August* 1926 
The Queensland Naturalist. 
87 
avo often si)ecie.s eliaracteristit' of llie inland districts^ 
sni-h as and belai*. and bottl(‘-trees (Sterculia), 
of larp'c size, are usually a eonspicuous feature. Hiich 
scrubs seem to extend from the Darlinir Downs as far 
north as Towmsyille, and tliey apfiear to be very rich in 
forms (A‘ insect life, .\'et tliey lia\'e been largely neglected 
i)y naturalists, and I ha\'i* found hardly any published 
information about them. t do not know of any bird 
pemiliar to tluun, unless il is ihe Blaidc-bia'asted Quail 
(Turnix melanogaster), but throughout a large part of 
Queensland they seem to be the special haunt of the 
Scrub Turk(‘y, Bar-shouldered Dove, and (Jolden ^Vhist- 
ler (Pachycephala pectoralis). 
The ty])e of scrub to wlu<di 1 have just referred 
shouh.l jierliaps be regarded as a transitional form be- 
ttVeen the 1 ro])ieaI serubs and the brigalow and belar 
sei'ubs of the inland districts, which are often almost 
pure stands of one or other of these trees, or of tlie two 
intermingled, covering very large armis. It is ]iot 1113' 
intention to attempt a classifiimtion of scrubs, for which 
T liave tiot the necessar\- ]\Uo\\Hedge, but oid^^ to urge 
the desirability of such a classification. The three birds 
to which T have .iust nd'erred ar(‘ not ('.onfiru'd to the 
dr^- scrubs. Tbe Scrub Turke\' is found also in ti’ojiical 
scrubs, the Bar-sliouldei-ed l)ov(‘ in the mangrove* 
tliickids, and the Golden Wliistler in forest countiy. 
"Wliat are the s])e('ial features of mangrove thickets and 
dry serubs which make liiem iiceeptable to the Bar- 
shouldei’ed Dove, a bird not oflen found in ai\v other 
part, of tile countiy.^ rntil such a question can be an- 
swei'ed we cannot pretend to an,v intimate kiiowledge of 
tbe biolog.v of the species. 
From the point of view of the ornitliologist the man- 
grove thickets on our coast are [lerhaps the most dis- 
tinctly marked of an^^ formation. The Mangrove King- 
fisher (Halcyon chloris), Mangrove irone\mater (MeU- 
pha^a fasciogiilaris), Mangrove Wai-bler (Gerygone 
cantator), and Mangi*ove Bittern (Butcrides stmta) are 
so completely adapted to life among these trees that thej' 
1‘are.lv leave them, whilst few other birds venture into* 
this unusual type of habitat. 
The most familiar of our birds are chiefl>‘ those 
which frequent open country'. AVhen a homestead is 
nlaced on a tract o£ scrub and a clearino; is made around 
it, it is not long b(ifore Wagtails (Rhinidura lenconhrys) 
Magpies (Gymnorhina tibicen), and Pi])its (Anthus aus- 
