314 Whitlock, In the Stirling Ranges, W.A. [isfA'^i 



obtained was found near Lake Balicup, and gave me a lot of 

 trouble. Every morning the parent birds fed near my camp. 

 The difficulty was to follow their flight with the eye through the 

 intervening timber to the nesting tree. After exercising great 

 patience I gradually tracked them down to the point where I 

 usually lost one bird and saw the other fly off to a distance. At 

 length, by hiding in some bushes, I located the tree, which was 

 a large dead white gum, containing more than one likely-looking 

 hole. Next morning I waited till the birds appeared, as usual, 

 to feed, and then hurried down to my lair near the tree. I waited 

 what seemed an interminable time till the birds appeared, and 

 the female immediately popped into a hole in the main stem of 

 the tree. I beat on the trunk with my tomahawk, but she 

 refused to budge. I soon had my rope-ladder at work, and the 

 sight of the dangling fishing line, which must have been visible 

 to her as she sat, caused her to leave her eggs at once. After 

 half an hour's hard chopping I secured five fine eggs. They were 

 somewhat nest-stained and heavily incubated, but I am glad to 

 say were eventually blown. They were a little larger than typical 

 eggs of Barnardiiis. This is a very handsome Parrot, and I think 

 I never saw a finer pair than the proprietors of this nest. The 

 native name is " Chelyup," which is, no doubt, a rendering of 

 the call-note. 



I met with a single pair of the Many-coloured Parrakeet 

 {Psephotus nmlticolor). This species is another interesting addition 

 to Mr. Milligan's list. I also secured a clutch of four eggs of 

 Platycercus icier otis — the local " Rosella." The entrance to the 

 nest was on the top of a -thick horizontal limb of a white gum, 

 at a height of about 40 feet. 



The Stirling Range birds differ somewhat from our coastal 

 birds in having the feathers of the mantle edged with red. In the 

 latter, even in old birds, the colour of the mantle is a combination 

 of black and green, with very slight or no trace of red ; but fiu'ther 

 east, in the Lake Dundas district, I secured a fine old male with 

 the edges of the feathers red and with no trace of green at all in 

 the mantle. In our coastal birds the latter colour predominates. 

 Perhaps the extreme eastern form would be Salvadori's P. 

 xanthogenys. 



Leaving the Parrots, another addition to Mr. Milligan's list is 

 Pteropodocys phasianella (Ground Cuckoo-Shrike). A pair were 

 nesting in a white gum near Yetermirrup. The Black-faced 

 Cuckoo-Shrike {Graiicalus melanops) was not uncommon, but I 

 could detect no difference in habits or general appearance from 

 birds found farther north. The Lesser Brown Flycatcher 

 [Micrceca assimilis) was rather local, but I saw several nests. 

 These were at heights varying from 3 to 15 feet from the ground. 

 They are miniature nests of the Graucahis. I was rather surprised 

 to meet with a pair or two of the White-shouldered Caterpillar- 

 eater (Lalage tricolor) breeding at Lake Balicup. 



On the latter lake were a good many Ducks, of three species — 



