The third species was a Peregrine falcon (Falco melanogenys, Gould) which is nearly allied to that of Europe. I was not fortunate enough to procure a specimen of this bird.
The fourth was the Athene Boobook. Belly brown and white; wings brown, with white spots; third quill-feather, longest; legs feathered, lightish brown colour; tail brownish white, marked with transverse bars of a darker brown; eye prominent; iris blue. The only difference I could observe between the male and female is that the female is rather larger than the male, and her colours somewhat lighter. These birds inhabit the whole of that part of North-western Australia lying between the Prince Regent and Glenelg Rivers, and probably may be distributed over the greater portion of the Continent. They feed on insects, reptiles, and birds of the smaller kind. I have always found them seated in holes in the rocks, or in shady dells, and have never seen them fly in the daytime unless compelled by fear; they are very stupid when disturbed, and in flight and manner closely resemble the common English owl. I cannot however recollect having ever seen one on the wing during the night.
Upon describing the two singular birds mentioned above in Chapter 9 to Mr. Gould he informed me that they were most probably of the rare species Anas semipalmata.
REMARKABLE NEST.
19. Nest or Bower of the Chalmydera nuchalis.
I have already spoken in the 9th chapter of a very curious sort of nest which was frequently found by myself and other individuals of the party, not only along the seashore, but in some instances at a distance of six or seven miles from it. This nest, which is figured in Illustration 19, I once conceived must have belonged to the kangaroo rat I have above mentioned, until Mr. Gould, who has lately returned from Australia, informed me that it is the run or playing ground of the bird he has named Chalmydera nuchalis.
These nests were formed of dead grass, and parts of bushes, sunk a slight depth into two parallel furrows, in sandy soil, and then nicely arched above. But the most remarkable fact connected with them was that they were always full of broken shells, large heaps of which protruded from each extremity of the nest. These were invariably seashells. In one instance, in the nest most remote from the sea that we discovered, one of the men of the party found and brought to me the stone of some fruit which had evidently been rolled in the sea; these stones he found lying in a heap in the nest, and they are now in my possession.
EMUS.