690 Mr. T. Carter on some [Ibis, 



only place where any were seen on my 1911, 1913, and 1916 

 trips was on a station sixty miles north o£ Carnarvon, where 

 many patches of " Jam "" trees grew. A good many were 

 seen there about the wells. 



Porzanoidea plumbea roberti. 



The \Vcstei-n ^S[)otless Crake is a very unobtrusive and 

 shy species, not venturing much out ot" the shelter of dense 

 rushes or grass. 1 have obtained specimens and seen the 

 birds from Albany to Lake ( Jraigie (about twenty miles north 

 of Perth) in some of the numerous large reedy swamps and 

 lakes. They were common in January 1916 in the large 

 freshwater lakes near Lake Muir, and also in March 1919. 

 An immature example, almost full grown, was shot there on 

 21 January, 1916. Mr. Muir informed me that his domestic 

 cat occasionally caught one of these birds and brought it to 

 his house. I have the skin of one so obtained. The loud 

 harsh notes of these Crakes are more often heard than 

 the birds themselves are seen. They are most frequently 

 observed in the early morning or about sunset. 



Microtribonyx ventralis ventralis. 



On 17 April, 1919, large numbers of Black-tailed Native 

 Hens appeared on the Yasse liiver, at Busselton, where I 

 was staying at the time. Residents of that town told me 

 that it was fourteen years since a similar irruption had 

 occurred. Three of the birds that I shot were in good 

 plump condition. When I was staying in Perth, during 

 the second week of May, great numbers of these birds came 

 to the artificial "• lakes " of Queen's Gardens and Hyde Park, 

 well within the city boundaries, and were there for a few 

 days, but then disappeared. On 23 May I was staying with a 

 friend about one hundred and forty miles inland (east) from 

 Perth and we saw some hundreds of these " Swamp-Hens," 

 as they are usually called, on the edge of a brackish lake, 

 while other smaller parties were seen at various places remote 

 from water. A few were noticed by me on 7 September, 1916, 

 at a ])Ool near the Minilya lliver, and I saw some of their 

 eggs that had been obtained a few days before that date. 



