Vol ’i 024 ,V ‘] NICHOLLS, -'I Trip to Central Australia. 
57 
or in pairs to the river bank and walked with stately tread to 
the water’s edge to drink and fly away with curious rustling of 
wings when disturbed. 
One hour before sunset, when the late afternoon glow turns 
the pale sage-blue of the saltbush to the peculiar silvery sheen 
of the African silver leaf, the Cinnamon Ground-bird—a study in 
russet and fawn (the exact colour of the gibber stones and the 
desert sand) — comes out to feed in the failing light. At this 
period of the day these Ground-birds (Cinclosoma cinnamomeum) 
appear almost twice their actual size. A remarkable feature of 
the action of the light is seen in its apparent magnifying 
effects upon the birds and animals. On a sandy hillside the 
common wagtail looks as large as a Mudlark. The Ground-bird 
and the Desert Wren are also enlarged: this quite apart from 
any mirage effect. On the long endless plains of Central Aus¬ 
tralia the absence of any comparative features makes it difficult 
to judge the height of a sandhill rising abruptly from the level 
and this absence of “standards of contrast,” such as one is used 
to down south, had something to do with the apparent increase in 
size of the desert forms of bird life. The Cinnamon Ground- 
bird has not the speed of the several forms of Desert Wrens, 
but this is compensated for by its sympathetic colouring, which 
harmonizes so well with its surroundings that if the eye were 
taken from it for a fraction of a second it disappeared from 
view, being absorbed into the landscape. It could be detected 
again only when it commenced to run about and feed. 
One afternoon we watched a Wedge-tail Eagle (a magnifi¬ 
cent specimen almost black in colour) plucking the feathers from 
a Crow it had just caught. Like the Whistling Eagle and other 
birds of prey, it first plucked off most of the feathers with its 
bill, and then started to eat the flesh. The Eagle (Uroaetus 
audax ) finished plucking the Crow in about ten minutes, and all 
that was left of it when we reached the tree was the beak attached 
to the long red-raw back-bone, and one of the feet. A sick Crow 
and an ailing Magpie-Lark had been seen about the homestead, 
and both of these birds fell a prey, one to the Wedge-tail Eagle, 
the other to a Whistling Eagle. Nature is red in tooth and claw, 
and any birds around the lagoon showing signs of senility or 
weakness were at once singled out and captured. A Central 
Australian water-hole presents daily the ruthlessness and havoc 
of Nature as well as its splendour, and in no other locality can 
the relentless law of the survival of the fittest be seen to such 
advantage. After the Eagle had finished its meal it flew away 
to the top of a dead tree, followed by an avenging Crow, “cawing” 
loud protests, and I secured a snapshot of the two birds in the 
tree-top. 
A pair of Hoary-headed Grebes (Podiceps polioccphalits) were 
to be seen upon most of the water-holes throughout the desert 
country. There were half a dozen pairs at Mungeranie, and 
