256 THE ZOOLOGIST. 



dark brown blotches and spots, other underlying spots appearing 

 lilac. I shot two specimens of these Terns ; there were several 

 pairs there. One bird contained a quantity of grasshoppers, the 

 other small Lizards. The Red-kneed Dotterel's nest was snugly 

 concealed under a tuft of samphire. The eggs (four in number) 

 were richly marked, but just on the point of hatching. The 

 Stilts showed much anxiety about their nests, uttering their 

 plaintive cries, and with fluttering wings feigning lameness to 

 entice one away. The Avocets were very shy, and kept well out 

 of gunshot ; their eggs were very similar to the Stilts', but rather 

 larger in size. In the deepest part of the lake was a small island 

 with thick samphire-bushes. Here a pair of Black Swans had 

 built a nest, and had five eggs on May 2nd. On July 27th the 

 young were about as large as a Goose. The family left about 

 the end of September, when the water was rapidly drying. 



On May 11th one of the boys, who had been to the boat to 

 wash her down, returned with a Yellow-nosed Albatross (Thalas- 

 sogei'on chlororhynchus) in beautiful plumage, but the end of one 

 wing had been hurt, and slightly crippled it. It was in very 

 poor condition. On the I8th I found a clutch (two) of the Rust- 

 coloured Bronzewing {Lophophapsferruginea). The eggs were laid 

 on a few sprigs of spinifex between two boulders. On Oct. 25th 

 I also found two fresh eggs of this bird. On May 18th I came 

 across a family of Striated Grass- Wrens {Amytis striata) on the 

 rugged range. The young had just left the nest, which was a 

 bulky structure, with foundation of bark off a species of mulga, 

 then made of soft spinifex. with large opening near the top. It 

 was lined with cotton, and built in a bunch of soft spinifex. It 

 was with the greatest difficulty I secured one of the young ; they 

 would not fly, but darted from one bunch of spinifex to another 

 with incredible agility. The male bird sat motionless in the 

 middle of a large fig-tree, until detected by the sharp-eyed native, 

 and I shot it, as I did not think at the time it was a Grass Wren 

 perching so quietly in the dense leaves. On May 22nd I found a 

 nest of the Wedge-tailed Eagle {Uroaetus audax) with one egg, on 

 the side of a precipitous gorge in the range. The nest was easy of 

 access from above, and contained a freshly-killed Wild Cat of large 

 size. The same nest contained another egg on May 27th, and yet a 

 third on June 4th. I took them all, as I did not want these birds 



