THE BIRDS OF AUSTRALIA. 
Thus, Milligan wrote from the Wongan Hills : “ One of the gems of the 
collection was Malurus leucopterus, which was, comparatively speaking, 
numerous on the moist, brackish, sandy tracts in the vicinity of lakes, and 
also on the plains. As M. pulcherrimus loves the dry stony country, so does 
M. leucopterus love the inland sand areas. We found it most difficult to get 
sight of a male, although we could frequently hear their singular ‘ reeling ’ notes. 
On the other hand, the females were most fearless and trusting, and could 
always be brought to foot with a decoy note. The broods were all out, and 
on many occasions I caught and examined young ones. We managed 
to secure two males during the trip, but neither fell to my gun, though I 
chased one from bush to bush at full speed and with much enthusiasm for fully 
half a mile. They appear to be always on the alert and at the same time very 
distrustful. No doubt these unenviable, but life essential, qualities have been 
developed and made constant by their being continually harassed by 
their enemies, their brilliant plumage making them conspicuous objects in 
the landscape. The habit of elusion has eventually become a second nature 
with them. Colour to this surmise is given by the fact that the females, who 
are sombre in colour, are quite fearless. When being chased, the male bird 
adopts highly intelligent tactics. Dropping into the first convenient bush 
at its base, he quickly passes through to the other side of it, and immediately 
takes wing and flies with great rapidity to the next shelter, thus interposing 
the quitted bush between the pursuer and pursued, with every advantage to 
the latter. On comparing the skins of the two male birds we secured, with 
some skins of the same species obtained at Day Dawn (some 200 miles farther 
north), the former was of a distinctly darker blue ; and on a further com- 
parison of both the above with the skin of a male obtained at Yule River, in 
the north-west, the last was much paler blue than either, and in addition was 
larger and had brown legs and bill instead of black ones. The difference 
between the Wongan bird and the Yule River bird was very marked indeed, but 
the Day Dawn bird helped to bridge in a slight degree the gap of difference. 
The female of the Yule River bird is a clear biscuit-brown with whitish under- 
parts, whilst the females from the other two localities named, varied from an 
obscure brown to greyish- brown.” 
Milligan then drew attention to the fact that there was some mystery 
about leuconotus , as two birds showed a partly white back, writing : “ As the 
ranges of the two species are to a great extent identical, the above forms 
would appear to be intermediate ones between the two species.” 
Then Carter and I carefully examined the whole of the birds available, 
to test Carter’s contention that there was only one species, and we both agreed 
and published a plate in the Ibis, with Carter’s remarks, which I confirmed. 
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