128 THE VICTORIAN NATURALIST. 



blance do they bear in general contour. On the outskirts of the 

 pines we passed Bracke Well. The well is about 30 feet deep, 

 and the lines of troughs connected with it show that it is a water- 

 ing place for stock, but only during the dry weather, when the 

 waterholes are giving out. The water is brackish, the name 

 Bracke evidently being a corruption of the word brackish. At 

 present the water tasted quite fresh, but later in the season, when 

 the supply is drawn upon, it becomes very salt. From a neigh- 

 bouring ridge we could see the homestead of Pine Plains, situated 

 on a rise at the far side of a stretch of open grass land. While 

 passing through some small box trees on the outskirts a little 

 Red-capped Robin was flushed from her nest, which contained two 

 eggs, and on the plain itself a number of the Black-breasted Plover, 

 Zonifer tricolor, rose at our appearance. A Raven's nest in a 

 solitary tree further on was investigated, but found to contain young. 



The Pine Plains homestead has an extensive outlook across the 

 plain, which is several miles in circumference. This plain is 

 highly typical of the stretches of grass land that are met with 

 throughout the Mallee, although it is of larger proportions than 

 the average. It is surrounded on all sides by hillocks and ridges 

 clothed with the Murray Pine, patches of bull-oak, and kindred 

 vegetation. The outskirts of this plain are timbered with box 

 trees, and an occasional clump of redgum. Small belts or 

 patches of a species of Ti-tree, Melaleuca, are also met with. To 

 our left is pointed out a rise a few feet higher than its fellows, 

 which rejoices in the name of Mt. Jenkins, and behind us is 

 another hillock. The several large patches of whitish sand show- 

 ing have suggested the name of Mt. Snowdrift. 



On the morrow, our party, having been joined by our host, Mr. 

 Le Couteur, set out in a south-westerly direction, our guide taking 

 us to where he knew of a Mallee Hen mound. Our track lay 

 through the box timber and into the pine scrub and Mallee. 

 Among the pines we heard the whistling of the Red-throated 

 Thickhead, Fachycephala gilberti, and I was successful in obtain- 

 ing an immature male bird for my collection of skins. The nest 

 of the Mallee Fowl was found without much trouble, but it was 

 not in a very tidy condition, for we must have disturbed the birds 

 while they were working at it. The mound was situated on a 

 slope, among thick scrub composed of Mallee and other bushes. 

 It measured 25 feet in diameter and nearly 3 feet 6 inches in 

 height. On the upper side the surface of the ground for many 

 yards had been scratched quite clean by the birds, and the sand 

 brought down hill to form the nest. After a photograph was 

 taken, all hands eagerly set to work and unearthed three eggs. 

 The bulk of the mound consisted of almost pure sand, with 

 perhaps a few sticks or twigs amongst it, and a quantity of this 

 material had to be removed before we could reach the egg cavity. 

 The place in which the eggs are deposited is a firm bed of decay- 



