had seen the Psittacus
Novae Hollandiae and the shell paroquet following the shoreline of St.
Vincent's Gulf like flights of starlings in England. The different
flights at intervals of more than a quarter of an hour, all came from
the north, and followed in one and the same direction.

"Now although the casual appearance of a few strange birds should not
influence the judgement, yet from the regular migrations of the
feathered race, a reasonable inference may be drawn. Seeing then that
these two lines (viz., from Fort Bourke about lat. 30 deg. and long. 144 deg. to
the W.N.W., and from Mount Arden in lat. 35 deg. long. 138 deg. to the north)
if prolonged would meet a little to the northward of the tropic, I
formed the following conclusions:

"First, that the birds migrating on those lines would rest for a time at
a point where those lines met.

"Secondly, that the country to which they went would resemble that which
they had left, that birds which frequented rich valleys or high hills
would not settle down in deserts and flat country.

"Thirdly, that the intervening country, whether owing to deserts or
large sheets of water, was not such as these birds could inhabit.
Indeed, such large migrations from different parts to one particular,
argued no less strongly the existence of deserts or of sea to a certain
distance, than the probable richness of the country, to which as to a
common goal these migrations tended.

"On the late expedition, at the Depot in lat. 29-1/2 deg. and long. 142 deg., I
found myself in the direct line of migration to the north-west; and to
that point of the compass, birds whom I knew to visit Van Diemen's Land
would, after watering, pass on. Cockatoos, after a few hours' rest,
would wing their way to the north-west, as also would various
water-birds, as well as pigeons, parrots, and paroquets, pursued by
birds of the Accipitrine class. From these indications I was led to look
still more for the realization of my hopes, if I could but force my way
to the necessary distance.

"I ran 170 miles without crossing a single water-course. I travelled
over salsolaceous plains, crossed sand-ridges, was turned from my
westward course by salt-water lakes; and at last, on October 19th, at
about 80 miles to the east of my former track, I found myself on the
brink of the Stony Desert. Coming suddenly on it I almost lost my
breath. If anything, it looked more forbidding than before. Herbless and
treeless, it