red and white stringybarks, and other eucalypts. The 

 advent of wheat-growing on a large scale, and the general change 

 from grazing to intensive cultivation, caused on great areas 

 the disappearance of the timber. The transformation of the 



