NOTES AND QUERIES. 267 
rubrifasciata,* but I agree with Bonaparte and Schlegel in considering it a 
variety of the common Lozia curvirostra.” This form, I believe, is new to 
Britain, and is in some respects not unlikely to be mistaken for a White- 
winged Crossbill.—Epwarp WituiaMs (2, Dame Street, Dublin). 
Notes from Western Australia.—My last letter to ‘The Zoologist 
was, I believe, chiefly concerning an overland trip to the southern part of 
this colony. I returned to this district at the end of March, 1888. During 
the previous summer there had been unusually heavy and welcome rains ; 
this river (the Minilya) ran through, as did the Gascoyne, which had not 
done so for nearly four years. The Minilya does not empty itself into the 
sea, but into the vast salt marshes behind the coast sand-hills. Natives 
assert that in a very wet season they have seen these two rivers join by 
way of these marshes before any Whites were here. On a large lake-like 
pool formed by the overflow of the Minilya, forty miles below this, we saw 
great numbers of Black Swans. We counted more than four hundred on 
one-half of the pool. Both eggs and young of this bird have frequently 
been obtained here by the owner and men at the station adjoining. The 
so-called “‘ Crested Partridge” mentioned in a former communication, and 
which I was unable to see during my first visit here, proves to be the Rust- 
coloured Bronze-wing Pigeon, Lophophaps ferruginea, a most elegant and 
striking bird, and on first view certainly more like a partridge than a 
pigeon. It may be found along this river, especially where the nature of 
the ground is rocky, in considerable numbers, but not in flocks. When 
courting, the male—with plume erect and tail-feathers widely spread out 
like a fan—presents a striking appearance, and is usually very fearless ; in 
fact, I have frequently had both sexes running round me within arm’s 
length. The eggs, two in number, are placed on pebbly, or even rugged, 
ground, with no sign of a nest. I have found them laid quite in the open, 
though sometimes a bush partially shelters them. Gould infers from this 
that the young of this species are able to run soon after leaving the egg. 
We kept two young in the house here a little time; when found they must 
have been upwards of a week old, and on the second day of their imprison- 
ment they could only feebly waddle round their cage. arly in October I 
took a trip across to the Lyndon River, and from thence to the Lyons, 
nearly as far as Mount Augustus. On the latter river this bird was plentiful, 
and I secured some fresh eggs. The large pools of water on the Lyons 
abounded with aquatic birds: among them Pelicans (Pelecanus conspi- 
cillatus), Cormorants, White Egrets (Herodias melanopus ?); and various 
Ducks—among them the Teal (Anas punctata), Pink-eyed Duck (Mala- 
corrhynchus membranaceus), and Whistling Duck (Dendrocygna Eytont). 
* By an oversight, this word was misprinted bifasciata in the 4th edition 
of Yarrell’s ‘ British Birds,’ ii. p. 201, foot-note. 
