262 Hill, Field Notes on Birds of Kimbevley, N .-W . Aust. [^j^Tn. 



my thanks are due for the identification of the specimens 

 therein. 



In the following notes I have used the technical nomenclature 

 adopted in Mathews' " Handlist of the Birds of Australia " 

 (Suppl., Emu, vol. vii.) All measurements of birds were taken in 

 the flesh, and in recording tail measurements I have given the 

 length of the longest feathers. New records for North-West 

 Australia are indicated by asterisks, thus {*). 

 , In conclusion, it is hoped that yet another page has been added 

 to the history of Australian avifauna, and that the facts and 

 opinions recorded in the following notes will prove of interest to 

 ornithologists and others. The failure to secure observations on 

 the nidification of several new or rare species, and the comparative 

 paucity of field notes on the rest, are only too obvious ; but I 

 would ask critical readers to bear in mind that I was generally 

 alone, in a wild country, where the hostility and treachery of the 

 aborigines were very great, and where insect pests taxed the 

 collector's patience to the utmost of human endurance. 



DROMiEUS NOViE-HOLLANDi;E (Emu). 



The plumage of the North-Western appears to be somewhat 

 darker than that of the Southern birds. The food consists largely of 

 seeds of a Grevillea and of a hardy bush which bears an abundant 

 crop of woody and unpleasantly flavoured fruit. 



Meg.'^podius tumulus (Scrub-Fowl).* 



I noticed these birds only in the tropical scrubs at Parry Harbour, 

 on Hecla Island, and on the mainland abreast of Augustus Island. 

 Several mounds were found in the first-mentioned localities, the 

 largest of which measured 12 feet in diameter at the top, 28 feet at 

 the base, and 8 feet high. From the appearance of the mounds, I 

 judged that the young had hatched out about the middle of January. 

 The loud, discordant cries of the Scrub-Fowls were heard only at 

 daybreak. 



Syncecus australis (Brown Quail). 



Numerous in well-grassed country. Their food consists largely of 

 leaves of several small species of herbaceous plants, grass seeds, and 

 locusts. The crop of one specimen contained a lizard (Gecko) 3 inches 

 long and several locusts. 



Measurements of birds in mm. : — 



Bill. Tail. 



.14 -.38 



• 13 •• 37 



• 14 ••35 

 TuRNix CASTANONOTA (Chestuut-backed Quail). 



The remarks on Syncecus australis apply also to this species. 

 Measurements of birds in mm. : — 



Myristicivora spilorrhoa (Nutmeg-Pigeon) ? 



Prior to my arrival several large white Pigeons were shot at Parry 



