The Emu. 
109 
these two are many specimens broadly distributed, and with a 
wide range of rufous, more or less. 
[The males are now (20/1/01) very animated. They are 
mating, and the feathers on the crown are raised. To-day 
(14/12/00) was dull and cloudy, with a cool breeze blowing, 
consequently the birds sang all day. Usually they stop for an 
hour or two in the hottest part of the day. One I noticed 
(26/2/00) was singing in the air, and continued to do so for ten 
minutes while I was timing it. The river flats seem to be their 
home, and, unless by reason of a flood, I doubt if ever they leave 
them. I have never seen one settle upon a tree. 
During the evening of 7/12/00 a heavy gale was blowing. I 
was returning from the day's work. The natives in my charge 
were walking to windward and flushing large numbers (scores) 
of these birds. They were driven before the wind like a cloud of 
dry leaves, keeping close to the ground. Every now and again 
a bird would face the wind, only to shoot 2 to 3 yards into the 
air and be blown away further. In a few moments hundreds of 
this species must have passed me. The song is better sustained 
in the morning than in the evening. So far I have not heard 
them sing at night.] 
The nest and eggs, not yet described under the name 
M. secunda, are practically the same as those described by the 
writer last year in the Victorian Naturalist under the name 
M. zvoodwardi. Both birds, answering to each species as de- 
scribed, have been received from Derby. The specimens of 
M. zvoodwardi, Mill, described are more rufous than those of 
M, secunda described by Dr. R. B. Sharpe, but it appears to me 
that M. woodzvardi and M. secunda are the desert forms of 
M. Jiorsfieldi^ Gould — in other words, the " rufous " variety — while 
the Eastern Australian bird is the " brown " variety. The 
intermediate varieties hold an arbitrary position. 
40. CiNCLORHAMPHUS RUFESCENS (Vigors and Horsfield), 
Rufous Song-Lark. 
Cmcloraniphiis rufesccns^ Gould, Birds Aust., fol., vol. iii.,pl. 76(1848) ; 
Sharpe, Cat. Birds Brit. Mus., vol. vii , p. 500 (1883). 
Pte7i(jcdus riifescens^ Ramsay, Proc. Linn. Soc. N.S.W., vol. i., 2nd 
series, p. 1,090 (1886). 
One adult female, 7/4/00. 
[It appeals to me as being a very rare bird. The only one 
seen rose from the ground and alighted a few yards away in some 
spinifex. Then, when I turned it out, it flew a few yards further 
into a small tree and hid among the leaves.] 
41. CiNCLORHAMPHUS CRURALIS (Vigors and Horsfield), Brown 
Song-Lark. 
Cincloraviphus cavtillans^ Gould, Birds Aust., fol., vol. iii., pi. 75 
(1848). 
Cincloraniphus criiralis^ Gould, Birds Aust., fol., vol. iii., pi. 74 
(1848) ; Sharpe, Cat. Birds Brit. Mus., vol. vii., p. 498 (1883). 
