192 THE ZOOLOGIST. 



obtained there. The coast here was rocky and rugged, caves and fissures 

 running up the low cliff and forming homes for the wild dogs. Seven 

 miles after leaving this lonely habitation, the aspect of the country is 

 changed. All at once we entered a belt of dense mallee scrub, and a variety 

 of other shrubs and bushes totally different to those growing in the 

 surrounding country. This belt is about fifty miles broad, and I am told 

 runs out on Dirk Hartog Island. Old nests of the Ngow were encountered 

 every few yards, but we only saw one bird. Their tracks were very 

 numerous. Natives bad just come down in anticipation of securing eggs. 

 It appears these birds are much less numerous than formerly, and it is 

 difficult to account for them dying out, as the country is absolutely 

 unsettled. The domestic cat, which is found quite wild and of large size 

 all through the colony, is blamed by some as the destroying agent. There 

 is a small colony of Ngows close to the coast a few miles north of the 

 Gascoyne Kiver. As far as this belt of mallee extends, the country is a 

 succession of steep hills covered with deep loose sand. Water is only 

 obtained from tauks on the telegraph line roofed with galvanized iron, 

 which delivers the rain and dew into the tank below. The dews are 

 exceedingly heavy, and the supply of water is kept up much more by this 

 means than by rain. However, this road is very rarely taken by anyone, 

 excepting the man looking after the line. We emerged from this dense 

 thicket about twenty miles north of the Murchison River, crossing open 

 sand-plains where were numerous Brush Turkeys and Bustards. I was 

 much interested in the movements of a hen bird; while endeavouring 

 to draw us away from her nest, she walked round with her great wings 

 widely spread, uttering a curious croak. One egg appears to be the usual 

 number, and there is really no nest at all. I only secured one egg on 

 the trip, which is exactly like that of the European Bustard. After 

 crossing this plain we came suddenly on the valley of the Murchison 

 River. Deep rocky gorges on either side and a curious conical hill rising 

 from the centre of the valley, with a perpendicular rocky summit rather 

 difficult to scale. The Murchison is the farthest northern river that runs 

 permanently, and it was indeed a treat to see clear running water after 

 such a long experience of the dry sandy rivers farther north. The river is 

 only a few feet in width at places, but opens out into deep lake-like pools 

 abounding with aquatic bird-life. Here we found quantities of ducks; 

 among them the curious Musk Duck, which is a difficult bird to shoot; 

 It dives even quicker to the flash than does the Long-tailed Duck 

 of the northern seas. I omitted to mention finding a nest of a King- 

 fisher in the mallee thicket. It was excavated in the side of one of the 

 numerous white ants' mounds, and contained five eggs about the size of 

 those of the Belted Kingfisher. I could not see the bird. It reminded 

 me of the Kingfishers' nests in far-off Yorkshire, yet how different the 



