164 WHITE— A Trip on the Co<n-ovg. 



A Trip on the Coorong and amongst the Bristle Birds 

 on Younghusband Peninsula. 



By S. A. White, M.B.O.TJ. 



In the early morning of Monday, March tfth, 1916, the 

 writer left by rail for Goolwa. I had two companions, Mr. 

 Wylde, sub-editor of the "Register," and Mr. Rogers, Jnr. My 

 two companions were out for a holiday, but my chief object 

 was the procuring specimens and notes of the Southern Bristle 

 Bird {MiiGmyornis broaribcnti whitei), Mr. Mathews having made 

 the southern bird a svub-species i>~ the Victorian one,, from the 

 material sent by the writer. Having parted with all the speci- 

 mens I had at that time I was anxious to obtain some more to 

 test the validity of the sub-sp. Not only was I able to do this, 

 ■but had the great pleasure of spending many hours each day 

 observing the strange birds. There has been very little writ- 

 ten about the South Australian form, so that the notes incor- 

 porated in this paper upon the Bristle Bird should 'be of scien- 

 tific interest. 



Beaching Goolwa. before noon, had our midday meal there, 

 then boarded Win. Buzzar's little motor-boat, the '"Mary Ann." 

 Having packed away all our luggage a start was made up the 

 Coorong. Many who take this trip along the narrow strip 

 of water with sand-dunes on one side, which shut out the 

 ocean, on the other low lying limestone country on which 

 sfrfrws in places malley and pines, think it monotonous and un- 

 interesting, this is not so with the writer, for the ever-chang- 

 ing aspect of sandhills, either covered in sword grass or cur- 

 rent bush, or may be white drift sand, then the picturesque 

 pines and dense mallee on the other side have for me the 

 greatest charm, and needless to say the numerous water-birds 

 which nearly always frequent these waters are of a great and 

 absorbing interest. Not from the gunners noint of view, for 

 auart from a bird now and again for food, I have long ago 

 given up that which is known as sport. I can watch the 

 water-fowl with glasses or naked eye for hours, admire and 

 take note of their habits without feeling that I want to de- 

 stroy under the name of sport these more wonderful of God's 

 creations. We passed the Murray Mouth and steamed on 

 over the placid water, the sun was setting and threw long 

 shadows from the highest peaks of the sandhills over the 

 great salt-water way, then the shadows faded out, and only the 

 sharply-cut edges of the sand-dunes remained sharply denned 



