'I*. J?; '^X''/ .^'^ ^^^'m^m!>m^r%M FOR THE PEOPLE FOR EDVCATION FOR SCIENCE LIBRARY OF THE AMERICAN MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY AUSTRALIAN MUSEUM, SYDNEY. SPECIAL CATALOGUE, No. I. 4.f-: V NESTS AND EGGS OF BIRDS FOUND BREEDING AUSTRALIA AND TASMANIA, ALFRED J. NORTH. C.M.Z.S., Colonial Member of the Bvitisli Ornithologists' Union, Corresponding Felloni of the American Ornithologists' Union. ORNITHOLOGIST TO THE AUSTRALIAN MUSEUM. (SECOND EDITION OF CATALOGUE No. XII., ENTIRELY RE-WRITTEN, WITH ADDITIONS). Volume II. Printed by order of the Trustees of the Australian Museum. R. Etheridge, Junr., J. P., Curator. SYDNEY. F. W. WHITE, GENERAL PRINTER, 344 KENT STREET. November, 1906, July, igoy, September, igog. INTRODUCTION. ^T^HE present and second Volume contains descriptions of the Nests and Eggs of one hundred -'- aud seventy-five species of Australian and Tasmanian Birds, and is partly based on the collections in the Australian Museum, and the remainder chiefly on private collections. The birds enumerated form the concluding portion of the Order Passeres, and belong to the Families Laniid^., Certhiiixe, SiTTiD^, Meliphagid.b, Nectariniid.e, Zosteropid^e, Dic.«;id.e, Parda- LOTiD^, Hirundinid^, Artamid^, Sturnid^, Ploceid.b, MoTACiLLiD.i;, Alaudid/E, Pittid.k and Menurid^. It also includes the greater portion of the Order Picarli;, comprising the Families Caprimulgid.'e, Podargid.^c, Coraciid.*;, Meropid/E, and Alcedinid^e. By the loan of specimens and the contribution of information, considerable assistance has been received from many valued correspondents whose names appear in the work. With some slight alterations the nomenclature, as in the first Volume, is similar to that of the authors of the " Catalogue of Birds in the British Museum," and to whom I here acknowledge my indebtedness. One hundred and seventy-five species of Australian and Tasmanian birds are described in this Volume, of which the types of the following four species are in the Australian Museum CoWecUon : — ClimnLteris superciliosa, Ptilotis keartlandi, P. leilavaknsis, and Panlalotus assimilis. The figures of eggs, which are of the natural size, have been reproduced by the heliotype process at the Government Printing Office, from photographs of the originals taken under the direction of the Government Printer, Mr. W. A. Gullick, and the personal supervision of Mr. A. E. Dyer. The original drawings of birds, from which the figures have been reproduced, were made by the late Mr. Neville Cayley, who also coloured the plates of eggs in the coloured copies. The photographs of nests are the work of the Museum Photographer (Mr. H. Barnes, Junr.), Mr. George Savidge of Copmanhurst, and myself. A.J.N. Sydney, September, 1909. f |(^HE dates of publication of the parts comprising the Volume are as under: — PART I., pages 1 - 105, plates A. 9, A. 10, A. 11, B. VIII., B. IX. 1st November, 1906. II., pages 106-234, plates A. 12, B. X., B. XI 22nd July, 19lt7. „ III., pages 235 - .380, plates A. 13, B. XII., 1!. XIII 30th September, 1909. Systematic Contents to Vol. II. Order PASSERES— conrmwcd. Family Laniidse Sub-family Gymnorhinin/e.. Family Meliphagidae 8. Meliornis PAGE 59 59 Part I. of Volume II. is issued herewith. It contains the Families Laniid^, CerTHIID^ SiTTio^, and part of the Family Meliphag.d^. The figures of eggs, which are of the natural size were reproduced by the heliotype process at the Government Frmtmg Office, from phonographs taken under the direction of the Government Printer, Mr W A Gulhck, and the supervision of Mr. A. E. Dyer. As in the previous Parts of Volun.e I. the drawmgs of b.rds were made by the late Mr. Neville Cayley, who was also responsible for hand colourmg the plates of eggs in the coloured copies. Part II. is in the press. Australian Museum, Sydney, 1st November, i9o6. R. ETHERIDGE, Curator. leucngaster 5. Oreoica ... c nit aid ■ ■ ■ Family Certhiids 6. Climactekis picumiius scimdens ... mclannva... I'll/a erythrops... supercihosa F'amily Sittidae 7. Neositta chrysoptera pile at ii IcHCoiLphah} 3« pedoralis... 39 14. ACANTHORHYNC 39 teniiii'ostris 42 diihins ... 42 supcrciliosus 42 15. Ptilotis ... 44 hi^nni 46 notata 48 gracilis . . . 49 chrysops ... 51 fused 52 sonoi'd 52 versicolor 52 niaekaydna 55 57 freudtd . . . flavigularis 100 lOI lOI 104 104 106 106 108 no III 114 116 118 120 123 125 Systematic Contents to Vol. II. Order PASSERES— con^mMcd. PAGE PAGE Family Laniidae I Family Meliphagidae 59 Sub-family Gymnorhinin.e... I 8. Mei.ioknis 59 T. rivMVriRHINA T rtn^^.hnlln,,^;,^ .„ Herewith is issued Part III., the concluding part of Volume II. It is a continuation of the Order Passeres, and contains the Families Hirundinidae, Artamidae, Sturnida, Motacillida;, Alaudidje, Pittida; and Menurida;, and a portion of the Order Picariae, comprising the Families Caprimulgidae, PodargidEfi, Coraciidae, Meropidas and Alcedinidae. The figures of eggs, which are of the natural size, were reproduced by the heliotype process at the Government Printing Office, from photographs of the specimens, taken under the direction of the Government Printer, Mr. W. A. Gullick, and the supervision of Mr. A. E. Dyer. As in the previous Parts, the illustrations of birds are reproduced from drawings made by the. late Mr. Neville Cayley, who was also responsible for hand-colouring the plates of eggs in the coloured copies. Australian Museum, Sydney, September, 1909. R. ETHERIDGE, Curator. hucogaster .. 38 pcctoralis... 100 5. Oreoica ... cristala . . . 39 39 14. ACAN'THORHYNCHUS tcmiivostris 101 lOI Family Certhiidae 42 duhius .. 104 6. Climactekis 42 superciliosus 104 picumnus 42 15. Pti[,otis 106 samdens ... 44 Icicnni 106 mclauura... .. 46 notata 108 I'll/a .. 48 •rracilis ... no erythrops... 49 chrysops ... III snpcrciliosa 51 fttsca .. 114 Family Sittidae 52 sonova 116 7. Neositta 52 versicolor .. 118 chrysoptcni 52 madeayana 120 pileata . . . 55 frenata ... .. 123 leucocephala 57 flavignlaris .. 125 Systematic Contents to Vol. II. Order PASSERES— con rtnufci. Family Laniidse Sub-family Gvmn'orh 1. Gymnorhina tihiccn . . . leuconota . . . hyperleuca 2. Cracticus destvuctoy leucopterits picatus . . . nifescens . . . Sub-family Pachvce 3. Pachvcephala gutturalis ociideidiiUs mclaniira... j^lauiura . . . nifivcntns falcata . . . gilhci'ti . . . oUvacca . . . 4. Falcunculus frontaius... leiicngaster 5. Oreoica ... cristald . . . Family Certhiidae 6. Cmntacteris picniiiiius sidndi'ns ... inclanitra... nifii erythrops . . . Family Sittidae 7. Neositta ihrysopti-ra pilcdti! leucocephnln 25 26 28 29 31 32 34 36 36 38 39 39 42 42 42 44 46 48 49 51 52 52 52 55 57 Family Meliphagidse 59 8. Meliornis 59 nova-hollanditr ... 59 longirostris .. 63 scricea ... .. 65 mystacalis 67 australasiana 68 9. Glycyphila 71 fulvifrons 71 albifrons... 74 fasciata ... .. 76 modesta ... .. 78 10. Stigmatops 79 ocularis ... 79 II. EXTOMOPHILA .. 83 picta .. 83 rufigularis .. 85 alhigularis 86 12. Certhionyx 88 varicgatus 88 13. My20MELA 92 saiiguinoUnta 92 crythroccphala 95 ohscura ... .. 96 mgi'd 97 pcctoraUs 100 14. Acanthorhynchus lOI tcnuirosti'is lOI dnhiiis .. 104 siipti'i'iliosus .. 104 15. Ptii.otis 106 Ich'ini 106 notata 108 gracilis no clwysops III fusca .. 114 sottora .. 116 versicolor .. 118 mackayana 120 frenata ... .. 123 flavigularis •• 125 SYSTEMATIC CONTENTS TO VOL. II. 15. Ptilotis Jlava flavescens penicillata leilavalemis oriiata plumula ... auricomis cassidix ... leucotis ... cratitia ... heartlandi unicolor ... 16. Plectorhynchus lanceolatus 17. Meliph.\g.\ phrygia ... 18. Ac.\NTHOGENYS ... rufigularis 19. Anthoch.«r,\ carunculata paradoxa 20. Anellobi.a mcllivora lumilata ... ■21. Tropidorhynxhis corniciilatiis buceroides argent iceps 22. Philemon citreogularis 23. Entdmyza cyanotis ... albipcnnis 24. Melithreptus ... atricapillus chloropsis albignlaris validiyostris mclanocephalus . . . brevirostris gularis .. laetior 25. Maxorhina melanophrys 26. Myzantha garriila ... fiavigida ... obscura ... 127 128 131 133 135 137 139 142 144 147 149 151 152 152 154 154 157 157 160 160 163 165 165 167 168 168 171 172 173 173 177 177 180 181 181 183 184 185 187 190 193 195 197 197 199 199 202 204 PAGE Family Nectariniidae ... 205 27. ClNNYRIS 205 frenata ... 205 Family Zosteropidae 209 28. ZOSTEROPS 209 lateralis ... 209 vegeta 212 gouldi ... 212 albiventer ... 213 Family Dicaeidae ... 214 29. DlC.EUM ... 214 hirundinaceum ... ... 214 Family Pardalotidae ... 217 30. Pardalotis .. 217 ornatus ... ... 217 assimilis ... 220 affinis 221 pundatus ... 225 xanthopygins ... 227 rubricatus 229 melanocephalus ... ... 231 uropygialis 232 quadragintus ■■■ 233 Family Hirundinidae ••• 234 Sub-family Hirl'Ndinin.e ... ■■ 234 31. Hirundo ■■• 234 neoxena ... ... 234 32. Cheramceca ... 238 hucosternum ... 238 33. Petrochelidox ... 241 nigricans... ... 241 ariel ... 244 Family Artamidse ... 247 34. Artamus ... 247 tenebrosus 247 leucogaster ... 251 supevciliostis 253 personatus ■■ 257 melanops... •• 259 albiventris ... 262 minor ... 263 Family Sturnidae ... ... 265 35. Calorxis 265 metallica... ... 265 Family Ploceidae ... ... 268 Sub-family X'iduix.e ... 268 36. Stagaxopleura ... 268 guttata ... ... 268 SYSTEMATIC CONTENTS TO VOL. II. 37. ZON^GINTHUS bellus 38. Emblem.\... picta 39. T^NIOPYGIA castanotis 40. Stictoptera hichenovii annitlosa . . . 41. MUNIA castaneithorax xanthoprymna pectoralis 42. AlDEMOSVNE inodesta . . . 43. xEgintha temporalis 44. Bathilda ntficanda 45. POEPHILA acuticaudci hecki cincta souldia . . . Family Caprimulgidae 51. Caprimulgus macrurits 52. EUROSTOPUS albigu/ans ni'gus Family Podargidse Sub-family Podargin-^i: 53. Podargus strij^oides hraihypterus papncusis Family Alcedinidae Sub-family Ai.cedinin.k 57. Alcyone ... azurea pulchra ... Sub-family Dacelonin.i; 58. Syma flavirostris 59. Dacelo ... ski^ PAGE .. 271 45. Poephila 271 pcrsonata 273 hucotis ... .. 273 nigrotecta • 275 46. Neochmia ■• 275 phaeton ... • 279 Family Motacillidse 279 47. Anthus 280 austmlis ... 281 Family Alaudidae ... 281 48. Mirafra ... 284 hovsfieldi... .. 285 secunda ... .. 287 Kvodwardi .. 287 Family Pittidae .. 288 49. Pitta .. 288 strepitans 291 mackloti ... .. 291 iris ■ 293 Family Menuridae ... •■ 293 50. Me.nura ■■ 294 superha ... 295 victoria ... 296 albcrti ... Order P ICARI^. Sub-order CORACI.E. •■ 329 Sub-family .EgotheliNvE ■ 329 54. .Egotheles • 329 novce-hollandice ... ■ 330 • 330 333 Family Coraciidae ... Sub-family Coraciin.e • 335 55. Eurystomus • 335 pacificns • 335 Family Meropidae ... • 335 56. Merops 340 341 ornatus Sub-order Halcyones. 59. Dacelo leachii cervina 353 353 353 356 356 357 357 357 358 358 60. Halcyon ... madcayi ... pyrJwpygiiis saiictus ... sordidits ... 61. Tanysiptera sylvia 299 300 300 300 303 303 303 305 305 305 307 308 309 309 309 312 314 315 315 315 324 327 342 342 342 346 346 347 346 349 349 349 363 365 366 366 369 372 376 377 377 GYMNORHINA. Family LANIID^. Sub-Family GYMNORHININ^. G-en-u-s o-'S'n^iisroismnsr-A., Gray. Gymnorhina tibicen. BLACK-BACKED MAtiPIE. Coracias tibicen, Lath., Ind. Orn., Suppl., p. xxvii., (1801). Gymnorhina tibicen, Gould, Bds. Austr., fol., Vol. II., pi. id (1848); id., Handbk. Bds. Austr,, Vol. I., p. 175 (1865); Gadow, Cat. Bds. Brit. Mus., Vol. VIII., p. 91, (1883); Sharpe, Hand-1. Bds., Vol. IV., p. 276 (190.3). Adult male — Head, sides of the neck, scapulars and upper portion of the back glossy blue-black; hind-neck and lower portion of the rump and the upper tail-coverts white ; upper wing-coverts ivhite ; primary coverts black, the outer webs of the innermost feathers white for about three-fourths of their length; quills black; tail white with a broad terminal band of black, increasing in width towards the outermost feather, which has the outer web entirely black for the greater portion of its length ; cheeks, throat, and all the under surface glossy blue-black, the feathers on the lower portion of the body devoid of lustre ; bill bluish-horn colour blackish at tip; legs and feet black; iris reddish-brown. Total lengtli in the flesh 17 inches, wing ]06, tail 6'35, bill 3, tarsus 3'o. Adult female — Differs from the male in being slightly smaller, and in Iiaving the hind-neck, lon-er portion of the back and the rump grey instead of lohite. Distribution. — Oueensland, New South Wales, Mctoria, South Australia, Western Australia? ^EW birds, if any, -psi re better known to the inhabitants of Australia than the Black and the White-backed Crow-Shrikes, or Magpies, as they are more frequently called; either in a wild state or in captivity. The present species is widely distributed over nearly the whole of the eastern and southern portions of the continent. In the Catalogue of Birds in the British Museum, Dr. H. Gadow also records an adult male from North-western Australia, obtained on the Sutton River, by Mr. M. Elsey on the 2nd November, 1S56. It is resident throughout the year in New South Wales, and evinces a decided preference for open forest country, partially cleared lands and cultivation paddocks. Although never found in heavy timber-clad ranges, no sooner is a clearing made to any extent in one of these virgin forests and cultivated, than it is usually tenanted by a pair or more of these birds. It is also frequently met with in large flocks on the open plains, more especially during the summer and autumn months. BLACK-BACKED MAGPIE. 55 GYMNORIIIMIN.?:. Insects and their larvie form the chief portion of its food, varied with worms and occasionally small reptiles, birds and field mice. As it will also eat raw meat, either in a wild state or in captivity many of the present and following species are victims of the poisoned baits laid for Crows, and Ravens. To the pastoralist this bird is of inestimable value in ridding the plains of countless myriads of locusts, grasshoppers, and other insect scourges and their larvae. To the agriculturist and orchardist also it renders great ser\'ice in clearing the ground of many insect pests while ploughing is in progress, or the soil is being turned up around or between the rows of fruit trees. While much may be said in favour of tlie Magpie, there are not a few who complain of its depredations. In many districts it has been proved to have done serious damage where wheat or oats have been sown, eating all the seed not covered with the harrow, and latter on pulling up the seed when it is germinating. Frequently in the latter case it is to obtain the grub attacking the seed at its base. No one can be blamed for protecting their crops either by frightening and driving the birds away, or by more stringent means. It will be found, however, that the harm done, is greatly outweighed by the general beneficial results of these birds provided by Nature to help keep destructive insects and their larvae in check. Although the Black-backed Magpie frequently preys upon small birds, it is remarkable that some of the smaller insectivorous species, and particularly Gfobasikns chvysorrhoiis, often construct their nests under its domicile. The notes of the Black-backed Crow Shrike or Magpie are very melodious, and it is pleasant to hear in the early morning the flute-like strains poured forth by a number of birds from the topmost branches of some neighbouring tree. Its warning notes on the approach of an intruder however, which resemble a short high sounding " quark, (juark " are somewhat harsh and discordant. Variation exists in the size and plumage of this species. Generally it is in the extent of white on the bastard wing and on the basal portion of the outer web of the outermost tail feather. The latter in some adult specimens is entirely absent, in others it is a short narrow edging on the base of the feather only, while in very old males it may be found to extend obliquely from the shaft right across the basal half of the outer web. The width of the black band too on the back varies considerably in some specimens, which points to their being hybrids between the present and the following species. Of such examples in the collection is a fine old adult male procured on the Blue Mountains, which has the black dorsal band little more than half the usual width. In very old males the basal portion of the bill is whitish-horn colour, pale bluish-horn colour on the centre and blackish at the tips; the iris too is a bright fiery-red. Three adult specimens received from the Western Australian Museum, Perth, are respectively labelled "G. leucoiwfa, Cranbrook, sex ? " "G. kuconota, male, Busselton," and "G. dorsalis, female, S. W. Australia." They may all be distinguished by the larger amount of black on the upper parts extending from the back upwards on to the hind neck, and down as low as the rump ; two of them have the feathers on the lower hind-neck, and the rump margined with white, and small white spots at the tip of the remainder of the feathers on the back ; in the other these white markings on the upper parts are almost entirely absent. Two have the bill longer than in typical eastern examples; in the other it is of the ordinary length. The wing measurement varies from 9'3 to lo-i inches. All belong to a black-backed form of G. tihiccn, not G. kuconota. It is somewhat remarkable that an adult male and female of G. tibiccn obtained by Mr. H. G. Barnard at Bimbi, on the Dawson River, Queensland, in 1905, should have similar long and narrow bills like the western birds, but the extent of black is much narrower than typical examples from even New South Wales and greatly more so of course than in specimens from Western Australia. Wing measurement of the adult male lo-i inches; of the adult female 9-3 inches. Dr. E. Hartert subspecifically distinguishes specimens from Nullagine, North-western Australia on account of their larger size and especially their longer bill under the name of Gymnorhina tihicen longiyostn's.'-' * Nov. Zool., Vol. XII., p. 230 (1905). GVMNOBHINA. O Dr. W. MacGillivray writes me " Gymnovhina tihiccn is very common in the Cloncurry District, Northern Queensland, especially along the creeks which intersect the open downs country. They nest mostly during the winter, and occasionally also during the wet season in the early part of the year. The eggs are very much smaller than those of \"ictorian birds." Later on he writes from from Broken Hill, Western New South Wales: — "Gymnorhina tibicen is the only species up here of this genus, and is numerous. They nest later than G. Icuconota does in the Western District of Victoria, commencing late in August, whereas in Victoria it commences early in July. On a day's outing, 23rd September, 1901, I examined many Magpie's nests and found in most of them eggs at an advanced stage of incubation — on the point of hatching— or newly hatched young ; many contained fresh eggs and some were only building; the season was a good one and food abundant. They nest usually out along the smaller creeks and gullies in the low ranges about here." Relative to a trip made in August igoo, to Mount Gunson, about one hundred miles to the north-west of Port Augusta, South Australia, Dr. A.M. Morgan writes me: — "Gyiniwrhina tihicen is the rarer of the two species about Port Augusta, but at Mount Gunson it is much the commoner, G. Icuconota being very seldom seen, but neither species is common. Three nests were taken, one at Elizabeth Creek with two young birds and an addled egg ; another in the same locality, with two eggs ; and the third at Yultacowie Creek, with two fresh eggs of a very elongate form. One pair of birds at Elizabeth Creek were very pugnacious and attacked fiercely and repeatedly a Whistling Eagle which had its nest in a neighbouring tree." The nest is a deep bowl-shaped structure, irregularly formed externally, of thin sticks and twigs, the inside being rounded and neatly lined with fibrous roots, coarse grasses, bark fibre, cowhair, wool, or any soft and warm material. An average one measures externally fourteen inches in diameter by six inches and a half in depth, and internally seven inches in diameter by three inches and a half in depth. Not infrequently curved or bent pieces of telegraph or fencing wire enter largely into the construction of their nests ; there is one in the Australian Museum collection, taken by ^Ir. W. H. Loder, at Hermitage Plains, Cobar District, New South Wales, in July 1900. It was built in a White Box tree about thirty feet from the ground, and externally consists chiefly of lacing wire, used in wire-netting fencing, the cup-like cavity which is small, being lined with bark fibre, horse and cow-hair. The nest is usually built in the upright forked branches of a Eucalyptus, at a height varying from twenty to sixty feet from the ground, at other times, in country districts where the birds are unmolested, in the top of a sapling or bushy crown of a pine or tea-tree at an altitude of about ten to twenty feet, and occasionally it is placed low down among the rigid branches of some bush out on a plain. The situation of the nest is frequently betrayed by the aggressive manner of the male on one approaching near the tree in which it is placed, and the persistency with which it will swoop down and viciously snap at the intruders head. Not only does it exhibit its savageness to mankind, but to any bird or animal venturing on its domain. On more than one occasion I have observed a dog beat a hasty and ignominous retreat from the fierce attacks of these birds. Instances are many of birds in a state of semi-domestication pairing with wild birds and returning again to their owners after rearing a brood. Isolated pairs, too, remain to breed in the same place year after year. In a small paddock fronting one of the outlying streets of Chatswood, and another of a few acres in extent at Roseville a pair of these birds have reared a brood every season for the past seven years, but have never ventured to build in similar trees surrounding their domains. The nests have always been placed well out of the. way of bird-nesting boys, the last nest built by the pair of birds at Chatswood, being in a thick bare dead fork of a Eucalyptus close to the street, but fully seventy feet from the ground. Travel by rail anywhere in open forest lands in New South Wales, the stick-formed nest, either new or in various stages of dilapidation, of the Black or the White-backed Alagpie is usually a prominent feature in the landscape. 1 GYMNORHINIS.E. The eggs are usually four, frequently three, and occasionally as many as five in number for a sitting, and with the exception of those of Gymnorhina hnconoUi which are indistinguishable from them, are probably more variable in colour than those of any other species of Australian bird. They are oval or elongate oval in form, the shell being close-grained, smooth and lustrous. The ground colour varies from greenish-blue to a dull bluish-white, and from a reddish-grey to a dull brown. One of the most common varieties found is of a pale bluish-white ground colour, which is almost obscured with short streaks, scratches and smears of reddish or chestnut-brown, uniformly distributed over the shell, in others the markings are confluent, forming dull indistinct clouded patches. Some are of a faint-bluish grey ground colour, over which is sparingly distributed rounded or slightly smeared penumbral spots of different shades of inky-black and burnt umber. Another type is of a similar ground colour, but has faint irregular shaped markings of wood-brown intermingled with underlying smears of faint violet-grey. A not uncommon variety is of a dingy ashy-brown ground colour with a few smears, short streaks or nearly obsolete spots of a deeper hue sparingly distributed over the shell. A set of four taken by Mr. James Ramsay at Tyndarie, New South Wales, on the 7th October, 1879, measure : — Length (A) 1-55 x roS inches; (B) 1-5 x '08 inches: (C) 1-32 x -05 inches; (D) i'48 X 1-07 inches. A set of four taken on the loth October, 1896, measures; — Length (A) 1-63 X 1-13 inches; (B) i'55 x 1-13 inches; (C) 1-65 x 1-12 inches; (D) 1-45 x i-i6 inches. A set of remarkably small eggs taken by Mr. Wilfred Bennett at Yandembah Station, New South Wales on the 3rd September, 1899, measures: — Length (A) i'^^ x i-i inches; (B) 1-3 X 1-07 inches; (C) i'35 x i inch. Two more eggs taken by Mr. Bennett a week later from the same nest, measure: — Length (A) i'38 x i-02 inches: (B) 1-27 x i-oi inches. Two eggs taken by Mr. A. S. Boyd, on the 13th September, 1894, near Townsville, Queensland, measure: — Length (A) 1-51 x i-05 inches; (B) 1-53 x 1-07 inches. On Yandembah Station the late Mr. Kenric Harold Bennett on one occasion found the eggs in a nest of this species that he had examined the week before, completely covered with a thick layer of rabbit fur, evidently, he believed as a safeguard against the marauding propensities of the Kaven and Crow, which are notorious robbers of the eggs of other birds, especially when the owners are absent from them. Young birds resemble the female, but are much duller in colour, the feathers of the hind- neck are more or less spotted with black near the tip, and those of the back are narrowly edged with grey; throat and remainder of the under surface brownish-black, the former being strongly washed with ashy and the feathers of the latter margined witli ashy-white at the tips. The last trace of immaturity is usually exhibited in the lesser extent of white on the outer webs of some of the primary coverts. Young birds reared from the nest are in great request as pets, for they soon learn to speak and in time acquire an extensive vocabulary, besides imitating any familiar sounds such as the barking of a dog or crowing of fowls. If allowed their freedom and the run of a garden an old male is often as good as a watch dog in the day time, for it will immediately give warning of one approaching the place by its loud notes of displeasure, if it does not also savagely attack the intruder. There is a drawback, however, m allowing these birds their liberty, they are fearfully mischievous, and \\a.\'e a. penchant, when unobserved of stealthily appropriating small articles that can be easily carried off, more especially anything formed of metal, and secreting it in a hoard like the true Magpie (Pica caudata) of Europe. One of these caches, formed by a bird in my possession, I discovered in a shallow hole underneath a thick low spreading shrub in my garden, that revealed a miscellaneous collection of articles, consisting of thimbles, small spoons, needles, lead-pencils, and a quantity of nails. When reared from the nest these birds are very affectionate and become much attached to their owners ; many, however, are sold that have been trapped after they have left the nest for several weeks, these birds although young, generally (iYMNOHHINA. remain wild and frightened and rarely emit a sound, except a disconsolate " squark," and it is a kindness to restore these unfortunates to freedom again in the bush. In South-eastern Australia the normal breeding season commences in July or early in August, and continues until the end of November, but a second brood is sometimes reared during the mid-summer months. At the Redfern Railway Station, Sydney, on the 20tli February, 1897, I saw young birds exposed for sale that had only recently been taken from the nest. Gymnorhina leuconota. WHITE-BACKED MAGPIE. Gymnorhina leuconota, (Gould) Gray, Gen. Bds., Vol II., pi. 73 (1844); Gould, Bds. Austr., fol., Vol. II., pi. -17 (1848); id., Handbk. Bds. Austr., Vol. I., p. 176 (1865); Gadow, Cat. Bds. Brit. Mus., Vol. VIII., p. 92 (1883); Sliarpe, Hand-1, Bds., Vol. IV., p. 276 (1903). Adult male — General colour above white; npper wing-coverts and edge of iving w/tite; bastard wing and priinary coverts black., the basal half of the outer webs of the latter white; quills black, slightly glossed with blue-black on their outer webs; tail tohite with a broad terminal band of black, increasing in ividth towards the outermost feather on either side, which has also the outer tveb black; head and nape glossy blue-black; under surface glossy blue-black, tite centre of the feathers on the breast black and devoid of lustre ; thighs blackish; vent and under tail-coverts white; bill bluish-grey, paler at the base, black at the tip; legs and feet black; iris reddish-brown. Total length in the flesh IS inches, tving llS, tail G;5, bill 21, tarsus ^'Jf. Adult female — Differs from the male in being slightly smaller, in having the feathers on the hind-neck ivashed witli grey, and those of the back grey tipped with white and having a distinct black shaft streak; rump and upper tail-coverts grey broadly margined ivitli white, some of the feathers showing a more or less well defined black shaft-streak. Distribution — New South Wales, Victoria, South .\ustialia. Central Australia, Western Australia ? ^^HE White-backed Crow-Shrike, or Magpie as it is generally called, is freely distributed throughout southern New South Wales, the greater portion of Victoria, South and Central Australia. In New South Wales, Mr. R. Grant has obtained it as far nortli as Lithgow on the Blue Mountains, but it is more abundant in the south-eastern portion of the State occurring in considerable numbers at Tumut, Kiandra, Yarrangobilly, Cooma, and Bombala, and decreasing as the coast is approached at Twofold Bay. Relative to its habits, food, nidification, and the variation in colour of its eggs, the remarks made on Gymnorliina tibiccii, equally applies to the present species. There is a great variation in the size of specimens obtained even in the same locality. As a rule adult males procured in the cold mountainous districts in the neighbourhood of Cooma and Mount Kosciusko, New South Wales, are larger than others from the hot plains of South and Central Australia, the latter approaching in size the smaller billed form Gymnorhina hyperleuca inhabiting Tasmania. Adult males received from the Western Australian Museum, Perth, and obtained at Blackwood in April 1897, may be principally distinguished by the narrower terminal black band on the tail and the less extent of black on the outermost feather, the bill is of the average length of extreme eastern examples, but is slightly more arched. The colour of the shafts of the tail-feathers of birds from all the southern parts of the continent varies, apparently with age, in some they are black, in very old birds they are white, while examples may also be obtained with some of the shafts white and the remainder black. Hybrids § GTMNORHININ.E. between G. tihiccn and the present species are not uncommon : adult birds of both sexes being sometimes found with a narrower but well defined black band across the back, in others they assume the form of a line of more or less scattered black feathers. There are also specimens in the Australian Museum collection with black feathers on the back each having a more or less sharply defined white margin on the apical portion. Several albinoes and semi-albinoes are in the mounted collection. Open forest lands, clearings on mountain ranges, and plains are alike resorted to by this species, and like G. tihicen it follows in the tracks of settlement. Cultivation paddocks during ploughing time are favourite localities for these birds to congregate in, and at the same time do a vast amount of good in ridding the soil of grubs and insects. To this diet is added worms, small birds and field mice. On the same scale, this species has when hard pressed with hunger, showed the grain eating proclivities of its compeer G. tihiccn. Dr. W. Macgillivray writes me as follows: — '"Gymnovhina huconota is universally distributed in Western Victoria, and several nests are to be seen annually in the Blue Gums which grace the streets of Coleraine. Nesting usually starts early in July and nests may be found with fresh eggs until the end of October. One nest which I came across on a dead tree was rather a formidable affair, being composed of boxthorn twigs and fencing wire, this was evidently a matter of choice as there was no scarcity of other material in the vicinity. A Magpie in the possession of Mrs. W. Steel, who lives in Hamilton, has for eight successive seasons built a nest and reared a brood of young ones in a Blue Gum tree near the house, mating each time with a wild bird. All food for the young ones is obtained at the house till they leave the nest when they all go with the wild parent, and " Maggie," though quite able to fly, never accompanies them, but resumes her old life about the house. Two Magpies in the possession of Mr. Abraham Greed, in Hamilton, also nest in captivity, and I had the pleasure of seeing them sitting side by side on separate nests built in a tool box in an outhouse, one on eggs and the other on three young birds. These birds were male and female ; one nest was first built by both birds, eggs were laid, the hen bird sitting on them until hatched, when they were handed over to the male bird, who fed and sat upon them, the female straight away started another nest and laid three more eggs on which she sat, only occasionally helping to feed the first brood when she came off the nest. Magpies are rather partial to wheat, an unfortunate taste, as great numbers die every summer from eating the poisoned wheat laid for rabbits ; they have also been caught killing and eating young chickens to my certain knowledge." The nest is an open bowl-shaped structure externally formed of thin sticks and twigs, the inside being neatly rounded and lined with shreds of bark, rootlets, cow or horse hair and rabbit fur. An average one measures externally fifteen and a half inches in diameter by seven inches in depth, and internally seven inches and a half in diameter by four inches in depth. The upright forks oi a. Eucalyptus or Casumina from twenty to sixty feet from the ground is a favourite nesting site, but often it is built at a low altitude in the bushy top of a green sapling or a tea tree, and sometimes in the tops of low bushes, within a few feet of the ground. Mr. A. M. N. Rose forwarded a nest to the Trustees of the Australian Museum, which was built in a low shrub close to the ground at Boloco, Snowy River. The birds had reared a brood in the same structure for several years, and during one season two broods. Mr. G. A. Keartland informs me that in company with Mr. Joseph Gabriel, a nest was found in August 1S95 at Werribee, Victoria, in the top of a hedge about four feet in height. Nests largely composed of fencing or telegraph wire are not uncommon. There are two of these structures in the South Australian Museum, Adelaide, one forwarded by Messrs. H. and I'. Rymill at Canowie in 1887, the other by the Hon. J. L. Stirling at Strathalbyn, in i8go. GYMSORIIINA. 7-i Eggs usually four, sometimes three, and occasionally five in number for a sitting, extremely variable in colour and indistinguishable from those of G. tibicen. To the different types there described may be added some less frequently found of the present species. A very pale olive- brown ground colour with light umber clouded spots and blotches and underlying markings of dull ashy-grey. Ground colour reddish-buff, boldly spotted and blotched with rich reddish- brown and purplish-red, the latter appearing as if beneath the surface of the shell. Ground colour dull greenish-grey, with spots, streaks, and scratches of umber-brown intermingled with similar underlying markings of dark brown and ashy-grey. A very pale stone-grey ground colour, spotted and blotched with umber and sepia-brown. Eggs are also found of a uniform ground colour, with little or no indication of surface spots or other markings. A set of three taken by 'Mx. Joseph Gabriel, at Werribee, \'ictoria. on the 12th August, 1895, measures: — Length (A) 1-57 x r-o8 inches; (B) i-54_ x i-ii inches; (C) 1-38 x i-og inches. Another set taken by Mr. Gabriel in the same locality, measures : — Length (A) 1-7 x 1-03 inches; [li) 1-65 x i-o.S inches; (C) 1-63 x 1-12 inches. Although both Gyiunorhiua tibicen and G. Icuconota are included in the Bird Protection Acts of the Southern Australian States, the eggs of these species are usually more frequently found in the indiscriminate and useless collections formed by bird-nesting boys in country districts, than those of any other Australian birds. On the i8th December, 1896, I received two young birds, a male and a female from ^Mr. A. M. N. Rose, taken on Boloco Station, Snowy River, New South Wales. They were seven weeks old, the male having the back slaty-grey, the apical portions of the feathers shaded with black and their tips pale brownish-white, the white upper wing-coverts having a subterminal black bar and tipped with white. The female was similar, but had the feathers on the back more strongly washed with black. On the ist February, 1897 the male died, its plumage had not altered much, but the back of its head and neck was a pure white. On the 21st February, the female was undergoing the first moult and acquiring the full adult plumage, moulting some of the feathers on her back which were replaced with others of a clear french-grey with a narrow black shaft line, which were very conspicuous among her old feathers. Further observations were prevented by the loss of the bird shortly after completing the first moult. Many pages might be written without e.xhausting the amount of damage or mischievous pranks, one of these birds in a state of semi-domestication could perform. An old adult male I had that was occasionally allowed the run of the garden, used to delight in pulling up every- thing it saw me plant. Another favourite pastime, was to stealthily creep up behind a bull-dog and suddenly tweak his tail, and with an exultant note, beat a hasty and safe retreat. This bird, the terror of the place, at last met his match. Fowls it would attack with its powerful mandibles and easily drive away, but a newcomer, got into the garden one day, which the bird attempted to eject. The young game-hen, for such it was, with lowered head quietly stood her ground, and waited for the Magpie, and before the latter was aware of it, was suddenly turned over on his back by the hen using her legs, the operation being repeated immediately it got on its feet again. The normal breeding season commences in July and continues until the end of December. This species usually defends its nest with great energy, but on several occasions I have seen the male quietly feeding out on the plains and apparently unconcerned at the loud cries of distress of the female, who was being robbed of her eggs a short distance away. It used to breed in Albert Park, and in the tea-tree scrub at the mouth of the Yarra River near Melbourne, during my early collecting days, and more freely, recently at Essendon, Keilor, Werribee, and Laverton. On the level, stone walled plains of Keilor and Deer Park, small ffocks of these birds disturbed by a passing vehicle or train, form a conspicuous and pleasing feature in an GVMNORHININ.E. Otherwise somewhat monotonous landscape. Frequently the nests of the \ello\v-rumped ThornhiW (Gcobnsilciis c/irj'sorrlioiis J and the Squeaker ( Aphdoaphala laicopsis) are constructed beneath the nests of this species. Gymnorhina hyperleuca. TASMANIAN MAGPIE. Gymiwrlnna liypoleucus, Gould, Proc. Zool. Soc, 183(3, p. 106. Gymnorhina organicum, Gould, Bds. Austr., fol., Vol. 11., pi. 48 (1848); id. Hand-bk. Bds. Austr., Vol. I., p. 178 (1865). Gymnorliina hyperleuca, Gadow, Cat. Bds. Brit. Mus., p. 93(1883); Sharpe, Haiid-1. Bds., Vol. TV., p. 276 (1903). Adult M-\le — Like the adult male of Gymnorfiin.\ LEUroxoT.\, Gould, hut not so large and having a comparatively smaller bill. Total length IJf inches, u-ing 9-5, tail -rtl, hill 1-IJ, tarstts i?. Adult female — Differs from the adult female of G. leuconota in a similar manner as does the adult male. Distribution — Tasmania. ^~|^HIS is a small form of Gviitiwrhina Icuconota of the .\ustralian continent, and from which J- it is otherwise indistinguishable, except for a comparatively smaller and less robust bill. The above measurements are taken from a fine old adult male obtained by Mr. George Masters, in April 1867, at the Ouse River, Tasmania. Three young birds were received in the flesh from Dr. L. Holden, Bellerive, near Hobart, together with the following note, under date 7th October, 1904. " I picked up the dead Magpies here to day I am forwarding you, they were poisoned I fancy, as one is prohibited from shooting them. The natural habitat of Gymnorhina organicum is the open or lightly timbered districts in the eastern and drier side of Tasmania. I have known of attempts to introduce it into western and more humid localities, but I think, with small success. This species has been protected by law for many years, and is plentiful and familiar everywhere. It is very popular as a pet, and it has a capacity for whistling tunes, nor need space be wasted on its beautiful wild music. It breeds in low trees, often in the close neighbourhood of houses. I saw one of their nests in 1903 built in the same tree in which Myzantha garnda was breeding. The basis of the nes^t is dried sticks. The nest is often placed among terminal branchlets where it can only be reached with difficulty." Mr. E. D. Atkinson sends me a note from his brother the I\e\-. H. D. .Vtkinson of Evandale that this species constructs a bowl-shaped nest of sticks, lined inside with wool and hair, and placed in gums, Banksias, and scrub, four and sometimes five eggs being laid for a sitting, and that he has taken nests with eggs from fith September to 6th October. A set of three eggs taken by the Rev. H. D. .\tkinson at E\andale. are oval in form and slightly pointed at the smaller end, the shell being close grained, smooth and slightly lustrous. They are of a rich greenish-grey ground colour, over which is distributed, but more abundantly on the thicker end, scratches, streaks and small blotches of light umber; almost obsolete markings of the same colour appearing as if beneath the surface of the shell ; Length (A) 1-55 x 1-03 inches; (B) 1-52 x 1-05 inches; (C) 1-47 x 1-05 inches. CRACTICUS. Ca-en-as OIB^^OTICCTS, Vieillot. Cracticus destructor. BUTCHEE-BIRD. Vanga destructor, Temm., Man d' Orn., pt. i.. p. lix. Cracticus destructor, Gould, Bds. Austr., fol, Vol. II., pi. 52 (1818); Gadow, Cat. Bds. Brit. Mus., Vol. VIII., p. 100 (1883); Sliarpe, Hand-1 Bds., Vol. IV., p. 277, (190.3). Cracticus torqualus, Gould, ilaadbk., Bds. Austr., Vol. I., p. 184 (1865). Adult male — Crown of the head, ear-coi-erts, sides of neck, nape, and centre of the hind-neck black; sides of hind-neck white; scapulars, back and rump grey; upper tail-coverts white; upper wing-coverts like the back, the greater coverts blackish on thiir inner ivebs, the central feathers white on their outer webs; quills dark brown, the inner three secondaries margined with pure white more broadly on their outer webs; tail feathers blackish-brown tipped ivith tvhite, more largely on the inner web and on the lateral feathers ; loral spot white; chin, cheeks, throat, and all the wider surface greyish-ivhite; under tail-coverts white; bill bluish horn colour, blackish towards the tips; legs and feet black, tinged with olive; iris reddish-brown. Total length in the flesh ll-2o inches, icing 6, tail Ji.65, tarsus 1'2. Adult fem.\le— (9e?i«raZ colour above broica, slightly darker on the head, the rump and upper tail-coverts ashy-olive, some of the longer feathers of the latter dull white irregularly margined with brown; sides of neck fulvous, mottled with brown, some of the feathers on the centre of the hind-neck centred with fulvous; wings and tail brown and with a less- amount of tvhite on them than in the male; a broad loral streak dull white; cheeks and ear-coverts dark broivn, the latter streaked with fulvous; chin and throat dull n-hite, remainder of the under surface and utider tail-coverts greyish- tvhite tuashed with fulvous, more distinctly on the sides of the chest. DisdriSit^ioji— Queensland, New South Wales, Victoria, South Australia. ^T^HE Butcher-bird or "Whistling Jack," as it is sometimes called is freely distributed over J_ the eastern and south-eastern portions of the Australian continent. Although inland it may be found in the clumps of timber dotted over the plains, it gives decided preference for open forest lands near the coast, and thickly timbered mountain ranges. In the neighbourhood of cities particularly, it is decidedly shy and wary and difficult to procure, except when breeding. Among a number of specimens now before me there is but little variation in those of similar age procured in widely separated parts of the continent. An adult male procured by Mr. George Masters at Port Lincoln, South Australia, in October 1865, is indistinguishable from another obtained by him at Gayndah, Burnett River, Queensland, in August 1870, and so little does the western form vary from the eastern species that Mr. Masters has labelled young birds in the Australian :\Iuseum, collected by him at iMongup, Salt River, Western Australia, in February 1869, as Cracticus destructor. The wing-measurement of fully adult males varies from 5-6 to 6 inches. The above descriptions are taken from very old birds, for this species may be found breeding when the adult male has the upper parts brownish-grey, with a less amount of white on the wings and sides of the neck, the head dark brown, and the under surface mottled with brownish- white. In the neighbourhood of Sydney these birds are resident throughout the year, and are fairly common, usually being met with in isolated pairs at Belmore, Canterbury, Newington, Roseville and the high portions of the Milson's Point Railway Line. The notes of the male are clear and melodious, those uttered in autumn, being less sustained and different from its spring song. It is an early riser and one of the first birds to call. 10 GYMNORUININ.E. Its normal food consists of insects of various kinds, principally beetles, crickets and grass- hoppers, also small reptiles, birds and field mice. It frequently too, abstracts canaries and other small birds kept in captivity, through the wires of their cages. Mr. A. M. N. Rose shot and sent two Butcher-birds to the Trustees of the Australian Museum, that had succeeded in killing a number of canaries in a cage hanging under the verandah of his house at Campbelltown. At Blacktown a fine old male was uttering wild cries and making repeated swoops at a large Varanus varius in the grass, but whether the bird was only amusing itself or attempting to destroy the reptile, which eventually I despatched, and found it measured three feet six inches, I cannot tell. Magpies also utter loud cries of alarm and make desperate dashes when they discover a large snake, which would be impossible for them to kill. The nest is an open structure, irregularly formed externally of thin sticks and long twigs, with which are sometimes inter- mingled vine tendrils, the inside is shallow and cup shaped, and lined with thin fibrous rootlets; some nests ha\e a thick foundation of sticks and twigs, others are so scantily built that when they contain eggs the latter are \' i s i b 1 e through the bottom of the structure. The nest figured, was taken at Belmore, on the 2nd August, i8q8, and averages six inches and a half in diameter by three inches and a quarter in depth. It was built in a sapling about twenty feet from the ground and contained four eggs. Little or no choice is shown in the selection of a nesting site; the upright forks near the top of a gum sapling, tea-tree, or turpentine-tree being more often resorted to in the neighbourhood of Sydney. Usually it is built at a height of twelve to twenty feet from the ground, but sometimes it is placed within hand's reach. The eggs are usually four, frequently only three, and occasionally five in number for a sitting; they are oval in form, the shell being close-grained smooth and lustrous. In ground colour they vary from a dull asparagus-green to pale ashy-blue, and from a clear olive to a light brown, which is dotted, spotted, and blotched with dull reddish-brown, purplish-red or chestnut- brown, the markings being confined almost entirely to the larger end, where they form, in some instances, a well defined cap or zone; others have blotches of reddish-purple, or rich umber- brown, with which are intermingled underlying spots of purplish-grey ; while some of a light NE.ST AND EGGS OF BUTCHER-BIP.U CRACTICUS. n olive-brown ground colour are more evenly spotted over the shell with a slightly darker shade of the ground colour, while on the larger end are a few conspicuous spots of an ink-like hue. A remarkably handsome type is of a pale apple-green ground colour with a broad clouded band around the larger end formed of numerous penumbral markings of rich reddish-brown, the remainder of the shell, with the exception of a few small spots and dots being entirely devoid of markmgs. While at Copmanhurst, where this species is common, Mr. G. Savidge showed me an unusual variety of its eggs in his collection. It was a set of four taken by him on the 21st October, 1894. Three of them were of a pale dull bluish-white, the other a deep blue, the markings on all of them consisting of only a few faint dull purplish spots; they measure:— -Length (A) i-i8 x 0-92 inches; (B) 1-23 x 0-92 inches; (C) 1-24 x 0-93 inches; (D) 1-3 x 0-92 inches. Some varieties of the eggs of CracUcus destructor resemble those of the Fig-bird, Sphccotheres maxillaris. A set of three taken at Belmore, New South Wales, on the 30th August, i8g8, measure :— Length (A) i-iS X 0-92 inches; (B) 1-15 x 0-87 inches; (C) i-i6 x 0-87 inches. Immature birds resemble the adult female but have most of the feathers on the head and upper parts centred with fulvous, as are also the tips of the upper tail-coverts, the upper wing-coverts also having fulvous margins, the innermost of the greater series also being centred with fulvous, the tail feathers having only small dull white tips on the inner webs, which is also shaded with fulvous on the basal portion ; a distinct eyebrow and broad central streaks to the ear-coverts fulvous. Throat dull white, remainder of the under surface greyish-white washed with fulvous, and having the remains of dull dark brown cross-bars on the feathers ; under wing-coverts pale fulvous with indistinct streaks or barrings of dull brown. Wing 5-5 inches. The fully adult plumage of the male is assumed by a moult. There is a specimen in the Australian Museum collection with a number of black feathers intermingled with the old brown ones on the crown of the head, and with most of the feathers on the back grey; the newer quills are entirely brownish-black, showing with marked contrast to the old worn pale-brown ones. The late Mr. K. H. Bennett of Yandembah, wrote :— " On a station in Western New South Wales where I resided for some time, and where Cracticus destructor was numerous, I noticed a peculiar habit of these birds. They used to pull the wool off dead sheep and roll it up into pellets about the size of a large pea and almost as hard. In many instances the exposed portion of the dead sheep would be almost denuded of wool, whilst the ground alongside of the carcass would be covered with hundreds of these pellets. One day I discovered the cause, for I saw one of these birds alight on a dead sheep and pluck out a piece of wool and then throwing himself on his back on the ground and using bill and feet at the same time, soon had one made. Discarding it, he pull out another piece of wool and resumed his pellet-making operations, continuing until he had made quite a number of them ; subsequently I frequently saw them thus engaged. On many occasions I tried myself to make one, but they were always failures, I could not get the wool to remain in the round hard lump that the bird did." Dr. A. M. Morgan sends me the following notes from South Australia :^" During a trip made in company with Dr. A. Chenery from Port Augusta to Mount Gunson, we found Cracticus destructor fairly common but very shy. Four nests were taken; one at Mount Gunson on the 31st July 1900, built in a mulga containing three fresh eggs, another in the same locality on the 1 2th August with two fresh eggs, and two at Arcoona on the 8th August; one nest in a pine tree contained three fresh eggs, the other built in a myall had one very large blood-stained egg. In the last three instances the female was sitting on the nest when it was discovered, who flew off as soon as the tree was touched, the male then made his appearance with a great clamour. When not nesting it was difficult to get a sight of the bird. Again, in company with Dr. Chenery in August 1902 we found it common throughout a trip made to the Gawler Ranges. One male bird had become so tame at Nonning homestead, that he came regularly to the house to be fed. While skinning birds there he came and picked up bits thrown to him. The body 12 OYMNORHININ.E. of a Gilbert's Thickhead, which was thrown to him he picked up, and after taking two or three grips to get a good balance flew away with it to the scrub about half a mile distant." Although the Butcher-bird is, as a rule, remarkably shy and wary in a wild state, when takan from the nest and domesticated it becomes remarkably fearless and trustful. Comparatively too, for its size, it is the most courageous of Australian birds. A fledgeling I caught in the bush and reared, used to pass the day among the shrubs in the garden and usually return to its cage at night. It used to fly on to my hand, perch on one of my fingers, whistle a few bars it had picked up, or preen its feathers. When I was seated at a table reading, it would lie down flat on its back and go to sleep in the palm of my hand. It was however, most jealous of other birds. A wounded Trichoglossus concinnus, it seized by the tail feathers and drew it backwards along the floor. A Skylark (Alauda arvensis) let out of its cage it seized by the neck, and which I had to quickly rescue. A stuffed specimen of Strix delicatiila was then placed on the floor, which frightened it when it was first put down, but ultimately the Butcher-bird made terrific onslaughts on it, as it did afterwards on a stuft'ed male Menura victoria, a veritable living pigmy attacking a stuffed giant. Its chief delight was to capture a mouse, which would afford amusement to it for a quarter of an hour or more, before death freed it from its tormentor. On several occasions I attempted to take the mouse away, but the bird holding it in its bill and lowermg its head with outspread wings would entirely hide it from me. (3n catching the mouse by the tail the bird would hold on to the body with its bill and allow itself to be lifted up in the air, but never once let go the firm grip in which it held its prey. The normal breeding season of this species in Eastern Australia is August and the four following months, nests with fresh eggs, in the vicinity of Sydney, being more numerous in September, although a set of five heavily incubated eggs was taken at Belmore as early as the 31st August, 1893. At Roseville a pair have bred in the trees close to my house for several seasons, and in 1902 I observed them with fledgelings that had recently left the nest on the 26th December. At Enfield on the 27th Mav, 1S94 I met a boy in the bush who had in his possession a nearly fledged young Butcher-bird which he informed me he had just taken from the nest. This was an unusual time for this species to breed, but was doubtless owing to the spring-like weather at that time and the two preceding months. Cracticus leucopterus. WHITE-WIXGED BUTCHER- BIRD. Cractictis leucopterus, Gould, Bds. Austr. Introd., fol.. Vol. I., p. xxxv. (1.S4S) ; id., Handbk. Bds. Austr., Vol. I., p. 187 (18G.5); Gadow, Cat. Bds. Brit. Mus., Vol. VIII., p. 98, (1883); Sharpe, Hand-1. Bds., Vol. IV., p. 277 (1903). ||aN his Introduction to the "Birds of Australia''" Gould remarks: '^Cracticus kucoptcins, which J- inhabits Western Australia, is very closely allied to C. tovquatiis and C. ciiieveus, but differs from the former in the white mark on the wings being much more extensive, and from the latter in its smaller size." In the "Catalogue of Birds in the British Museum, "f Dr. H. Gadow in describing C. leucopterus gives the habitat as North-eastern and Western Australia, and writes : " In order to show that there is no difference in size between the specimens from Queensland and those from Perth, I give the measurements of a series of specimens." If the specimens referred to by Dr. Gadow are properly localized, it shows that the western does not difler from the eastern form C. destructor. The distinguishing characters given to the latter by Dr. Gadow in his key to the species of the genus Cracticus \ are those of an ordinary adult male, while those * Vol. I., Introd., p xxxv (1848) f Vol. VIII., p. 99 (1883). J I.oc. cit , p. 94, (1883). CKACTICUS. 13 given of C. kucoptcrus are equally applicable to a very old male of C. destructor, and agree with the specimens from which my descriptions of C. destructor are taken. Owing to the want of adult skins from Western Australia, I am unable to state whether the distinctions pointed out by Gould are of sufficient importance to warrant it being regarded as a distinct species. Mr. C. G. Gibson informs me that in the Erliston District, Western Australia, he found a nest on the 12th September, 1905, built in a mistletoe growing on a big mulga. It was twenty feet from the ground and contained three eggs much incubated. On the 9th October following he found the nest of the same pair of birds also containing three incubated eggs. A set of three eggs are oval in form, the shell being close-grained smooth and slightly lustrous. They are of a pale bluish-grey ground colour, dotted, spotted, and blotched around the thicker end with reddish and chestnut-brown, the markings being confluent in many places in two of the specimens; on the other they are more scattered and form an ill-defined zone. Length (A) 1-22 k o-88 inches; (B) i-iS x 0-9 inches; (C) 1-2 x 0-93 inches. The egg of C. Icucoptcvus is figured on Plate B. VUl., fig. IG. Cracticus cinereus. TASMANIAN BUTCHER-BIRD. Yanga cinerea, Gould, Proc. Zool. Soc, 1S36, p. 1-43. Cracticus cinereus, Gould., Bds. Austr., fob, Vol. I., Introd., p. xx.kv. (18i8); id., Handbk. Bds. Austr, Vol. I., p. 186 (1865); Sharpe, Hand-1. Bds., Vol. IV., p. 277 (1903). Cracticus cinereus (Subsp.), Gadow, Cat. Bds. Brit. Mus., Vol. VIII., p. 101 (1883). OF Cracticus cinereus, Gould writes in his " Handbook to the Birds of Australia"*: " By some ornithologists this bird may be considered only a local variety of C. torquatus. but I did not fail to notice that the birds appeared very different in their respective countries, and ornithologists will observe on e.xamination that a marked difference occurs in individuals from Tasmania and New South Wales. 1 will not, however, afiirm that this bird is confined to Tasmania, for I have lately received evidence of its also occurring on the shores of the opposite part of the continent. It may be distinguished from C. torquatus by its much longer bill, and when fully adult, by its grey back." Gould's full description of the adult male of Cracticus cinereus, is equally applicable to the very old male of C. destructor. In the "Catalogue of Birds in the British Museum," I Dr. Gadow regards C. cinereus as only subspecifically distinct from C. destructor, but on different grounds from Gould. His remarks thereon are borne out by two males in the Australian Museum collection, one obtained at the Ouse River by Mr. George Masters, the other at Bellerive by Dr. L. Holden. As pointed out by Dr. Gadow, the Tasmanian birds are even more brownish-ashy on the back than the continental specimens, there is a less e.xtent of white on the wings, and the basal half of the tail feathers are slightly washed with grey, and their outer webs have conspicuous white bases. I thought the latter character would enable one to distinguish the insular from the continental form, and although it is generally absent, or only slightly indicated in the Museum series of specimens, an adult male from Gayndah, Queensland, has the white bases to the outer webs of the tail feathers as large as in Tasmanian examples. The size of the white loral patch is variable in both forms. Mr. George Masters informs me that the note of Cracticus cinereus is quite different from that of the continental species C. destructor. Dr. L. Holden writes me Cracticus cinereus is not rare, * Vol. I., p 186 (1865). t Vol. VIII., p. loi, (1883). 14 (JYMNORUININ.E. except in the wet districts, and when lie is resident in a locality you cannot choose but hear him, as I do almost every day, with admiration, although he did tear my canary out of its cage. In confinement, which it bears well, this bird is apt to become savage." Mr. E. D. Atkinson writes: — '^Cractkus cinercus, known in Tasmania as the "Whistling-Dick," is found chiefly in the mid-lands country and where the land is lightly timbered. But I have met with odd pairs along the north-west coast, and south on the shores of D'Entrecasteaux Channel. My brother the Rev. H. D. Atkinson, of Evandale, informs me that he has found nests built in Banksias and Eucalypti in September and October, usually containing four, and sometimes five eggs in number for a sitting." Through Dr. L. Holden, I have received the following note from Mr. Ernest Harrison: — "The nest of the Tasmanian Butcher-bird is built of thin dry twigs put together compactly but lightly. Considering the material it is very neatly made and is not thick or bulky ; looked at from below the light can be seen all through it. The interior is a deep, very symmetrical saucer- shaped depression neatly lined with root fibre, etc. I have usually found the nest in rather stunted young gum trees, built in a clump of small branches on the side of the stem, and about fifteen or twenty feet from the ground. A small dry gully on a steep hillside is a favourite place." The eggs are oval or elongated oval in form, the shell being close-grained, smooth, and slightly lustrous. They vary in ground colour from a dull asparagus-green to a light olive and pale reddish-brown, which is spotted and blotched with chestnut-red, particularly towards the larger end where on some specimens they form a cap or well defined zone. Some e.xamples are indistinctly marked all over with a slightly darker shade of the ground colour. They cannot be distinguished from the eggs of Cradkus destructor. A set of three measure: — Length (A) 1-29 X o'95 inches; (B) 1-26 x o-yj inches; (C) i'28 x 0-95 inches. An elongated specimen measures: — Length 1-36 x 0-96 inches. Cracticus nigrigularis. BLACK-THROATED BUTCHER-IUED. Vanga nigrogidaris, Gould, Proc. Zool. Soc, 1836, p. 143. Cracticus nigrogularis, Gould, Bds. Austr., fol., Vol. II., pi. 49 (1848); id., Handbk. Bds. Austr. Vol. I., p. 180 (1865). Cracticus tiigrigularis, Gadow, Cat. Bds. Brit. Mus., Vol. VIII., p. 95 (1883); Sharpe, Haud-1., Bds.. Vol. IV., p. 277 (1903). Adult male — Head and neck glossy black; a broad collar around the lower portion of the hind- neck white ; scajndars and back black, some of the feathers on the lower back grey; rump and upper tail-coverts white ; upper wing-coverts white, some having the inner web black; quills black, the basal portion of the outer webs of all but the two outermost primaries white, the outermost secondaries margined rmth ichite on their inner webs which increases in extent and occtipies both ivebs on the median series, the shafts alone being black ; central pair of tail feathers black, the remainder black largely tipped with white, the black extending much nearer the tip on the outer web of the outermost feather , the base of the outer web of all but the central pair, and the outermost feather on either side, white; throat and chest glossy black; remainder of the binder siirface, the tliighs and under tail-coverts tvhite; bill bluish- horn colour, blackish on the apical portion; legs and feet dark grey; iris black. Total length in the flesh IS'75 inches, wing 7 '2, tail 5'9, bill 1'7 , tarsus l',5. Adult fe.male — Differs from the male in having those parts of the upper surface, icings and tail brown that are back in the male ; crown of the head and nape a slightly darker brown, the collar on the lower hind-neck dull ivhite, faintly mottled ivith brown, cheeks and ear-coverts dark brown CRACTICUS. 15 tUitiufely striated with pain brown; chin, throat and fore-neck pale creamy-brown; remainder of the under surface and under tail-coverts wliite. Total length in thejlesh 135 inches, wing 7, tail 5-75, hill 1-7, tarsus l-J/.. Distribution. — Queensland, New South Wales, Victoria, South Australia, Central Australia, Western Australia, North-western Australia. ^^HE Black-throated Butcher-bird is widely distributed over the Australian contnient, but does not appear anywhere to be a very common species. There are a number of specimens in the Australian Museum collection, obtained by Mr. George Masters at Gayndah on the Burnett River, Queensland, by the late Mr. J. MacGillvray on the Clarence River, New South Wales, by the late Mr. K. H. Bennett, procured in different parts of Western New South Wales, and others obtained by Mr. R. Grant on Buckiinguy Station. I have also examined specimens procured by Mr. G. A. Keartland in Central Australia, and others from the Trustees of the South iVustralian Museum, Adelaide, obtained in different parts of South Australia: from Mildura, \'ictoria, and from the Barrow Ranges and Coolgardie, Western Austraha. Mr. Tom Carter informs me that he found it breeding inland from Point Cloates. Dr. E. P. Ramsay has also recorded it from the vicinity of Derby, North-western Australia,' and more recently Dr. E. Hartert I enumerates specimens from Nullagine and the Coongan River. The above figure represents an adult male. The wing measurement of an adult male obtained by Mr. George Masters at Gayndah, Burnett River, Queensland in September 1870, is 6-85 inches; of an adult male procured by the late Mr. K. H. Bennett in the Lachlan District, New South Wales in June 1883, 7-15 inches; and of another adult male he obtained the following month at Moolah, 77 inches. The latter is the largest specimen I have seen. Immature males may be distinguished by the brownish shade towards the tips of the quills and by having the feathers of the head, throat and chest dull black instead of glossy black. Gould states that the sexes are precisely alike in colour and that they can be only distinguished with certainty by dissection. Mr. G. A. Keartland also states that the sexes are alike in plumage. + This is contrary to my experience and observations, all the adult females I have seen differing in colour from the males as described above. This is supported too by the mass of material before me of which there is not a black and white temale among them. In New South Wales the present species is more freely distributed in the western and northern portions of the State. I met with it on the Clarence River, but have never observed it in the southern coastal districts, or in any part of south-eastern New South Wales. It is usually seen in pairs in open forest lands, pine scrub, and belts of timber on the plains. I found it breeding at Narrabri in November 1S96, and again in the same month in the following year at Moree. ULACK-THKOATICIl BUTCH ER-HIHD. * Proc. Linn. Soc.,2nd Ser , Vol. I., p. 167 (1SS7). t Nov. Zool., Vol. XII.. p. 229 (1905). J Rept. Horn. Exped Central Austr. Zool., p. 71 (18y6). 16 GYMNORHININ.E. The clear and prolonjjed notes uttered by the male are among the most musical of those of any of our Australian birds, and can be heard a considerable distance away. If the bird were clad in sombre hue, instead of a conspicuous and strikingly contrasted plumage, its "native wood notes wild" alone would render it one, if not the most attractive of all our arboreal species. It is also one of the most wary birds I have stalked, generally flying one hundred yards or more when disturbed, and selecting a bare lateral branch of an isolated tree where it was almost impossible to approach within shooting range unobserved. Its food consists of insects, principally beetles, crickets, also mice, reptiles, and small birds. While resident at Point Cloates, North-western Australia, Mr. Tom Carter sent me the following notes : — " Cracticiis nigrigulans occurs inland wherever patches of timber afford it shelter and food. It has a beautiful rich flute-like song, and when moonlight, I have heard it from two a.m. in the morning until sunrise. I took a nest with four eggs inland from here on the 20th July, 1900. It was a deep structure and built in a species of mallee. My attention was attracted to it by seeing the owners driving off some inaurading Ravens. I shot both birds as I had not before come across them." Mr. C. G. Gibson informs me that in the vicinity of the Mount Margaret Goldfield, in the Erliston District, Western Australia, he found a nest on the 13th August, 1905, built in a bull- oak twenty feet from the ground, containing three fresh eggs, and another on the loth September following, also in a bull-oak, with three slightly incubated eggs. The following notes have been extracted from information sent me at various times bv the late Mr. K. H. Bennett while resident at Yandembah Station in the Lachlan District, Xew South Wales: — "Cracficus mgrigularis is found here alike in the bush covered sandhills on the plains, and in the densely timbered back country, Gould I observe makes no mention of the note of this bird, which in point of melody far surpasses that of Gymnorhina tihicen. Near the homestead is a detached building with thatched roof used as a dairv and meat-house, a space being left for ventilation of six inches between the top of the walls and the roof. At any hour of the day Black-throated Butcher-birds may be observed going in through the opening for the purpose of picking up the particles of meat left on the chopping bench. Indeed the carcass of each sheep hung up there, has to be enveloped in a bag to protect it from these birds. They are so tame that they will merely fly out on one entering the place and return again as soon as the person has quitted it. A pair have bred in one or other of the trees close to the house year after year. The young birds of each year remain with the parents for about fifteen months, after that only the original pair stay in the trees around the house. The pair of young ones of last year are still here now on the i8th October, 1890, and were constantly in the tree in which the parents had their nest until after the young ones are hatched. A fortnight ago, I took these young ones and placed them in a cage on the verandah. Ever since they have been in con- finement they have been fed by the young birds of the previous year, whilst their parents, although always about the garden and saw them plainly, never came near them." Later on I frequently saw the birds referred to above which Mr. Bennett had in captivity at Ashtield. Sparrows in search of food, who ventured in their spacious aviary fell an easy prey, so also did at various times the greater portion of a brood of chickens, who when unwittingly passing it, were bodily dragged in by the Butcher-birds through the loosely meshed wires, some of the victims being firmly wedged between upright acute angled forks of a tree placed in the aviary. The nest is an open structure irregularly formed externally of thin sticks and twigs, and the inside, which is cup-shaped, is lined with fibrous rootlets and coarse grasses. An average nest measures externally nine inches in diameter by five inches in depth, the inner cup measuring CRACTICDS. 17 six inches in diameter by three in depth. It is usually placed in the upright forked branch of a Callitris, Eucalyptus or Casnarina, at a height varying from fifteen to forty feet from the ground. The eggs are usually four, sometimes only three in number for a sitting, and vary from oval to rounded and elongated oval in form, the shell being close-grained, smooth and lustrous. Like the eggs of its compeer C. destructor, they differ considerably in colour and in the disposition of their markings. In ground colour they vary from a light asparagus green to a greenish or a uniform pale brown. A set of four of the latter type now before me, are thickly freckled and dotted all over with a slightly darker shade of the ground colour and are not unlike a variety of egg of the Little Water Crake: Length (A) 1-35 x 0-95 inches; (B) 1-36 x 0-93 inches; (C) 1-32 x 0-92 inches; (D) 1-33 x 0-92 inches. A set of three taken by Mr. G. Savidge at Copmanhurst, are of a yellowish-brown ground colour, spotted and blotched with different shades of umber, with which are intermingled conspicuous black ink-like spots, the markings predominating on the thicker end where they are confluent and form an irregular zone : Length (A) 1-43 x 0-95 inches; (6)1-45 x 0-96 inches; (C) 1-42 x 0-95 inches. A set of four are somewhat similar, but are devoid of the ink-like spots, one specimen having the markings in the form of a zone around the smaller end, another with a distinct olive shade in the ground colour has a small cap formed of confluent dull blackish-brown on the thicker end: Length (A) 1-2 x 0-92 inches; (B) i-i8 X 0-98 inches; (C) 1-26 x 0-92 inches; (D) i-2 x 0-95 inches. Of two more distinct types before me, one is of a dull asparagus green, freckled, spotted, and blotched with wood-brown, with a few underlying bluish-grey markings; the other is of a greenish-grey ground colour distinctly dotted and blotched wtih wood-brown and blackish-brown, the markings predominating on the thicker end, and resembling a variety of the egg of Edolisoma tcnuirostre. Like Cnuticus destructor, five eggs are sometimes laid for a sitting, and I received one of these unusual sets taken by Mr. H. G. Barnard, on the 14th September 1893, at Duaringa in the Dawson River District, Queensland. August and the four following months constitute the usual breeding season of the species in Eastern Australia, but nests with eggs are more often found in New South Wales during September and October. As will be seen by Mr. Carter's note, he took eggs of this species inland from Point Cloates, in the north-western portion of the continent in July. Cracticus picatus. PIED BUTCHER-BIKD. Cracticus picatus, Gould, Proc. Zool. Soc, 1848, p. 40; id., Bds. Austr., fol., Vol. II., pi. -50(1848); id., Handbk. Bds. Austr., Vol. I., p. 181 (186.5); Gadow, Cat. Bds. Brit. Mus., Vol. VIII., p. 96 (Subsp.); Sharpe, Hand-1. Bds., Vol. IV., p. 277 (1903). Adult male— Zi/fce the adult male of Cracticus NiCiRir.uLARis, Gould, but smaller ; hill (of skin) dark blue, lighter at the base of the upper mandible, blackish at the tip. Total length 11 inches, iving Ij'l, tail 5, hill I'Jf, tarsns I'o. Distribution — Northern Territory of South Australia. /T^HIS is a distinctly smaller form of Cracticus nigrigularis. The above description is taken -L from a specimen obtained at Port Darwin, and kindly lent by the Trustees of the South Australian Museum, Adelaide. In addition to its smaller size it may be furthermore distinguished by the black on the underparts not e.xtending so low down on the chest. In this respect it is similar to an adult male in the Australian Museum, collected by Mr. E. J. Cairn, near Derby, North-western Australia in 1886, but the wing measurement is 6-8 inches. This specimen appears to be intermediate between Cracticus nigrigularis and C. picatus, closely approaching 18 GYMNORHININ*. in size the former, but with the less amount of black on the chest as in C. picatus. The wing measurement of an adult male of Cracticus iiigrigiilaris, obtained by Mr. George Masters, in September, 1870, at Gayndah, Burnett River, Queensland, is but slightly larger than the Derby example, measuring 6-g inches, but the black feathers extend right on to the upper portion of the breast. The size of this species apparently agrees with the ordinary rule, that from the farther north they are found the smaller the birds. .\n egg of Cracticus picatus taken on the 22nd October, 1898, by Mr. E. Olive, near the Katherine River, in the Northern Territory of South Australia, and kindly lent by Dr. Charles Ryan of Melbourne, is oval in form and tapering somewhat sharply towards the smaller end, the ground colour being a pale olive-brown, which is finely dotted, spotted, and boldly blotched on the larger end with different shades of olive, umber, and blackish-brown ; over the remainder of the shell are uniformly distributed very fine dots and one or two blotches of umber brown. Length 1-27 x o'y2 inches. It is represented on Plate B VUL, fig. 10. Cracticus rufescens. RUFOUS OR BLACK CROW SHRIKE. Cracticus quoyi, (juv.)'! Ramsay, Proc. Linn. Soc. N.S.VV., Vol. II., p. 375 (1878). Cracticus rufescens, De Vis, Proc. Linn. See, N.S.W., Vol. VII., p. 562 (1883): Sharpe, Bds. New. Guin., Vol. IIL, pi 16 (1888) ; North, Proc. Linn. Soc, 2nd Ser. Vol. XXII., p. 56 (1897) ; Rothsch., Ibis, 1900, p. 374 ; Robins, and Laver., Ibis. 1900, p. 632. Adult (Dimorphic) — Forehead, croirn of the head, nape, hind-neck and centre of the xipper hack black, each feather with a rufous shaft streak, tvhich widens out considerably on the 7iape and hind- neck; lower back and rump dull broivn with a narrow rufotis shaft stripe and a broad indistinct tip of ochreous-hrotvn ; upper tail-coverts oclireous-rufous., ivith a ivell defined sub-marginal black bar ; scapulars and lesser iving-coverts oclireous-brown, with broken blackish-brown crossbars; median and greater coverts blackish-brown, centered and broadly tipped tvith ochreous-rufuus ; quills brown, margined with light rufous; tail feathers light rufotis, washed with dusky-brown on both webs of the central pair and on the outer ivebs of the remainder, becoming less pronounced toivards the lateral feathers; lores, feathers below the eye and the ear-coverts dull rufous with an indistinct whitish shaft- streak; throat and all the under surface pale buffy-brown washed with rufous on the sides of the chest, where some of the feathers are submarginally edged tvith dark brown; under tail-coverts light rufous; bill bluish-horn colour, blackish at the tip; legs and feet dark lead colour; iris hrotvn. Total length 13 inches, wing 6-7, tail 5'7, bill 2, tarsus 1'6. Others liavp the plumage entirely black, the feathers of tJie liead and upper and under parts having glossy bluish-black margins, less distinct on tlie abdomen. Distribution — North-eastern Queensland. / |(^HE range of Cracticus rufescens extends throughout the coastal scrubs of North-eastern J- Queensland, from Cape York in the north to the Herbert River in the south. Dr. Ramsay first drew attention to this bird at a meeting of the Linnean Society of New South Wales, in November 1877, but stated that he believed it to be the young of Cracticus quoyi. After describing it, he added the following note : — " The only thing in favour of this bird being a distinct species is the fact that on six different occasions some of our best taxidermists have collected during the whole season in districts in which C. quoyi is plentiful, without once having met with any bird in a similar stage of plumage." Subsequently, Mr. C. W. De Vis, M.A., described it as a new species, under the name of Cracticus rufescens, from specimens also obtained by Mr. Broadbent CRACTICUS. 19 in the TuUy and Murray River scrubs."- It is beautifully figured in the " Birds of New Guinea" from examples procured by the late Mr. T. H. Bowyer-Bower on the Mulgrave River. Specimens were also obtained by Messrs. E. J. Cairn and Robert Grant who were collecting in the same locality on behalf of the Trustees of the Australian Museum. Mr. Grant informed me that he usually met with this species on low lying lands, searching for insects among the fallen leaves in open parts of the scrub. During a period of eleven months collecting in that part of Queensland in 1888-9, he never saw two Rufous Crow-Shrikes in company, it was generally one rufous and one black bird, and there are two of these birds in the Australian Museum collection shot while feeding together in the scrub opposite Double Island. It is somewhat remarkable that attempts were made to refute this statement, by quoting the e.xperiences of other collectors in the same districts, who, it was stated, had never seen a rufous and black bird together, but always two rufous, or two black ones. Time, however, has proved that not only have they been seen in company, but young rufous and black birds have been found together in the same nest, while in other nests the young were all brown although the parents were black. This difference in colour I drew attention to in 1897, when describing the eggs and fledgeling of Cradicus vufescens, in the Proceedings of the Linnean Society of New South Wales. + They were received from Mr. J. A. Boyd while resident on the Herbert River, Queensland, who sent me the following note: — "On the 26th October, i8g6 a black gin brought me a pair of most peculiar eggs belonging to a species of Cracticiis, which the natives call ' Kulgo ' from its note. The male is a very noisy black bird, about the size of Eudynamis, the female brown. There is a great difference between the eggs, although in both the ground colour is very pale green. One is pyriform, with a lot of dark chocolate blotches on the larger end, and a band of green around the middle; the other is oval in form, a few ink-like markings taking the place of the blotches on the larger end, and the band around the middle is absent. Both eggs are heavily incubated, and one is broken in two places by the gin's teeth as she brought them down in her mouth. The nest, built between the trunk and a couple of branches of a small tree overhanging Ripple Creek, was a simple construction of twigs without lining, and showing daylight all through." The eggs forwarded by Mr. Boyd are as described above. The narrow green band around the centre of one egg is purely an accidental marking, for similar bands sometimes occur in the eggs of other species. Length (A) 1-45 x 1-05 inches; (B) 1-43 x 1-03 inches. In a subsequent letter, Mr. Boyd wrote: — "Why this Cractictis is caWed rufescens I do not know, certainly the female is reddish-brown but the male is jet black," and again, under 12th May, 1898, " I have lost my pair of Cracticus, I saw both the black and the brown bird several times after my return home. They may have gone away to avoid the severe winter, but I do not remember them migrating before." The late Mr. W. S. Day, who resided for many years at Kuranda, near Cairns, also wrote me as follows : — Cnuiicns rnfcsccus is fairly common at Riverstone, sixteen miles from Cairns, I have shot a lot of them, but got very few on the top of the range. The female is always brown, so is the young male, but the old male is black." Upon the authority of Mr. K. Broadbent, and the late Mr. T. H. Bowyer-Bower, Mr. C. W. De Vis and Dr. R. B. Sharpe respectively agree in describing the sexes of C. rufescens, as being nearly alike in colour. Why a Rufous and a Black Crow-Shrike, should always be seen together, if not in sexual distinction of one species, was a mystery to me, and owing to the birds being by no means common on the Herbert River, Mr. Boyd was unable to grant my request for a pair shot at the nest. Of the adult rufous skins in the Australian Museum collection, one is much darker on the upper parts than the other, having the feathers on the crown of the head, nape, hind-neck, and centre of the upper back black with a narrow rufous shaft stripe, widening out on the crown and * Proc. Linn. Soc. N.SW., Vol. VII., p. 562 (1883). t Proc. Linn. Soc. N.H.Wales, 2nd Series, Vol. XXII , p. 56 {1897), 20 GTMNORHININ.«. nape into an acute angled patch on the apical portion of the feather ; a broader submarginal black bar on the upper tail coverts and the median series, of the upper wing-coverts brownish- black with a broad tip and narrower shaft streak of light ochreous rufous ; on the foreneck is a dark brown submarginal line on some of the feathers. Judging by its wing-measurement 6-3 inches, I take it to be the younger of the specimens. The fledgeling is almost similar in colour. Writing from the Bloomfield River District, Mr. Frank Hislop remarks as follows: — "The Black and the Brown Butcher-birds are very common here. They are more numerous in the scrubs, mangrove flats, and swamps near the beach, but are often found in the open forest lands. Frequently a black and a brown bird are seen together, and my opinion is that they belong to one species, for their notes and habits are alike. Their food consists of lizards, frogs, insects, and small birds, they are also very destructive to the eggs of other birds. The nest is formed of sticks and lined with fibrous roots, and is generally built in the fork of a small tree at a height from twelve to twenty feet from the ground, and often in one growing near the water. They lay from two to four eggs for a sittmg, and nests with eggs have been taken from September to December. The native name for these birds is 'Calboo'." Absolute proof of a combined rufous and black, or intermediate stage of plumage, is given by Messrs. H. C. Robinson and W. S. Laverock who write as follow^s in "The Ibis"": — " It is after very considerable hesitation, that we have come to the conclusion that all specimens of the black Cradicus from Eastern Australia must be referred to C. nifcscciis, De \"is. This name, however, is rather misleading, as it is only the young bird that is rufescent. In the course of the last three months some thirty specimens have passed through our hands. Of these, three have been in the plumage figured and described as C. rufcsccns. In one specimen, however, several of the primaries were black, and in another the under wing-coverts were partially black. We had called Mr. Olive's special attention to this point, and he assures us that the C. rufcsccns in brown plumage sent from Bellender Ker was found associating with the black-plumaged birds, and that he had no doubt whatever that they were one and the same species, as he has stated on the label. The larger series of birds in black plumage present certain difficulties among them- selves, some being less lustrous than others, and having the basal portion of the flank-feathers greyer; but they cannot certainly be distinguished from the Port Essington and New Guinea bird, which is, however, black in every stage of plumage." Messrs. Robinson and Laverock are undoubtedly correct in referring both the black as well as the rufous species of Cracticiis inhabiting Eastern Queensland to Cracticiis rufcsccns, De \'is. I have examined black e.xamples from many intermediate localities between Cape York and the Herbert River, and rufous examples from the latter locality to the Endeavour River. Many writers have regarded this black form inhabiting North-eastern Queensland as Cracticns quoyi. Specimens of the latter now before me from the Laloki River, New Guinea may be distinguished by their duller plumage, the wings, tail and under surface being brownish-black, the brighter margins to the feathers on the upper parts are of a oil-green shade, and on the under surface, except on the sides of the breast they are almost obsolete. The wings and tail of the birds from North-eastern Queensland are darker than in C. quoyi, the margins of the feathers on the upper parts are glossy blue-black ; and they are almost as pronounced on the under parts as they are above. That this species is dimorphic in colour may be seen from the following information extracted from notes received by me almost simultaneously. Writing from Goondi Plantation on the Johnstone River, Queensland, Mr. E. H. Webb, remarks : — " I took several nests of Cracticus quoyi vel rufcsccns last season (1904), the nests each contained three eggs, and the birds I saw at them were all black. I noted a very few rufous birds about, they were always solitary, and I •The Ibis, 1900, p. 632. CRACTICUS. 21 never saw two together. On the 3rd January, 1905, I was on one of the North Barnard Islands and found a nest containing three young ones, two black and one brown. The black birds were extremely numerous, their musical notes being heard in all directions, but I never saw a fully adult rufous one. During my search through the scrub on two of the largest islands, I must have seen quite fifty of them. They were eating the eggs of Myristicivora spilorrhoa, the broken shells of emptied Pigeons' eggs being visible almost everywhere." Writing from Kuranda, near Cairns on the 21st February, 1905, Mr. H. Elgner sends me the following note: — "I took a nest of Craiiiciis ntfcsccns this season, containing three brown ones; both parent birds were black. Another nest I found at Honey Creek, also contained three brown young ones, and in this instance also the parent birds were black." From these facts it is evident that the young may be either black or brown. The eggs vary from oval to pyriform in shape, the sliell being close-grained, smooth, and lustrous. In addition to the eggs previously described by Mr. Boyd, the ground colour varies from very pale olive-green to dull olive-grey, which is distinctly spotted and blotched with various shades of umber and blackish-brown, intermingled with a few ink-like spots and under- lying spots of inky-grey, the markings as a rule being confined to the larger end of the shell. A set of two taken on the Mulgrave River, measure: — Length (A) 1-35 x 1-02 inches; (B) 1-35 X i*i inches. A rufous fledgeling received from Mr. Boyd, captured by a kanaka girl on Ripple Creek Plantation, on the 26th November, 1895, ^s almost similar in the character of its markings to the adult, but the rufous centres to the feathers on the upper parts are broader and darker, the quills and tail are dark brown, and all the under surface fawn colour, the feathers on the lower neck being narrowly margined with rufous-brown. Wing 4'5 inches. Gould was correct in stating that the northern coast is the only portion of Australia in which Cradkus quoyi has been observed. I have examined the type of Crndicus spaldingi. Masters* obtained near Port Darwin, and it is almost precisely similar to C. qiioyi from the Laloki River, New Guinea. The bill of the former is longer and shallower, and the wing-measurement about half an inch longer. If not identical, C. spaldingi is very closely allied to C. quoyi. From the Alligator River a not far distant locality from where the type of C. spaldingi was procured, Dr. E. Hartert has subspecifically distinguished a Black Butcher-bird under the name of Cradicus quoyi tunneyiA Judging from the description and the locality in which it was obtained, it appears to be the same as C. spaldingi, Masters, but to which Dr. Hartert makes no reference in enumerating the various forms of Cradicus quoyi. In the "Catalogue of Birds in the British Museum,"' Dr. H. Gadow places C. spaldingi, Masters, as a synonym of C. mentalis of New Guinea, and the latter name actually appears in a List of Australian Birds, purported by its compilers to be an authoritative one on the Australian avifauna. After Dr. Gadow states in his description of C. mentalis, that it is " somewhat like C. argcntcus," one would think even a tyro would hesitate to accept the name of C. spaldingi, (a bird having the head and upper parts dull black, and with dull rusty brown wings, tail, and under surface) as a synonym of that species. The two birds belong to entirely different sections of the genus. C. argenteus is a partially pied form with a silvery-grey back intermediate between C. nigrigularis and C. destrudor, whereas C. spaldingi is not only a much larger species, but as stated by Mr. Masters in his original description " at first sight might be taken for Crndicus quoyi. Lesson." • Proc. Linn. Soc. N.S.W , Vol. II., p. 271 {1877). t Nov. Zool. Vol. XII., p. 228 (1905). J Cat. Bds. Bri Mus , Vol. VII , p. 102 (1SS3). II Austr Assoc. Adv. Sci., Vol VII., p. 136 (1898 ) 22 PACHYCEPIIALIN.E. a-en-O-s Sub-Family PACHYCEPHALINyE. Pachycephala gutturalis. WHITE-THEOATED THICKHEAD. Turdus gutturalis, Lath. Ind. Orn. Suppl. p. xli. (1801). Pachycephala gultriralis, Vig. and Horsf., Trans. Linn. Soc, Vol. XV., p. 239 (1820); Sharpe, Hand-1. Bds., Vol. IV., p. 306 (1903). Adult male — General colour above olive-green; band on tlie hind-neck rich yellow slightly washed in the centre with olive-green; lesser wing-coverts black broadly margined witli olive-green ; the median and greater series black externally margined with olive-yellow ; quills black the secondaries broadly margined externally with olive-green, the primarie's narrowly edged with ashy-olive ; basal portion of tail feathers grey washed with olive-green, the apical portion blackish-brown tipped with grey; crown erf the head, nape, a line of feathers below the eye and ear-coverts black; throat white, followed by a black crescentic band on the fore-neck ivhich meets the black feathers on each side of the nape; remainder of under surface and the under tail-coverts rich gamboge-yellow, the sides of the breast slightly washed with olive-green; bill -black; legs and feet dark slaty-grey ; iris dark brown. Total length in the flesh 7 inches, wing o 75, tail 3 3, bill O'JfO, tarsus 0-9. Adult female — General colour above greyish-brown, slightly tinged with olive; upper wing- coverts and quills dark brown margined with dull olive; upper tail-coverts olive; tail feathers olive- brown; chin and t/iroat didl greyish-white, indistinctly barred with pale brotvn: chest and breast pale brown, centre of the abdomen dull whitish; under tail-coverts pale yelloiv. Distribution — Queensland, New South Wales, Eastern \'ictoria, (Western Victoria ?). LTHOUGH I have kept Pachycephala occidcntalis and F. mdanui-a, distinct from the present species, after an e.xamination of a large series of adult males of the yellow-breasted members of this genus, from different parts of the Australian continent, I find that they com- pletely intergrade with P. gutturalis, and I look on both as races of this species. Taking extreme types from the western and northern portions of the continent, one would have no hesitation in pronouncing P. occidcntalis and P. mclamira to be good and distinct species but if specimens are examined from a number of intermediate localities, it will be found that both gradually merge into the original F. gutluralis of Latham, the type of the genus. The same intergradation is also apparent in the females of these races, except in that of P. mclainira. Probably the type of P. gutturalis was obtained near Sydney, for Dr. Latham in his original description of the Guttural Thrush, in the Supplement to his "General Synopsis of Birds," remarks, "Inhabits New Holland; not unfrequently seen at Port Jackson in the winter months." The extent of olive-green on the basal portion of the tail feathers of the adult male varies from one half of their length to only a slight wash at their extreme base. In addition to their smaller size, typically the farther north the specimens are procured the richer they are in the gamboge-yellow colour of the under surface WHITE-THROATED THICKHEAD. PACIIYCKPHALA. 23 and the smaller the olive-green bases to the tail feathers, until it is reduced to a slight wash at the base of the feathers only. These characters are not however, constant, for one of the most brilliantly plumaged adult males I have seen was obtained by Mr. R. Grant, on the Bellinger River, New South Wales, and fully equalled in depth of colour others procured by him over eleven hundred miles farther north at Cairns, North-eastern Queensland. Some specimens from the latter locality, except in the smaller size of the bill, are indistinguishable from examples of P. melatmra; others ha^•e the characteristic olive-green wash to the basal portion of the tail-feathers. This variation in the extent of the olive-green wash on the tail-feathers is also found in specimens obtained in the same locality in the southern portions of the continent. The w'mg-measurement of adult males procured at Cairns varies from 3-35 to 3-45 inches. In a similar manner the band on the foreneck varies in width from a well defined zone of black feathers to a deep crescentic band. Of the latter type is an adult male in the Australian Museum collection, obtained at Port Mackay, yueensland, with a black band extending on to the upper portion of the breast and measuring nearly one inch in depth on the chest. A specimen in Mr. Edwin Ashby's collection, obtained at the Black Spur, Victoria, has with the exception of the extreme tips, the tail feathers black for four-fifths of their length, and their bases dark grey with a faint wash of olive-green; the under surface is as rich in colour as a specimen of P. mclanura in the South .\ustralian Museum collection, obtained on one of the islands of Torres Strait. Although Pachyccphalus gutturalis is found in the coastal scrubs and brushes, humid mountain ranges are the favorite haunts of this species, its range extending inland in New South Wales to the western slopes of the Blue Mountains. Near Sydney it is more abundantly distributed on the highlands on the Milson's Point Railway Line, and is also common in the damp gullies about National Park and Waterfall. It is possessed of cheerful notes, and from its habit of fre(]uently uttering them immediately after a peal of thunder, the report of a gun, or any other loud and sudden noise, it is known to many residents of New South Wales as the '-Thunder-bird." The brilliantly plumaged adult male is usually rather shy, except when engaged in the duties of incubation, which it shares with the female. When disturbed it resorts to some outspreading branch of a lofty tree, and generally keeps its duller coloured back to an intruder. Stomachs of these birds I have examined usually contained the remains of various kinds of insects, but principally beetles. In some, I also found a few small berries. The nest is an open cup-shaped structure, rather roughly formed externally, but neat and rounded on the inside, the rim or one side of the same being usually broad and nearly flat. The materials of which they are formed vary according to their situation, some are built throughout of Casuarina leaves, others externally of plant stems and rootlets, intermingled with skeletons of leaves, and portion of dead fern fronds, lined with finer material. An average nest measures externally four inches and a quarter in diameter by three inches and a half in depth, the inner cup measuring two inches and a third in diameter by two inches in depth. The nesting site is extremely varied, generally it is in the upright forks of a bush or low tree at a height varying from five to twelve feet from the ground, but on the i8th October, 1902, I saw a nest at Ourimbah, being constructed by an adult male in the outer leafy branches of a Lillypilly at an altitude of fully thirty feet. In South Gippsland I have often found them artfully concealed in the dead drooping fronds of a tree fern, but usually they are fairly conspicuous objects and easily found. Low trees in or near the margins of mountain gullies are favorite situations. At Bundanoon, on the gth November, 1894, I found a nest with the male sitting on two fresh eggs, and on the following day another nest with two incubated eggs, my attention being directed to the latter nest by the male bird whistling while sitting. At Eastwood, on the 24th October, iSyb, I found a nest with the male sitting on three fresh eggs. At Chatswood in company with Mr. C. G.Johnston we found 24 PACHTCEPHALIN.13. a nest built in a Forest Oak, (Casuavina suhcrosa) overgrown with Smilax australis, on whicli the female was sitting on two slightly incubated eggs, and another nest built in a Needle Bush (Hakea acicularis), containing two fresh eggs. On the 3rd October, in the same gully I found a nest with the female sitting on a chipped egg and a newly hatched young one, another on the 9th October with two young, and one on the 26th October with two fresh eggs. On the 25th November following I found a nest built on the frond of a tree-fern growing on the bank of a creek at Ourimbah. This nest was largely composed of fine green grass stems, and was constructed so far as I observed, entirely by the female, who later on very reluctantly left it when I stood underneath the fern to take the eggs. In September and October 1904, this species bred freely in orange and lemon trees close to the Roseville Railway Station. The nest and eggs figured on Plate A 9, were taken at Chatswood on the 23th September, 1898. The nest was built in a Lillypilly (Eugenia smithii ) growing in the bed of a creek, and the male was sitting on two eggs, which were slightly incubated. Outwardly it is formed of long dried plant stems with a slight admixture of spider's webs, the inside being scantily lined with fine dried grasses and a few thread-like leaves of Casitariim siiheyosa. The eggs are usually two, sometimes three in number for a sitting, oval or elongate oval in form, the shell being close-grained, smooth, and more or less lustrous. They differ considerably in the size, and distribution of their markings ; the ground colour usually varying from a pale creamy white to creamy-buff. One of the most common types is of a creamy or faint buffy-white ground colour, which is freckled, dotted or blotched with umber brown, with which are intermingled a few underlying spots of faint inky-grey, the markings predominating and becoming confluent on the thicker end where a well defined zone is formed; in others the markings are distributed almost uniformly over the surface of the shell. A very unusual coloured set of three I took at Childers in South Gippsland, from a nest built among some dead fern fronds, are of a distinct reddish-buff ground colour with umber and blackish-brown markings. Another set of two from Hastings, Western Port Bay, Victoria, are almost pure white, one having a cap, the other a penumbral rich umber-brown band on the larger end, and entirely devoid of the usual freckles, spots, or blotches. A set of two taken at Chatswood in September 1898, have numerous small underlying freckles and spots of dull bluish-grey, appearing as if beneath the surface of the shell which is unusually lustrous. One of the most remarkable eggs of this or any other species I have seen, is in a set of two taken in company with Dr. G. Hurst, at Heathcote, New South Wales, on the 29th October, 1886. The eggs are of a deep yellowish-buff ground colour, one having a broad band of dark umber brown blotches around the centre of the egg; the other, two distinct zones formed of dark umber brown spots, one being around the centre, the other on the smaller end, the ground colour on the larger end and between the zones passing into a pale creamy- white. Length (A) 0-96 x 071 inches; (6)0-95 x 07 inches. A set of two taken at Chatswood on the 7th September, 1898, measure: — Length (A) 0-9 x 07 inches; (B) 0-9 x o-6g inches. A set of three taken in the same locality, measure: — Length (A) 0-95 x 0-67 inches; (B) 0-95 X 0-68 inches; (C) 0-94 x o-68 inches. A fledgeling I obtained at Eastwood, while being fed by the female, is dull rufous above and below ; quills blackish-grey, the primaries narrowly edged e.xternally with ashy-white, and the secondaries broadly margined with dull rufous; tail dull rufous. Wing 2-2 inches. Young males resemble the adult female prior to assuming their distinguishing sexual livery. One I obtained at Roseville on the 26th June, 1902, is in almost the same stage of plumage as another procured two months later by Mr. R. Grant at Five Dock. Both specimens have the longer upper and under tail-coverts tipped with rufous ; the outer series of the greater wing- coverts rufous, both webs of the innermost secondaries broadly margined with rufous. In a further advance towards maturity these rufous tips and margins are lost, the upper parts and tail have an olive-green wash, and some of the feathers on the lower breast are yellow. PACHYCEFHALA. August and the four following months constitute the usual breeding season of this species. In the neighbourhood of Sydney, nests with eggs are plentiful in September and October, rarer in November, and are occasionally found as late as December. On the Blue Mountains nests with eggs are common in November; evidently two or more broods are reared during the season. Two adult males from Finniss and Mount Compass, South Australia, kindly lent by the Trustees of the South Australian Museum, are intermediate between the eastern and western species, but are more closely allied to P. occidcntalis. From the latter they vary in the darker breast, slightly darker grey basal portion of the tail feathers and the broader and slightly darker blackish-brown subterminal band. From typical examples of P. gidtuvalis, obtained in New South Wales, they may be readily distinguished by the total absence of the olive-yellow wash on the basal portion of the tail feathers, which is a uniform dark grey. I have distinguished this darker grey tailed form from South Australia under the name of Pachycephala meridioimlis. ■ It forms a connecting link between the species inhabiting New South Wales and its extreme western representative P. occidentalis. An adult male in the Australian Museum collection, obtained near Adelaide in June, 1887, measures — Total length 6-5 inches, wing 375, tail y2, bill 0-45, tarsus cSS. More recently I have examined a male and female of this intermediate form in a collection of birds made on Kangaroo Island, and kindly forwarded to me for examination by the Trustees of the South Australian Museum, Adelaide. Two eggs taken at Mount Barker, near .\delaide, are of a creamy-bufF ground colour, which is freckled, spotted, and blotched with rich umber-brown and a few small underlying spots of blackish-grey; the larger markings being confined, principally to the thicker end, where they are confluent and form well defined zones. Length (A) o-g x o-6i inches; (B) 0-92 X o'63 inches. Some specimens from ^^'estern Mctoria are almost similar to those from South Australia. A specimen in Mr. Edwin Ashby's collection procured at Lai Lal,\'ictoria, islike P. wcni/o/w/Zs, but having the faintest trace of an olive-green wash on the basal portion of the tail-feathers. Pachycephala occidentalis. WESTERN THICKHEAD. Pachycepliala guUuralis, (nee Lath.) Gould, Bds. Austr., fol.. Vol. II., pi. 6-1(1848); id., Handbk. Bds. Austr,, Vol. L, p. 207 (1865); Gadow, Cat. Bds. Brit. Mus., Vol. VIII., p. 192 (1883) (male). Pachycephala occidentalis, Ramsay, Proc. Linn. Soc. N.S.W., Vol. II., p. 212 (1878); Sharpe, Hand-1. Bds., Vol. IV., p. 306 (1903). Adult male — Similar to the adult male of Pachtcephala gutturalis, Gould, but having a paler yellow breast, the tail feathers grey for two-thirds of their length, without any olive ivasli, and the blackish-broivn subterminal band much narrower than it is in that species. Total length 6'75 inches, wing 3-8, tail S'l, bill 0^5, tarsus 0-9. Adult fem.ale — Similar to the adult female ofP. gutturalis, hut having no olive ivash on the upper parts of the body, ivings, and tail ; the centre of the breast, the abdomen and under tail-coverts biiff. Distribution — Western Australia. ~re) ONG before Pachycephala occidcntalis was separated by Dr.Ramsay from the eastern species, * V Gould had both figured and accurately described it in his folio edition of the '• Birds of Australia," under Latham's older name of F. gutturalis. Dr. Gadow's description of the tail of * Rec, Austr. Mus., Vol. V., p, 126 (1904 ) 26 PACHYCKPHALIN.E. the adult male of P. gnttiiralis in the " Catalogue of Birds in the British Museum, "'•= " basal wo- thirds of the tail grey, apical third blackish-brown, tipped with grey " is not applicable to that species but to the western form P. occidentalis. Moreover, Dr. Gadow writes, " I have copied Ramsay's description of P. occidcntalii, although the specimens from Western Australia in the Museum do not agree with his diagnosis." Canon Tristram commenting in "The Ibis"! on the Eighth \'olume of the Catalogue of Birds in the British Museum refers to this passage and remarli\-lv.— General colour abore grey, sliyhlly paler on the rump and upper tail-coverts; upper icing-coverts and quills blackish-broivn externally margined with grey; tail feathers blackish- brown externally edged and tipped with grey; head grey, with indistinct dark brown centres to the feathers; lores, feathers above and below the eye and the ear-coverts black; chin, cheeks and throat white, followed by a crescentic black band on the fore-neck which unites at the sides with the black ear- coverts; sides of the neck pale grey, remainder of the under surface and under tail-coverts light rufous- brown; bill black; legs and feel dark slate-colour; iris black. Total length in the flesh 675 inches, wing 3-75, tail 2-9, bill Oo, tarsus 0S2. Adult Female— C'eneraZ colour above brotvnisli-grey; lower back, rump and upper tail-coverts grey; quills and tail feathers brown externally margined with dull grey; lores broivnish- white; ear- coverts brown; chin, cheeks and throat dull zvhite, streaked with blackish-brown; remainder of the under surface buf, passing into a rich buff on the under tail-coverts; all the feathers on the breast and sides of the abdomen distinctly streaked with blackish-brown; bill broivn; iris black; legs slate colour the feet slightly darker. Distribtition.— Queensland, New South Wales, Mctoria, South Australia, Central Australia, Western Australia. "V^y ITH the e.xception of the northern and north-western portions of the continent, the M. 3L Rufous-breasted Thickhead is found in favorable situations all over Australia. It chiefly frequents open forest lands and lightly timbered scrubs, and is also a close attendant on the haunts of man. To a large extent its food consists of various kinds of insects and their larva?, sometimes alternated, according to the season, with small wild fruits and berries. While depending partially for its subsistence on a frugivorous diet, it never attacks cultivated fruits although it freely enters 30 PACHYCEPHALIN^. orchards and vineyards in search of insects. Most of its food is obtained among the branches of the larger Eucalypti and Casuarine, hopping along the limbs in a (luiet and unobtrusive manner, and searching among the crevices of the bark for insects in a similar manner to the Grey Shrike- Thrush ( Collyriocincla haiinonica). During the spring and summer months it is one of the first birds to usher in the morn with its lusty, bubbling melodious notes, followed by a clear whistle which is poured forth at intervals throughout the day. Often its song is uttered while perched on a moderately thick horizontal bough, one that viewed from below, little more than the bill and portion of the tail is visible. Like the preceding species, the rich and voluble notes are also poured forth almost simultaneously with any loud and sudden noise, as the discharge of a gun, or a peal of thunder, and shares with Fachycephala guttuvalis, the name of "Thunder Bird," In the neighbourhood of Sydney, it is also locally known as the "Little Thrush" and "Ring Coachman." The nest is an open cup-shaped structure, and usually somewhat scantily formed of long thin twigs and dried grasses, and lined inside with liner dried grasses or wiry rootlets. An average one measures three inches and a half in external diameter by two inches and a half in depth, and the inner cup two inches and a quarter in diameter by one inch and a half in depth. Some nests built in upright acute-angled forks are much thicker at the bottom ; but when not too high, the eggs are often visible through the sides of the nest. One I found at Canterbury, near Sydney, built about five feet from the ground in a gum sapling, and from which I flushed a bird, had the thin wiry rootlets and thread-like Casuarina leaves of which it was composed, so thickly matted together with pure white cobwebs, that I mistook it for a Honey-eater's nest, and it was not until one of the three eggs it contained had been withdrawn, that I was certain of its identity. The site is usually in an upright forked branch of any suitable tree ; generally a Casuarina, Melaleuca, Syncarpia, or Acacia is selected in the neighbourhood of Sydney, and its height varies as a rule from within hand's reach to fifteen feet, and occasionally as high as thirty feet from the ground. Mr. W. B. Barnard informs me that in Queensland he has found the nest of this species built among the sticks underneath the nest of the Whistling Eagle, Haliastur sphcnurus. Three is the usual number of eggs laid for a sitting, occasionally I found nests containing only two, and on three occasions sets of four. They are oval in form, the shell being close- grained, smooth, and lustrous. In ground colour they vary from a very pale olive to olive-brown which is freckled, spotted, or blotched with umber, sepia, and blackish-brown, intermingled with fainter subsurface markings of a similar character. In some specimens the markings are chiefly confined to a well defined zone around the larger end, but in others they are very small and sparingly sprinkled over the shell and barely distinguishable from the ground colour. In the size and disposition of their markings they vary as much as do those on the eggs of PachyccpJiala gntturalis. Typical eggs, however, may be easily distinguished from those of any other Australian species, e.xcept from those of their close ally P. falcata. A set of three taken at Canterbury, New South Wales, on the ist October, 1899, measures as follows : — Length (A) 0-87 x o-65 inches; (B) 0-85 x 0-65 inches; (C) 0-87 x 0-67 inches. A set of three taken at Chatswood, on the 3rd October, 1898, measure:— Length (A) 0-92 x o-65 inches; (B) 0-9 x 0-65 inches; (C) 0-91 X 0-68 inches. September and the four following months constitute the usual breeding season. In the neighbourhood of Sydney this species is a later breeder than P. gntturalis, and nests with fresh eggs are not uncommon until the middle of December, and may be found as late as the end of that month. They are, however, far more plentiful in October. At Chatswood I saw fledgelings on the 25th January, 1899, and young birds being fed by their parents on the 6th February. At Enfield on the 22nd December, 1897, I found a nest built four feet from the ground in a Melaleuca, containing three nearly fledged young, which scrambled out of the nest as I put my PACHYCEPIIALA. 31 hand towards them. They had the upper parts greyish-brown with dull rufous margins to most of the feathers, and the under surface white broadly streaked with smoky-brown; on each side of the crown of the head was a tuft of dusky-grey down. In young females, the last traces of immaturity are exhibited in the narrow rufous margins to the upper wmg-coverts, scapulars and some of the feathers on the back. Mr. George Savidge found a nest of this species at Copmanhurst, on the 26th October, 1896, containing three eggs, also an egg of the Pallid Cuckoo. In Goodlet's Bush near Ashfield, on the i2th December, i8g6, I saw a nest of this species in a Eucalyptus in which the female was engaged in feeding a nearly lledged PalHd Cuckoo. Pachycephala falcata. LUNATED THICKHEAD. Pachycephala falcata, Gould, Proe. Zool. Soc, 1842, p. 134; id., Bds. Austr., fol., Vol. II., pi. G8 (1848); id., Handbk. Bds. Austr., Vol. I., p. 213 (186.5); Gadow, Cat. Bds. Brit. Mus., Vol. VIII,, p. 205 (1883) ; Sharpe, Hand-1., Bds., Vol. IV,, p. 307 (1903). Adult male — General colour above yrey, diyhtly paler on the rump and upper tail-corerts; lesser iving-coverts like the hack, the median and greater coverts, and quills brown margined externally with ashy-grey; head grey ivith indistinct dark brown centres; lores and feathers beloiv the eye dusky- grey ; chin and throat white, followed by a narrow crescentic black band on the fore-neck ; remairider of the under surface fawn colour ; under tail-coverts pale faivn colour; bill (of skin) black; legs and feel broivn. Total length B'75 indies, wing S'^, tail 2 6, bill O'^S, tarsus O'S. Adult female — General colour above light brownish-grey, the rump and upper tail-coverts being of a slightly clearer grey ; upper luing-coverts like the back, thegreater series tvith brown centres; quills hrown. the outer ivebs of the primarieb' edged, and those oj the secondaries margined with ashy-grey ; tail feathers brown, narroivly edged with dull ashy grey ; lores dull w/iitish: feathers beloiv the eye and the ear-coverts brown; chiti and upper throat white; sides of the breast fawn colour ; remainder of the under surface and under tail-coverts white, slightly tinged ivith fawn colour, the feathers on the fore-neck and upper breast with a tiarrow streak of didl blackish-brown doivn the centre. Distribution — North-western Australia, Nothern Territory of South Australia, Northern Queensland. ^~|^HE range of the Lunated Thickhead, a close ally oi Pachycephala nifivcntris, e.xtends from J- the neighbourhood of the Herbert River, Queensland, throughout the coastal districts of the northern portion of that State, to the Northern Territory of South Australia, and North-western .Vustralia. There are numerous specimens in the Australian ^Museum collection, procured principally by Messrs. E. J. Cairn and Robt. Grant, near Cairns, Queensland, by Mr. A. Morton at Port Darwin and Port Essington, and by the late Mr. T. H. Bowyer Bower and Mr. E. J. Cairn in the neighbourhood of Derby, North-western Australia. I have also received from Mr. C. French, Junr., its nest and eggs taken near the Daly River in the Northern Territory of South Australia. Gould regarded P. falcata as the northern representative of P. nifivcntris, but in the report of the " \'oyage of H.M.S. Alert," Dr. Sharpe records two examples of the latter species from Port Darwin. Some adult males have the lores, feathers below the eye and the ear-coverts, much darker than others; also those on the breast, and the crescentic band on the fore-neck is narrower in the Derby than in the Port Essington specimens. Adult females procured near Cairns, North- eastern Queensland, have the upper parts of a clearer grey than others obtained at Derby, North- western Australia; and the under surface of examples from both localities, varies considerably in the depth of the fawn coloured wash and the width and extent of the dark brown central streaks. 32 PACHYCEPHALIN.B. The nidification of P. falcata closely resembles that of the preceding species. A nest received from Mr. J. A. Boyd while a resident of the Herbert River, Queensland, and taken by Mr. D. Cochrane, is a frail cup-shaped structure formed entirely of fine fibrous rootlets. It was built in a low tree and contained two fresh eggs. Another nest now before me taken near the Daly River in the Northern Territory of South Australia, on the 8th January, 1902, is externally constructed of dried plant stems and fibrous roots, the inner cup being neatly but sparingly lined with very fine dried grasses and rootlets. Externally it averages four inches in diameter, depth two inches, the inner cup measuring two inches and a half in diameter by one inch and a half in depth. In several sets received, two eggs constituted a full sitting, and in two instances the eggs were heavily incubated. They are indistinguishable from the smaller eggs of P. nifivadvis. They are oval in form, the shell being close-grained, smooth and more or less lustrous. The ground colour varies from a pale olive to olive-brown, over which is sprinkled freckles and spots of dull umber brown intermingled with small underlying markings of faint ashy-grey, the markings predominating at the thicker end, where in some instances they form a more or less well defined zone. In two specimens now before me, the spots are chiefly distributed on a penumbral band of a slightly darker shade of the ground colour around the thicker end. X set of two taken by Mr. J. Cochrane at Cairns, Queensland, on the 17th October, 1896, measures : — Length (A) 0-82 x 0-63 inches; (B) o-8i x 0-62 inches, .\nother set from the same locality, measure: — Length (.A.) 0-83 x 0-63 inches; (6)0-82 x 0-64 inches. A set in ;\Ir. C. French Junr's. collection, taken near the Daly River, in the Northern Territory of South .\ustralia, measure : — Length (A) 0-85 x 0-64 inches ; (B) 0-87 x 0-65 inches. In the Northern Territory of South Australia the breeding season of this as with most species is during the early months of the year. An immature male from Port Essington has the blackish-brown band on the fore-neck much broader, some feathers on the crown of the head white and a line of white feathers extending behind the eve, and meeting forms a w'hite band on the hind-neck. Pachycephala gilberti. GILBERT'S THICKHEAD. Pac/iycphala gilberti, Gould., Proc. Zool. Soc, 1844, p. 107; id., Bds. Austr., fol.. Vol. II., pi. 71 (1848); id., Handbk. Bds. Aust. Vol. L, p. 216 (186.5); Gadow, Cat. Bds. Brit. Mus. Vol. VIII,, p 210 (1883); Sharpe, Hand-1. Bds., Vol. IV., p. 308 (1903). Adult male — General colour above dark grey washed iritli olive, less distinctly on the head and rump; upper wing-coverts like the hack, the greater series with dusky brown centres and greyish-brown margins; quills dusky-brown, the secondaries externally margined with dull greyish-brotvn, and the primaries edged with whitybrown; upper tail-coverts dark grey; tail feathers greyish-brown; lores and feathers in front of the eye black; ear-coverts dark grey; cheeks, chin and throat dzdl rust-red; fore-neck grey, slightly tinged with sandy-buff; centre of the breast and the abdomen sandy-buff; remainder of the under surface grey, the sides of the body slightly darker; under tail-coverts sandy- buff'; "bill black; legs and feet black; iris bright red-broivn."— {Morgan). Total length 7-2-5 inches, wing If, tail So, bill 0-45, tarsus 0-9-5. Addlt female — Resembles the adult male but devoid of the black colouring on the lores; the rust- red patch on the chin and throat is absent, these parts being grey. Distribution — New South \\'ales, Mctoria, South Australia, Western .Australia. PACHYCKPHALA. 33 (^SLTHOUGH widely distributed, Gilbert's Thickhead is the rarest species of the genus J~ \. inhabiting the southern portion of the Austrahan continent. There are specimens in the Australian Museum collection obtained in Western and South Australia, and I have received on loan for examination a specimen from the South Australian Museum, Adelaide, obtained by the late Mr. F. Andrews on the Gawler Ranges on the 26th September, 1882, and an adult male procured at Xonning by Drs. A. M. Morgan and A. Chenery on the 5th August, 1902. The sandy buff patch on the centre and breast of adult males is variable in size ; in some it extends on to the sides of the breast and abdomen. The wing-measurement of five specimens now before me varies from 3-8 to 4'i inches. The outer webs of the secondaries of three examples are olive-brown, in the others dull greyish-brown. Relati\e to this species Dr. Morgan remarks, " Pachyccphala gilhciii seen from Xonning westward to the Gawler Ranges, but nowhere common. It has a clear whistling note like that of the other species of Thickheads but is readily distinguishable." On Kilfera Station in Western New South Wales, the late Mr. K. H. Bennett on the 3rd November, 1886, took three fresh eggs from a nest of this species formed inside an old nest of Pomatostomus, built in a Mulga about twelve feet from the ground. He found it ten days before by observing the tail of the bird projecting from the old nest. A nest received from ^Ir. C. French. Junr., taken on the 6th October, by Mr. Charles McLennan, on Pine Plains Station, in the Wimmera District, North-western Victoria, is an open cup-shaped, thick walled structure, and differs considerably in the lining used by other members of the genus. It is formed of thin strips and shreds of bark, and bark fibre intermingled with dried greyish-Avhite grasses, and is lined at the bottom with white plant down. Externally it measures four inches and a quarter in diameter by two inches and a half in depth, the inner cup measuring two inches and a quarter in diameter by ane inch and a half in depth. This is the only instance I have known of any species of Fachycephala forming a nest entirely of soft materials, typically they are made of thin twigs or strips of bark and lined with dried grasses or rootlets, and have a wiry consistency. Mr. McLennan informs me, however, that it is a typical example of the nests of this species he has found in the Wimmera District. It contained two eggs and was built in a Hop-bush (Dodoiica viscosaj, three feet from the ground. The eggs are usually two, sometimes three in number for a sitting, and vary from thick to elongate oval, some specimens being rather sharply pointed at the smaller end, the shell being close-grained, smooth and more or less lustrous. In ground colour they vary from pale yellowish- buff and yellowish-white to dull white, which is dotted and spotted more particularly on the larger end with blackish-brown, or light umber brown, intermingled with similar underlying markings of inky or bluish-grey. In some specimens the markings are uniformly distributed over the shell, but as a rule they are small and in the form of a band around the larger end. A set of two taken by Mr. C. McLennan, on the 6th October, 1902, at Pine Plains Station, in the Wimmera District, \'ictoria, measure as follows :— Length (A) 0-92 x 0-67 inches; (B) 0-95 x 0-68 inches. Another set taken by him in the same locality, measures; — Length (A) 0-95 x 0-65 inches; (B) 0-92 x 0-64 inches. A set of three taken by the late Mr. K. H. Bennett, in Western New South Wales measures: — Length (A) 0-95 x 073 inches; (B) o-gi x 071 inches; (C) 0-93 x 073 inches. \n egg in Dr. A. "SI. INIorgan's collection, taken at Euro Bluff, South Australia, in October 1900, is a swollen oval in form and of a pale cream ground colour, sprinkled over, particularly at the larger end, with irregular shaped dots of blackish and dark umber brown intermingled with similar but less numerous underlying markings of faint bluish-grey. Length 0-92 X 072 inches. The eggs of this species more closely resemble in form those of Fachycephala guUuraUs, and in colour and character of markings those of Artamus sovdidus. 34 PACHYCEPHALIN.E. In Western Australia, Gilbert found a nest with young as early as the middle of August, but from the authorities quoted, September to the end of November apparently constitutes the usual breeding season in the south-eastern States. Pachycephala olivacea. OLIVACKOUS THICKHEAD. Pachycephala olivacea. Vig. and Horsf., Trans. Linn. Soc, Vol. XV., p. 241 (1820); Gould, Bds. Austr. fol.. Vol. II., pi. 73 (1848); id., Handbk. Bds. Austr., Vol. I., p. 218 (1865); Gadow, Cat. Bds. Brit. Mus., Vol. VIII., p. 212 (1883); Sharpe, Hand-1. Bds., Vol. IV., p. 309 (1903). Adult male — General colour above dull olivaceous, slightly brigliter on the rump and upper tail-coverts ; upper wing-coverts like the back, the greater series dark greyish, excejit on the margins of their outer webs; quills dark greyish-broivn, margined externally with olive; the apical portion of the outer wehs of the outermost primaries narrowly edged with dull ashy-ichite ; fail-feathers duskybroivn with a strong olivacecus ivash, tvhich is more distinct on their outer webs; head and ear-coverls dark- grey ; chin and throat ivhite with dark grey bases to the feathers, and most of them having narrow blackish-grey tips; across the chest a tcell defined grey band connecting with tlie slightly darker grey feathers at the sides of the neck; remainder of the under surface fidvous-broini tvashed with olive on the sides of the breast and flanks; tinder tail-coverts fulvous-brown with an ochreous wash; bill dark brown; legs and feet brown ; " iris dull red" — (Atkinson). Total length in the flesh 8 inches, wing 8-85, tail 3-8, bill 1-52, tarsus 1-18. Adult female — Similar in plumage to the male, but u-ithont any grey band on the chest, irhich is fulvous brown like the breast ; the feathers of the head have an olivebrown wash. Distribution — Tasmania, some of the larger islands of Bass Strait, \'ictoria. and New South Wales. f |(^HE type oi Pachycephala olivacea described by Vigors and Horsfield, according to Dr. H. J- Gadow in the "Catalogue of Birds in the British Museum,"* is an adult male, and was obtained in Tasmania. The description there given agrees with Gould's figure of this species in the " Birds of Australia " and with several adult specimens received in the flesh from Mr. E. D. Atkinson of Waratah, Tasmania. There are two adult males in the Australian Museum collection, one obtained by Mr. G. Masters at the Clyde River, Illawarra District, New South Wales, 20th August, 1864, the other by Mr. J. A. Thorpe at Cambewarra Mountain in the same district, in November, 1881. Both specimens have a well defined grey collar across the chest connecting with the slightly darker grey feathers on the sides of the neck. On comparing them with the original description and Gould's figures, I concluded that it was a continental form of P. olivacea. Since then I have received a similarly marked adult male on loan from the Trustees of the South Australian Museum, obtained near Hobart, and one from Mr. Atkinson with a fainter indication of the grey collar on the chest. It is also slightly visible in a young bird, presumably a male, obtained in Gippsland. Apparently this grey band on the chest is a distinguishing character of the adult male. Both the Hobart and Gippsland specimens have a distinct greenish olive wash to the feathers next the dark grey feathers on the hind-neck. In addition to the above mentioned localities in New South Wales, Mr. Robert Grant obtained specimens at Lithgow on the Blue Mountains, and Mr. L. Harrison at Mount Irvine. There are also eggs in the collection taken in the New England District. An apparently adult female, judging by the measurements, has the greater wing-co\-erts and innermost secondaries margined with dull olive-chestnut. Wing 3-9 inches. Chestnut margins to the upper wing-coverts and fiuills are an indication of youth in most of the other Australian species of this genus. • Cat Bds. Brit. Mus , Vol. VIII., p. 212 (1885). PACHYCEPIIALA. 35 The undergrowth of humid mountain ranges is the favourite resort of this species, I obtained specimens of it in different parts of the Strzelecki Ranges, in South Gippsland, Victoria, and received its eggs during one of my visits to Childers, taken by Mr. Charles Mayo. Writing from Bellerive, near Hobart, Dr. L. Holden remarks: — '' Facliyccphala olivacea is numerous enough in the north-west corner of Tasmania where the rainfall is considerable, but I ha\e never seen it in the drier country east of the Derwent in the south. The wayfarer on the muddy track hears the note of this bird ringing out from the depth of the dripping scrub he is riding through. Both our Thickheads like thickly grown bush. If you want to find the nest of either, you had better look where the undergrowth is thickest and most involved with long grass at the bottom of the gully. I ha\e heard the Olivaceous Thickhead in such places on the flanks of Mount Wellington but not, as I have said, in the drier more open country to the eastward of Hobart. The note of the Olivaceous Thickhead varies between two and three syallables. It is sometimes twee-c-c-c-tcliow, the last syllable loud and sharp, and sometimes tu-wce-e-tcliow, and occasionally you may hear one uttering a long drawn plaintive whistle like a Cuckoo's. The nest is in a bush, often a tea-tree some five feet from the ground, made of twigs, and neatly lined with dry grass and rootlets. The eggs are pointed at the thick end and might be mistaken for a variety of the eggs of Collyriocincla rectirostris, but they are smaller, and the nest a smaller and neater structure. I have found it breeding in October and November." A nest in the Australian Museum taken by Mr. R. N. Atkinson, at Waratah, Mount Bischoff, Tasmania, is a large and compactly built open structure irregularly formed externally of long coarse twigs and strips of bark and a few dead leaves, the inside which is of a deep cup shape, being neatly lined with fine dried yellowish-white grass stalks. Excepting the ends of some long straggling twigs, it averages six inches and a half in external diameter by four inches and three-quarters in depth, and the inner cup three inches and a quarter in diameter by two inches in depth. In general appearance and size it resembles more the nest of Oreoica cristata or Collyriocincla harmonica, than that of the typical nest of a Pachycephala. With this nest Mr. E. D. Atkinson wrote as follows: — "The nest ol Pachycephala olivacea lam sending you, was found here by my son Mr. R. N. Atkinson, on the 17th October, igoj, and contained on that day one egg. On the i8th he took two eggs, and going for the nest the following day, took a third. The nest was about five feet from the ground and was in a bush oi Fagiis cunniiif^hami, as you will perceive. My brother the Rev. H. D. Atkinson of Evandale, Tasmania, informs me that he has found nests in scrub and low bushes, each with three eggs, from 24th October, to as late as the 2nd December." The eggs are two or three in number, of a pointed ellipse or swollen oval in form, tapering sharply to both ends, the shell being close grained, dull and lustreless. They vary in ground colour from bufify-white to a light creamy-buff, over which is sprinkled dots, irregular shaped spots, and small blotches of different shades of umber, with which are intermingled underlying markings of a dull violet-grey, all predominating around the upper end where they are confluent and form ill-defined zones. Others have the surface dots and spots smaller, more rounded in form and of a dark brown or almost brownish-black hue, and the underlying markings more numerous and larger than the outer ones and of a dark violet-grey. A set of two taken by Dr. L. Holden at Macquarie Harbour, Tasmania, measure alike :— Length (A) 1-13 x 079 inches. A set of two measure: — Length (A) roS x 076 inches; (B) 1-09 x 079 inches. From Dr. Holden and the Rev. H. D. Atkinson's notes, September and the four following months apparently constitute the usual breeding season of this species in Tasmania, but nests with eggs were more often found in October. I received eggs taken during the same month in Childers, South Gippsland, Victoria, and there are eggs in the Australian Museum collection, taken in the New England District, New South Wales, during November 18S7. 36 PACHYCEPHALINiE. Falcunculus frontatus. CRESTED SHEIKE-TIT. Lanius frontatus, Lath., Ind. Orn. Suppl. p. xviii. (1801). Falcunculus frontatus, Gould, Bds. Aust. fol. Vol. II., pi. 79 (1S48); id., Handbk. Bds. Austr., Vol. I., p. 228 (1865); Gadow, Cat. Bds. Brit. Mus., Vol. VIII., p. 173 (1883); Sharpe, Hand-1. Bds., Vol. IV., p. 302 (1903). Adult male — General colour above greenish-olive, slightly brighter on the loiver back, rump and upper tail-coverts ; lesser and median wiitg-coverts grey, indistinctly ynargined with greenish-olive ; greater wing-coverts and quills blackish-brown, broadly margined on tJieir outer ivebs ivith grey, the outer webs of the innermost secondaries entirely grey ; central tail feathers grey, the remainder hlackish-hroivii, externally margined with grey and narrowly tipped ivith white, excej)t the outermost feather on either side ivhich is light grey with the outer web and a broad tip zvhite; forehead, a narrow line of feathers in front of the eye, crown of the head and nape deep black, bordered below by a broad white stripe ivhich evtends above the eye along the sides nfthe head and meets on the nape, and followed by a broad black band commencing beloiv and beldnd tlie eye and extending beyond the ear-coverts ; a large spot behind the nostril, and a broad malar stt'ipe, white; chin, throat, and fore-neck deep black; remainder of the under surface bright yellow slightly tinged with olive, which is more distinct on the sides of the chest; under tail-coverts bright yelloiv; bill black; legs and feet leaden-grey; iris rich brown. Total length in the flesh 7-5 inches, wing 3'7, tail 3-2, bill 0-65, tarsus 0'S5. Adult female — Similar in plumage to the adult male but liaving the chin grey, and the throat and fore-neck greenish-olive instead of black; legs and feet pale leaden-grey. Distribution — Queensland, New South Wales, Victoria, South Australia. /"I^HE Crested Shril^e-Tit is freely distributed over -L the ,L(reater portion of New South W'ales, its ran,t;e extending in a nortlierly direction into (Queens- land, and south to Victoria and South Australia. It is a resident species and is particularly plentiful in the tall Eucalypti and sapling scrubs of the coastal districts, and nowhere is it more abundantly distributed than in the neighbourhood of Sydney. Usually it is met with in pairs, and although chiefly resorting to tall timber it is by no means a shy species, and may be seen, the male with crest erect, fearlessly searching for insects among low trees only a few feet away from an onlooker. On the highlands of the Milson's Point Railway Line, much of its food is obtained from the old moss-grown fruit trees in abandoned orchards. Stomachs of the birds I have examined contained only the remains of insects and their larv;f. It usually utters a plaintive note several times in succession, varied by the male, more particularly during the spring, with some low but decidedly musical notes, There is but little variation in colour in specimens obtained in different parts of the continent, but some have the white stripes on the sides of the head and cheeks much broader than others. An adult male in the Australian CRESTED .SHRIKE-TIT. FALC'UNCULUS. 37 Museum collection obtained on Ash Island, at the mouth of the Hunter River, New South W'ales, has these characters so pronounced that the usual intervening black band extending behind the eye on to the sides of the neck is reduced to a narrow line of feathers. The wing-measurement of adult males varies only from 3-6 to 3-8 inches, but there is a marked difference in the tail- measurement which varies from 3 to 3^4 inches. The figure represents an adult male. The nests when newly built are exceedingly neat and beautiful structures. They vary in form from a deep cup-shape to an inverted cone-siiape with a cup-like cavity at the top, and are as a rule slightly contracted at the rim. Outwardly they are usually composed of very fine yellowish-white inner bark of a Eucalyptus, and are lined inside with narrow strips of red stringy-bark and fine grass stalks, the outer portion being more or less coated with the pale greenish-grey lichen, Usnea barbata, over which is spread a moderately thick covering of pure white web and egg-bags of spiders. An average cup-shape nest measures externally three inches in diameter by three inches in depth, the inner cup measuring at the rim two inches, and in depth two inches. The nest figured on Plate A 10, is of inverted cone form, and was taken at Belmore on the 22nd September, i8g8. Of six nests now before me, two are of an inverted cone- shape similar to the one figured, and four are of the deep cup-shape. They are built at or near the junction of a two or more pronged thin leafy upright branch, the bark of which is bitten away by the bird with its powerful bill, so as to more securely attach the structure. This species has also a curious habit of biting off the tips of the leafy twigs above the nest, generally to a uniform height and for a space averaging eighteen inches in diameter. The nests are built in the topmost twigs of a long slender branch of a Eucalyptus or gum sapling, at a height varying usually from twenty to fifty feet, although I have occasionally found them higher, and in one instance, on the 4th November, 1893, at Belmore, at an altitude of fully one hundred feet. This nest was situated in the topmost leafy twigs of a huge gum tree, and my attention was drawn to it by seeing the male either bringing material or food for young ones, to the female, who was sitting in the nest. Apparently the latter was finished, although the female, frequently shifted herself as if paying attention to young ones or was occupied in the construction of the nest. In the same locality a nest containing three fresh eggs was taken on the 28th November 1894, and two nests found on the loth and i8th December following containing respectively three and two young ones, also a nest with three fresh eggs on the 3rd October, 1896. Two nests started by the same pair of birds were destroyed by cutting off the leaning branches in which they were built, both being in inaccessible positions. Mr. D. Swift brought me two nests he had taken at Kingsgrove, on the nth and 21st September, 1897, the former contained one fresh egg which was broken in lowering the branch in which the nest was built, the latter three fresh eggs. In both instances the nest was built in a Narrow-leaved Ironbark, one at thirty and the other at twenty feet from the ground. At Chatswood, a nest I had under daily observation, in September and October 1898, was built in the topmost lofty twigs at the end of along slender upright branch of a Rough-barked Apple Tree (Angophora intciiucdia }. Three weeks elapsed from the com- mencement of the nest until the female began to sit. \i Belmore I have known birds after being robbed of their eggs to construct and complete another nest in ten days. At Roseville I found a nest on the i6th September 1900, built in an inaccessible position in a.n Angophora. Although the nests of this species are by no means common, they are easily found when one knows where to look for them, and the birds are located in the breeding season. The difficulty is to secure them, and this as a rule can only be done by cutting off" the branch and gently lowering the structure, a feat not easily accomplished in the topmost branches of a tree. A nest at Chatswood Mr. C. G. Johnston had been watching, in which the female had been sitting for several days, was after an hour's work spent in lowering it from the topmost branches of a tall Angophora intermedia, found to be empty. Mr. S. W. Moore had a similar experience with a nest built in the top of a sapling at Eastwood. The latter nest is now in the Group Collection of the Australian Museum. 38 PACHYCEPHALIS.B. The eggs are usually three, sometimes onl}* two in number for a sitting, elongate oval in form, the shell being close-grained, smooth and lustreless. They are white, over which is sprinkled dots, freckles, and irregular shaped spots of pale brown, brownish and slaty-black and inky-grey, the markings predominating at the larger end, where they frequently assume the form of a well defined zone, some specimens also having short irregular streaks or hair-lines. In others, the markings are almost invisible, consisting of fine pepper and salt dustings of slaty and brownish-black, while specimens may be found with bold bran-like markings and blotches of the same colours intermingled with underlying spots of slaty-grey, the latter somewhat resembling a variety of the eggs of the introduced House Sparrow (Passer domcsticus ). At set of three taken at Canterbury, on the 3rd October, i8g6, measures : — Length (A) 0-98 x o-68 inches; (B) o'g4 X 0-67 inches; (C) o-g8 x 0-67 inches. Another set of three taken in the same locality on the 2ist September, 1897, measures: — Length (A) 0-92 x 0-65 inches; (6)0-91 x o-66 inches; (C) 0-92 x o'67 inches. Two broods are probably reared during the breeding season, which commences m August, and lasts until the end of December or middle of January. At Harcourt near Canterbury, New South Wales, I saw two young ones on the 31st December, 1893, being fed by their parents, also two more at Eastwood on the following day. The notes of the young ones resemble the alarm notes of the Yellow-breasted Robin (Eopsaltria austridis). Falcunculus leucogaster. WUITK- BELLI ED SHRIKE-TIT. Falcunculus leucogaster, Gould, Proc. Zool. Soc, 1837, p. 144; id., Bds. Austr., fol., Vol. II., pi. 80 (1848); id. Hand-bk. Bds. Austr., Vol. L, p. 228(1865); Gadow, Cat. Bds. Brit. Mus., Vol. Vlir., p. 174, (188.3); Sharpe, Hand-1. Bds, Vol. IV., p. 302 (1903). Adult m.a.le — General colour above yelloivish-olive, sliglitly brigliter on the lower back, rump and upper tail-coverts : itpper iviug-co verts blackis/i brown externally margined ivitJt yelloivisli-olive, passing into yellowisli-ivli ite on the apical portion of the greater series; quills blackish-broivn, margined externally with yellowish-olive, a narroiv edge on llie apicat portion of the outermost primaries and the tips of the innermost secondaries almost pure ivhile; central tail feathers yelloivisli -olive, the remainder blaekish-broivn externally margined tvith yellotvlsh-olire and narroivhj tipped iL-ith ivhite, except the outermost feather on either side which is light brownish-grey with the outer iveb and a broad tip white; feathers above the eye, crown of the head and centre of the nape luhite, followed by a broad black band commencing belotv and behind the eye and extendiny on to the sides of the neck, and bordered below by a broad wliite stripe; chin, throat and fore neck black; chest bright yellow, lower portion of the breast and the abdomen wliite; bill black; "legs and feet greenish -bbie : iris loood brown." — (Gould). Total length 6'S inches, wing S'o, tail 33, bill 6, tarsus OS. Adult female — Similar in plumage to the male but having t/ie chin, tliroat, and fore neck dark grey was/ied ivitli olive-green, instead of black. Distribution — Western .\ustralia. / |(^HE present species is an inhabitant of the south-western portions of the continent, -L representing there Falcunculus frontatus of Eastern Australia, and from which it may be distinguished by its white lower breast and abdomen, and the olive-yellow margins to the quills and tail-feathers. There are specimens in the Australian Museum collection obtained by Mr. George Masters, at King George's Sound, and Mongup, Salt River, Western Australia in i86g. Mr. Master's observations on this species bear out what Gould has already remarked of it in his "Handbook to the Birds of .\ustralia " that "the habits in fact of the White-bellied and Frontal Shrike-Tit are so closely similar, that a further description is unnecessary. Gilbert OKKOK'A. 39 while staying in tlie Toodyay District in tlie month of October, found the nest of this species among the topmost and weakest perpendicular branches of a Eucalyptus, at a height of fifty feet ; it was of a deep cup-shaped form, composed of the stringy-bark of the gum tree, and lined with fine grasses, the whole matted together externally with cobwebs."- A set of three eggs in Mr. G. A. Keartland's collection taken by Mr. E. J. Harris, near Bunbury, Western Australia, are o\al in form, one specimen being slightly elongated and somewhat sharply pointed at the smaller end, the shell being close-grained smooth and lustreless. They are almost pure white, over which is sprinkled dots and spots of slaty-grey, slaty-black and sepia, the markings predominating at the larger end, where on two of them are fairly well defined zones; on the other the principal markings are in the form of small blotches, which are irregularly scattered over the larger end. Length (A) 0-89 x 0-64 inches; (B) o-g X 0-62 inches; (C) 0-97 x 0-67 inches. The eggs of this species are indistinguishable from those of the Eastern Australian representative of this genus, Fahiiiiailus fiviifntus. C3-erL-u.s OISEOIO-A., GouUl. Oreoica cristata. CRESTED BELL-BIRD. Turdus cristatus, Lewiti, Bds. New Holl. pi. 9 (test,' Uoukl). Oreoica yutturalis, Gould, Bds. Austr., fol.. Vol. II., pi. 81 (1848). Oreoica crUnta, Gould, Handbk. Bds. Austr., Vol. I., p. 231 (18G.5); Gadow, Cat. Bds. Brit. Mus., Vol. VIII., p. 174 (188.3); Sharpe, Haud-1 Bds., Vol. IV., p. 303, (1903). Adult .male — General colour above brown; wings brown, the basal portion of the innerviost primaries indistinctly edged on the outer web with dull yellotvish- green, the innermost secondaries margined with whity- broivn: upper tail-coverts brown, indistinctly margined with buff'y-fawn ; tail feathers dark brown margined externally with dull wax-yellow; forepart of the head and a broad stripe down tlie centre extending beyond the nape black: sides of crown grey; ear-coverts and sides of neck brownish-grey ; a large loral patch white; chin and upper portion of tite throat white, bordered by a line of black feathers extending from the gape below the eye and /nining wiili the black feathers of the lower throat; foreneck atid chest brownish-black; centre of the breast and abdomen white; sides of breast greyish-brown, tinged with sandy- ^'"ff>' flanks, vent and under tail-coverts sandy-buff; bill blach: legs and fe-t dark horn colour; his bright orange. Total length in the flesh 9 inches, wing If-2, tail S-S, bill 0-7, tarsus 1. Adult FEJiXLV.-Resembh'S the male, but has the foreh<-ad, lores, and feathers below the eye and cheeks brown; centre of the upper throat dull white, and the fore neck and chest broivn. Distribution— QMeens\^.nd, New South Wales, Victoria, South Australia, Central Australia, Western and North-western Australia. CRESTED ISELL-IilRD. * Gould, Handbk. Bds. Austr., Vol. L, p 230. (1S65). 40 PACHYCEPIIALIN*. ^N favourable situations the Crested Bell-bird is distributed over the greater portion of Jl Australia. In New South Wales it gives decided preference for inland open forests and belts of timber growing on the plains, and does not occur near the coast. Its food consisting of various kinds of insects and their larvae, is obtained either on the ground, over which it proceeds in a similar manner as CoUyriocinda harmonica, or among the larger branches of trees. The powers of ventriloquism of this bird are truly wonderful. Its singularly low, mournful and plaintive note, now rising, now falling, appears to be a long way off, and it is not until it has reached its fullest and highest bell-like tones, that one may discover the bird perched motionless on a branch only a few yards away. I first heard the note of this bird at Yendon in Victoria, when otherwise only the hum of insects broke the stillness of a sultry afternoon in November. It appeared to be some sixty yards in front of me, arriving at the spot, it seemed to be the same distance at the back of me. Eventually the bird was discovered sitting motionless on a lateral dead branch of a gum tree, close to where I first heard it calling. Mr. G. A. Keartland writes me as follows : — ''Oreoica cristata is a solitary bird, and excepting breeding time, even avoids the company of its mate. Although I frequently saw these birds throughout the rambles of the Horn Scientific Expedition in Central Australia, from Macumba Creek in the south to Alice Springs in the north, and as far as Glen Edith westward, I only once observed a pair in company. It was soon after sunrise, and they were hopping over the ground in a very pert lively manner in quest of insects. With crests erect they occasionally gave forth their monotonous note as they moved from place to place quite regardless of my presence. That they are indifferent to the proximity of water is evidenced by the fact that during the trip of the Calvert Exploring Expedition across the Great Desert of the north-west, we frequently passed a dozen nests in a day. They were open cup-shaped, built of small twigs or grass stems and placed in the fork of a sapling, usually about four feet from the ground. The Onoica is a wonderful ventriloquist. On one hot day (i6th October, i8g6) a male bird alighted amongst the foliage of a tree within eighteen feet of where we were lying under our tarpaulins and kept us all amazed by the manner in which he threw his notes in various directions. Sometimes a low soft note came from the east and the next moment a loud one was heard from the north, from a spot where there was nothing but bare sand. At other times the sound was heard close to our faces. He thus occupied himself for over an hour, when he was accidently disturbed. Although I have occasionally seen or heard it as far south as Melton in \'ictoria. it is much more at home in the arid portions of Central and Western Australia." It is particularly plentiful in the neighbourhood of Wellington and Dubbo, and Mr. E. H. Lane has found a large number of its nests during the many years he has occupied Wambangalang Station, distant about twenty miles from the latter town. The late Mr. K. H. Bennett, writing in 1889, remarks: — "When Yandembah Station was first occupied in 1S64, Oreoica cristata was plentifully dispersed throughout the clumps of timber and scrubby sand-hills scattered over the plain, but for the past eight or nine years it has entirely disappeared. It might be thought that the occupation of the country would account for its absence, but if so, it is hard to reconcile this cause with its constant presence in the well stocked and timbered back country some fifty miles away, where it always has been, and is still. numerous." W^ritingfrom Broken Hill, in south-western New South Wales, Dr.W. Macgillivray remarks: — " I have not noted this bird myself, as the country is unsuitable to its habits within easy reach of Broken Hill. Mr. Gayer found numbers of them on his trip. He states that the birds were numerous, and their nests quite common. The nest was usually placed in the fork of a mulga or on a horizontal branch from three to ten feet from the ground. It was very perfectly made of strips of bark lined with fine rootlets. One contained, or was rather decorated with a lot of dead caterpillars." From South Australia Dr. A. M. Morgan sends me the following note : — " During a trip taken by Dr. Chenery and myself to the Mount Gunson District, from Port .-Vugusta, in August 41 igoo, Oiroiai cristata was a very common bird in tlie scrub, and its note was to be lieard from sunrise to sunset. At Arcoona on the Sth August, the only nest was found, in which the female was sitting on a cracked and dried up egg. The nest was built in an old one o[ Pomatostomus supevciliosus, and the lining much resembled that of the nest of Collvrii'cinila IiannoniLa." In 1894 during the journey of the Horn Scientific Expedition, Mr. G. A. Keartland met with it in Central Australia, and again in iSyfi in North-western Australia, while a member of the Calvert E.xploring Expedition, when it was observed from Mullawa to the Fitzroy River. Specimens obtained by him in North-western Australia are very much paler than examples procured in the south-western portion of the continent, and the breast and abdomen are white with only a slight wash of sandy-buff on the sides. Wing 4 inches. Writing from Point Cloates, North-western .\ustralia, Mr. Tom Carter remarks r—O/wica cristata, is a common species both on the coast and inland. In the winter months numbers of these birds may be heard uttering their ventriloquial notes all day long. They nest from June to September. I have taken their eggs as early as the nth June, and I have seen the male bird assisting in the task of incubation. When disturbed he slipped quietly off the nest, and getting a few yards away commenced to call. It is usual to find hairy caterpillars in the nests of this species." The nest is of a deep cup- t» -^l^ygj^H |u i«wv SB8^ JVWW//' i^^^'""^*? shape, and is irregularly formed ^"'\ '^Hfcv^^rl "" , '.^^''i^/^'Ky ^^^*'**. externally of long thin sticks and \ ^Sta^Vi^ivi^V-^S?^-*^''' 4Jfiy.M"' 'd »' l^vigs, the inner wall being tormed of strips of bark, and the cup-like cavity is neatly lined with finer strips of bark and fibrous rootlets. I'sually it is built in a forked branch, or between thin hranchlets and the trunk of a tree, sometimes on the top of a hollow stump, when it is formed of bark and stems of fibrous roots only, at a height varying from three to thirty feet from the ground. In Western .Australia, Gilbert found it built in Grass-trees ( Xanthorrhcea sp.) both in the crown among the leaves, or in the fork of the trunk. As will be seen by Dr. Morgan's note, it also relines the abandoned nest of another species. The nest figured was taken by Mr. E. H. Lane on Wambangalang Station. The structure proper, exclusive of the long thin straggling twigs which stand out at all angles around it, measures externally five inches in diameter by six inches in depth, and the inner cup four inches by two inches and a half in depth. During October and November 1882, Mr. Lane found seven nests containing eggs. In each instance the nest was built between the trunk of a ring-barked tree, and at the base of newly formed limbs growing from under the ring mark, the nest averaging from three to four feet from the ground. I he eggs are two or three in number for a sitting, oval in form the shell being close-grained smooth, and almost lustreless. Typically they are of a faint bluish-white ground colour, but NE.ST OF CRESIKI) IIKLI.III UI>. 42 CEKTHIID.E. they vary from almost pure white, to in rare instances, a deep bluish-white, and have rounded black dots, and spots, or large irregular-shaped blotches intermingled with others of a bluish or inky-black hue. In some specimens the markings are small and evenly distributed over the shell, in others they are larger but less numerous, forming confluent patches in places, in others they predominate on the thicker end, but seldom assume the form of a zone. Of the latter type is a set now before me, having an interwoven wreath on the larger end formed of ill-shaped black figures, crescents, and short hair lines, the remainder of the shell being entirely devoid of markings. .\ set of three taken by j\Ir. Edward Lord Ramsay, on the 28th September, 1887, at Louth, New South Wales, measures : — Length (A) 1-03 x 0-79 inches; (B) 1-07 x o-8 inches; (C) o'g7 X 0'77 inches. A set of three taken by Mr. E. H. Lane on Wambangalang Station, near Dubbo, in October, 1892, measure: — Length (A) 1-12 x o'83 inches; (B) i-i x o'8 inches; (C) i'i2 x 0-82 inches. Mr. C. G. Gibson informs me that in 1905, he found nests being built in the Erliston District, Western Australia, on the 12th August; two others, each with three young ones, on the 30th August and 2nd September; and on the gth September, one with two considerably incubated eggs. One nest was built in the fork of a sandalwood tree, the others in the tops of hollow stumps. Young birds resemble the adult female, but have the feathers on the fore neck distinctly streaked with white, and the upper tail-coverts sandy-buff. Immature males have an admixture of.brownish-grey feathers in the gorget-shaped marking on the lower throat and breast, and which is not so dark or well defined as in the adult male. Erom September to December constitutes the usual breeding season in New South \\'ales and (Queensland, but the late Mr. K. H. Bennett took a set of three eggs at Ivanhoe in Western New South Wales, on the lyth March, 1887. In Central Australia, Mr. C. Ernest Cowle took, after recent rains, eggs in ^larch and April, and in North-western Australia ^Ir. T. Carter noted nests with eggs from June to September. Family CERTHIID^. Climacteris picumnus. BROWN TREE-CREEPEK. Cliniac/eris picumnus, (TeDiiii.), Vig. and Horsf,, Trans. Linn. .Soc, \^ol. XV., p. 295 (18l'6); Temm., PI. Col. -281, (ig. 1 ; Sliarpe, Hand-1. Ms., Vol. IV., p. ;3.57 (1903) Climacteris scandens, (nee Temm.) Gould, Bds. Austr., fol., Vol. IV., pi. 9.'5 (1848); id., Handbk. Bds. Austr, Vol. I., p. 598 (1865). Climacteris Ifucop/ma, Gadow, Cat. Bds. Brit. .Mas., \'ol. VIII., p. 336 (1883). Adult male — General coluwr above fartli-broicn, sHy/il/y richer in colour on the rump aud upper tail-coverts; upper iving-coverts like the back, some of the onU-r greater cow.rts ivitli darker brown centres; quills bro/rn, blackish-broum at the base, all but the two outermost primaries and the t/co innermost secondaries crossed in the centre with a broad band of buff, the third, fourth and fifth primary having this band on the inner ueb otdy, n-Iiich is succeeded by another of blackish-brown ; tail feathers bro/m crossed with a sublerminal band of blackish-broirn, narrou-er towards the central pair, where it is reduced to a large oval spot of dull blackish-brown, the tips of the inner webs slightly paler; forehead, crown of the head, nape, and hind-neck dull greyish-broirn, paler at the sides; lores CLIMACTKKIS. 43 b/acA-u/i: '« broad supercilary stripe, fmthers belo/r thr eye and the ear-cocerts fami colour, the apical portion of some of the latter with dark broicn margins; chin, cheeks and upper throat pale buff, the apical portion of the feathers at the base of the latter spotted icith blackish-bronm ; a broad band across the fore neck and chest greyisli-brown; remainder of the under surface bufty-brown passing into a clear buff on the flanks, each feather with a broad dull white central stripe bordered on either side with a narrow lineof black: under tail-coverts dull irhife, margined irith rich buff and conspicuously barred tvith blackish-brown: bill greyish-black : legs and feet dusky-grey; iris blackish-brown. Total length in the ffesli 7J indies, iriug SS, tail 2-7, bill 65, tarsus 0-9. Adult fk^iale- Differs in phi mag" from th,' malf in having the tips of the feathers at the base of the upper throat margined at tin- sidea untli dull chestnut. Distribution — Queensland, New South Wales, \'ictoria, South Australia. /-f^ElMMINCK figured and described this species in his " Planche Coloriees,"- also on the J- same plate figured another well known Australian Tx&e-cveeYitx, Climaderis scandens. As I pointed out in 1896,1 Gould in his folio edition of the "Birds of Australia," and also in his "Handbook," unfortunately transposed these specific names. The birds figured by Gould under the name of Chmadcns scaiidens, and vernacularly as the Brown Tree-creeper, are in reality the true C. piciiiiniiis of Teniminck, the present species. The Brown Tree-creeper is freely dispersed over southern Queensland, nearly the whole of New South Wales, Victoria, and some parts of South Australia. It evinces decided preference for sparsely timbered forest lands, with open grassy glades, and partial clearings in mountain ranges, situations favourable for procuring an abundant supply of insects and their larvK, which constitute its food. In the coastal districts this Tree-creeper is met with singly, or in pairs, traversing the perpendicular trunks of the large Eucalypti with the greatest ease, and occasionally engaged in searching for small beetles, spiders, and ants on the grassy sward beneath some wide spreading tree. As a rule it commences at the base of a large tree trunk, and working quickly round in spiral curves, or in a zig-zag manner, soon reaches the larger branches, and after subjecting them to a hurried examination, flies off, and commences similar operations again at the foot of another tree. Although it runs over the trunk of a tree with wonderful speed, it stops ever and anon to pry into the nooks and crevices of the roughened bark, and among others, many a wood-borer or timber destroying insect is captured. The undoubted good this, and all other species of the genus do in ridding our valuable timber trees of many injurious insect pests should ensure for them absolute protection. The late Mr. K. H. Bennett writing from :\Iossgiel, New South Wales, remarked:— " The Brown Tree-creeper is an extremely common bird in some localities in this district, but only where large gum or box trees abound, such as the banks of rivers, and which appear essential to its existence. In the timbered back country it is exclusively confined to the box clumps dotted here and there, and is never found in the surrounding forest of Cnsiianim. Myopoyiim, and other trees, its place being there taken by CUiimctcris ajthrops." Mr. George Savidge sends me the following note from Copmanhurst, Clarence River:— "On the 25th October, 1896, I saw a Brown Tree-creeper dart from a stump and capture a passing insect, after the manner of the Flycatchers, and then return to the stump. It is evident therefore that this species obtains some of its food on the wing." Mr. E. H. Lane writes me :— "Although the Brown Tree-creeper is very common m the Dubbo District, its nesting place is not so easily found. This is owing to the habit of the bird prying into almost every hollow that comes in its way, thus misleading one and causing many fruitless climbs, unless one sees it carrying building material for its nest. I have found several * PI. Col., 281, fig. I. t Town and Counlry Journal. Sydney, October 24th, 1896. 44 CERTIIIID.«. nests, down the hollows of old posts of dismantled huts, as well as in the round corner posts of old fences. Two or three eggs are laid for a sitting, more often the latter number." The decaying limb of a tree, usually a Eucalyptus, of which a portion has rotted or broken oft' leaving a hollow spout, is the nesting site generally selected, at the bottom of which a slightly cupped mattress is formed of opossum or rabbit fur, intermingled in some instances with dried grasses. At Ashfield, on two occasions, I found their nests built in thick trunks of trees, to which the birds in each instance, gained access through narrow clefts. The nesting sites vary from a few feet to forty and fifty feet from the ground. At Dobroyde, in November 1889, a pair of birds I had under daily observation reared their young in a nesting place in the trunk of a tree ten feet from the ground and close to a well frequented road. The eggs are two or three in number for a sitting, oval or rounded oval in form, the shell being close-grained, smooth, and slightly lustrous. They are of a reddish-white ground colour which is almost obscured with freckles and mottlings of different shades of red and purplish-red. Typically the markings are uniformly distributed over the surface of the shell, in some they are larger and more numerous on the thicker end, where intermmgled with a tew underlying spots of dull violet -grey, they form small confluent patches ; but only in rare instances do they assume the form of a well defined zone. There is a great variation in their size, even in eggs belonging to the same set. A set of two taken by Mr. James Ramsay, at Tyndarie, on the 24th August, 1879, measure as follows: — Length (A) 0-93 x 074 inches; (6)0-95 x 073 inches. A se.t of two taken by Dr. E. P. Ramsay, at Macquarie Fields, measure: — Length (A) 0-87 x o-68 inches; (B) 0-9 X 072 inches. A set of three taken near the Dawson River, Queensland, on the 9th October, 1892, measure: — Length (A) o-86 x 071 inches; (B) 0-85 x 07 inches; (C) 075 X 0-66 inches. Immature birds resemble the adults, but the white stripe down the centre of the feathers on the under parts is ill-defined, and the sides of the breast and the under tail-coverts are slightly washed with dull rufous. \N ing 3-4 inches. August and the four following months constitute the usual breeding season of this species. Climacteris scandens. WHITE-THROATED TREE-CREEPER. Climacteris scandens, Tenim., Pi. Col., 281, tig. 2; Gadow, Cat. Bds. Brit. Mus , Vol. VIIL, p. 337 (1883) ; Sharpe, Hand-1., Bds., Vol. IV., p. 357 (1903). Climacteris pieumnus, (nee Temin.) Gould, Bds. Austr., fol.. Vol. IV., pi. 98 (1848). Climacteris leueophcea, Gould, Handbk. Bds. Austr., Vol. I., p. 605 (1865). Climacteris pyrrhonota, Gould, Proc. Zool. 80c., 1867, p. 976; Gadow, Cat. Bds, Brit. Mus., Vol. VIIL, p. 339 (1883); Sharpe, Hand-1. Bds., Vol. IV., p. 357 (1903) (immat.) Adult male — General colour abore olive brown, being/ of a clearer olive on the back: rump and upper tail-coverts dark grey: tipper wing-coverts dark brown; quills dark brorvn, greyish-brown at the tips and on both webs of the innermost secondary, all but the latter and the outermost primaries crossed in the centre with a pale fairn band being richer in colour near the shaft of the inner neb: the central pair of tail feathers dark grey, the remainder greyish-brown, crossed with a broad subterminal band of blackish-brown, and tipped witli white on the inner web, the tip being larger and the band paler on the outermost feather on either side; feathers of the forehead and crown of the head blackish brown, with pale olive-brown margins, giving these parti a scaly appearance ; lores and small feathers below the eye white with blackish-brown tips; ear-coverts dark brown with avhitish central streak and olire- brou-n tips; chin, cheeks, throat, fore neck, centre of the breast and the abdomen irhifi- : Ihe fore neck CLIMACTERIS. 45 slightly tinged with creamy-buff, ivhich becomes more pronounced on the centre of the breast and abdomen; feathers on the sides of the breast and flanks olive-brown with a broad stripe of dull white down the centre, bordered with dull blackish-brown; xmder tail-coverts ivhite with several bhickish- broivn cross-bars, broken in the centre and having a narrow white shaft line; bill black, base of thi' hirer mandible pearl-grey; legs and feet greyish-black : iris blackish -brown. Total length in the flesh 60 inches, wing So tail ii:5, bill 0-75, tarsus OSS. Adult female — Similar in plumage to the male, but distinguislted by having a conspicuous orange-red spot just below the ear-coverts. Distribution — Southern Queensland, New South Wales, \'ictoria, South Australia. gf\N favourable situations the White-throated Tree-creeper is distributed over southern -L Queensland, the greater portions of New South Wales and \'ictoria, and some parts of South Australia. It is equally as numerous as the preceding species in the neighbourhood of Sydney, and which it closely resembles in habits and the manner of obtaining its food. Preference is shown by this Tree-creeper for the smooth barked species oi Eucalyptus a.ndAngophora, and it frequents trees growing quite close to the coast. The Brown Tree-Creeper although occasionally found in a similar situation, is more abundantly distributed on the rough barked open forest lands a few miles inland. The White-throated Tree-creeper has a curious habit after alighting at the base of a tree of throwing the head well back and remaining motionless for a few seconds before commencing to ascend the tree. It utters a shrill "pink, pink, pink," varied by a succession of other notes. I had in captivity a male Satin Bower-bird which could imitate the former notes of this species to perfection. There is but little variation in many specimens in the Australian Museum collection obtained in various parts of New South Wales, those procured in the cold mountainous districts near Cooma, being slightly larger than specimens taken near Sydney, a specimen obtained at Mount Lofty near Adelaide being slightly larger than the Cooma specimens. Examples received on loan from Mr. Edwin Ashby, procured at the Black Spur, and in the Ballarat District, Victoria, also a specimen received on loan from the Trustees of the South Australian Museum obtained twelve miles west of Port \'ictor, South Australia, are of average measurements. In the "Catalogue of Birds in the British Museum,"" Dr. Gadow refers to a north-eastern race " obtained near Moreton Bay, Queensland, with a well pronounced pale grey collar across the fore neck," and of slightly smaller dimensions. These characters are more strongly emphasised in specimens obtained by the late Mr. T. H. Bowyer Bower, at Scrubby Creek, near Herberton, and by Messrs. Cairn and Grant at Boar Pocket near Cairns. In his " Tabular List of Australian Birds," Dr. Ramsay in 1888, separated this smaller northern form, under the name of Cliniacteris leucophcea minor.'i: This smaller species, which has the chin and upper throat only white, with a pale grey or greyish-brown band across the chest, Mr. R. Grant informs me, frequents the thick scrubs only and is not found in open forest lands. More recently Dr. Reichenow has also described an apparently similar specimen \ under the name oi Climacteris weiskei, which he stated was allied to Climacteris pyvvhonota. As is well known to Australian ornithologists, and has been for many years past, the latter is only the immature plumage of the present species.!] For the purpose of breeding the White-throated Tree-creeper selects a hole in a decaying limb of a tree or a hollow spout, and the eggs are deposited in an open nest of hair or fur. At Mount Lofty near Adelaide, Mr. W. White used to obtain the eggs of this species by nailing up a number of hollow limbs in the trees surrounding his house, one or more of which would be quickly tenanted in the breeding season by a pair of these birds. Mr. White forwarded me an egg • Cat Bds. Brit. Mus , Vol. VIII., p. 337 (1883). t Tab. List Austr. Bds., Addenda, p. 2 (1888). } Orn, Monatsb., VIII , p. 187, (1900 ) II Tab. List Austr. Bds., Note opp. p. 15 (1S8S ) 46 CERTllIID.E. from a set of three taken from one of these nesting sites, on the 4th October, 1887. At Chatswood Mr. A. Johnston saw a pair of birds leaving a small upright hollow limb of a thin stemmed gum tree, which broke off when he caught hold of it. Later on I reached this nesting place which was about ten feet from the ground and down the main green stem of the tree, by standing on the shoulders of Messrs C. G. and A. Johnston. With the aid of a small scoop I managed to draw up two fresh and slightly bark-stained eggs which were lying on a scanty nest of opossum fur. I saw two sets, one of two, the other of three eggs, in the collection of the late Mr. H. G. Evered of Melbourne. He informed me that he had taken both sets from nests built under large pieces of the partially detached bark of dead gum trees at a height of about six feet from the ground. Both were found on Gulpha Station, near Mathoura, New South Wales; one during December, 1892, and the other in the same month of the following year. The eggs are two or three in number for a sitting, oval or elongate-oval in form, the shell being close-grained, smootli and lustreless. They are of a dull white ground colour which is marked, but particularly on the larger end, with a few rounded spots and dots varying from a dark reddish-brown to purplish-black. Some specimens have the markings very small and of irregular shape, others are almost devoid of any. Typically they more nearly resemble one of the many varieties of eggs of the White-plumed Honey-eater (PtUotis pcnicillata), and may be easily distinguished from those of any other species of Tree-creeper. A set of two taken at Chatswood, on the 23rd October, 1898, measure as follows: — Length (A) 0-84 x 0-65 inches; (B) 0-85 X 0-68 inches. A set of two taken by Mr. John Ramsay at Macquarie Fields, measure: Length (A) 0'85 x o-bj inches ; (B) o'85 x o-66 inches. September and the four following months constitute the usual breeding season of this species. Young birds just prior to leaving the nesting place resemble the adults, but have the fore- head and crown of the head dull dark brown without any paler margins to the feathers, the rump and upper tail-coverts are dull greyish-brown with an indistinct dark brown subterminal cross-bar, a few of the feathers having dull rufous tips ; on the underparts some of the feathers on the sides of the breast are indistinctly streaked with buffy-wliite. Wing i-g inches. Immature birds have narrow indistinct blackish-brown margins and white shaft lines to the greater wing-coverts, a few of the feathers on the back having also white shaft lines, the rump and upper tail-coverts are rich rusty-red and the dull white streaks to the feathers on the sides of the breast are narrower and irregularly formed. \\'ing 3-4 inches. Traces of the rusty-red colour on the rump or upper tail-coverts, may be found more or less in birds otherwise in full adult plumage. Climacteris melanura. BLACK-TAILED TREE-CREEPER. Climacteris melamira, Gould., Proc. Zool. Soc, 1842, p. 138; id., Bds. Austr., fol.. Vol. IV^., pi. 97 (1848); id., Handbk. Bds. Aust. Vol. L, p. 604 (1865); Gadow, Cat. Bds. Brit. Mus. Vol. VIIL, p 334 (1883); Sharps, Hand-1. Bds., Vol. IV., p. 357 (1903). Adult male — FureJiead and croivti of the /lead smoky-brotvu: nape, hind-neck and mantle dull chocolate-brorvn, j)assing into hroivnish-black on the scapulars, back, rump, and upper tail-coverts ; upper tving coverts and innermost secondaries like the back, remainder of the quills dark broirn crossed in the centre icith a conspicuous band of rich buff] except on the edge of the outer ivebsofthe secondaries, the band becoming paler towards the outer primaries, ivhich have the outer tvebs dark brown; tail feathers bromiish-black ; ear-coverts brou'nish-black with narrow bvffy-wliite shaft stripes; cheeks and sides of the neck dull chocolate-brown; feathers on the chin and ceyitre of throat white with broad black CLIMACTEKIS. 47 niaryins; remainder uj tlie unthr siirface ferrugiiious-browii,, pnssini/ into broivitish-black on tlie sides oj the lower breast and flanks ; under tail-coverts brownisli-black, some of the longer J eatlters irregularly barred or streaked with ivhiie at the tips; bill (of skin) brownish-black ; legs and feet brownish-black. Total lengtli 60 inches, wing 3'9, tail 3, bill O'ii, tarsus 1. Adult female — Similar in plumage to the adult male but having the chin and throat pure white, and tht feathers of the lower tltroat broadly margined with reddisli-brorvn. Distribution — North-western Australia, Northern Territory of South Australia, and Queensland. /~|^HE range of the Black-tailed Tree-creeper is principally over the northern and north- -L western portion of the continent. There are a number of skins in the Australian Museum collection, obtained by Mr. A. Morton at Port Darwin and Port Essington, in the Northern Territory of South Australia, one procured by the first successful Transcontinental Expedition under the leadership of the late ^Ir. John McDouall Stuart; specimens from Derby, North- western Australia, obtained by Mr. E. |. Cairn and by the late Mr. T. H. Bowyer Bower. I also received for examination seven specimens procured by Mr. G. A. Keartland in 1896-7, at the junction of the Fitzroy and Margaret Rivers in the same district, while a member of the Calvert Exploring Expedition, and who sent me the following information: — "The loud notes of CUmacteris melanura were frequently heard along the course of the Fitzroy River, from its junction with the Margaret River right into Derby. The birds are very shy and difficult to approach; in other respects their habits are much like those of the Brown Tree-creeper, and their nests are usually found in the hollow branches of the larger Eucalypti." In Eastern Australia it occurs at the Gulf of Carpentaria, and two hundred miles farther south it was met with by Dr. W. Macgillivray at Cloncurry, who writes me: — "CUmacteris melanuva is found mostly in timbered country about Cloncurry, and in stony country towards the ranges, but is not seen in districts far east of the township." I have never seen a specimen procured in New South Wales, although Dr. Ramsay in his "Tabular List of Australian Birds," records this State in its habitat. 1 have also described eggs of this species taken by Mr. James Ramsay at Tyndarie, on the loth September, 1880. Dr. Ramsay has suggested that the birds were probably driven south during a period of drought and remained to breed. .\ parallel instance is afforded by Entomophila picta, previously regarded as a strictly inland species, but which has been found breeding at Five Dock near Sydney, and within a few miles of the coast. The eggs taken by Mr. James Ramsay at Tyndarie, are two in number, of a light reddish- ground colour, which is almost obscured by heavy longitudinal blotches of rich reddish-brown, and a few nearly obsolete spots of lilac. Length (.\) 0-9 x 079 inches; (B) o-8g x 073 inches. Two eggs in Dr. W. Macgillivray's collection, taken in the Cloncurry District, Northern Queensland, are ovoid in form, the shell being close-grained, smooth and lustrous. They are of a faint reddish-white ground colour, which is almost obscured, particularly on one specimen, with numerous freckles, irregular-shaped spots and blotches of varied shades of reddish-brown and purplish-red, intermingled with similar formed but fewer underlying markings of violet-grey, all predominating as usual towards the thicker end, where is indicated on the heavily-marked specimen an ill-defined zone. Length (A) 0-98 x 072 inches; (B) 0-96 x 072 inches. Immature males are brownish-black above and below, with narrow white streaks to the feathers on the throat ; fore neck and centre of the upper breast ferruginous-brown ; under tail- coverts blackish-brown with subterminal spots of white. Wing 3-3 inches. 48 CERTHIID.E. Climacteris rufa. RUFOUS TREE-CEEEPER. Climacteris rnfa, Gould, Proc. Zool. Soc, 1840, p. U9; id., Bds. Austr., fol., Vol. IV., pi. 94 (1848); id., Handbk., Bds. Austr., Vol. I., p. 600 (1865); Gadow, Cat. Bds. Brit. AIus., Vol. VIII., p. 335 (1883); Sharpe, Hand-1. Bds., Vol. IV., p. 357 (1903). Adult male — General colour above dark asliy-broivn, tinged with rufous on the rump; upper wing-coverts and innermost secondaries like the back, the greater series dusky-brown, remainder of quills dusky-brown, paler brown towards the tips and crossed in the centre with a broad rufous band except on the three outermost primaries ; tail-feathers pale rufous-brown, crossed with a broad subterminal band of blackish -brotvn, the central pair slightly darker and having near the shaft the remains only of the dark subterminal cross-bar ; crown of the head dusky-brown; superciliary stripe rich rufous-brown; lores cheeks and ear-coverts rusty-brown, becoming slightly paler 07i the throat; aniitdistinct band on the fore neck dull ashy-brown some of the central feathers with a longitudinal stripe of dull ichite down the centre, bordered on either side with a narrow black line; remainder of the under surface rusty-red, some of the feathers with narrow white shaft streaks ; centre of the breast and abdomen rusty-broivn ; binder tail-coverts dull rusty-broivn, some of the longer feathers margined at the tips and centred with dull white also showing traces, more or less distinct, of blackish-brown cross-bars; "bill black: legs and feet black; iris 6ro;<7i"— (Morgan). Total length 6-S inches, icing Sij, tail ^-7, bill OijS, tarsus 1. Adult female — Differs from the male in having the longitudinal diill ichite stripe to the feathers OH the centre of the fore neck bordered with rusty-red instead of black. Distribution — Western Australia, South Australia. /■ |(j%HE Rufous Tree-Creeper is an inhabitant of Western Australia, and the south-western J- portion of South Australia. There are specimens in the Australian Museum collection obtained by Mr. George Masters at Mongup, Salt River, Western Australia, in January, 1869, and a skin received from Mr. K. Broadbent, procured west of Nonning, South Austraha. The late Mr. F. W. Andrews obtained this species in the Gawler Ranges, and I have received for examination from the South Australian Museum, Adelaide, a female procured at Donnell's Plain by Dr. A. M. Morgan and Dr. A. Chenery, relative to which the former has sent the following rote: — "During our trip from Port Augusta to the Gawler Ranges in .\ugust 1902, Climncteris rufa was not seen until past Tardea, where it was fairly numerous, but never more than a pair were seen together. In a strip of big mallee they were seen leaving holes in trees, but no nests were found." From South-western Australia Mr. Tom Carter writes me : — ''Climacteris rufa is one of the commonest birds about Broome Hill where the timlier is mostly White Gum (Eucalyptus rcdunca). They are of a confiding nature, and soon after the building of my house a pair of these birds would frequent the verandah to pick up bread crumbs at the \ery feet of anyone who choose to feed them." The wing-measurement of adult males varies from y6 to 3-8 inches, and of adult females from 3'5 to 3-6 inches. In his " Handbook to the Birds of Australia," ■ Gould quotes the following notes of Gilbert's: — "Climacteris rufa is a common bird at Swan River, Western Australia, and is most abundant in the gum forests abounding with white ant. It ascends the smooth bark of the Eucalypti, and traverses round the larger branches with the greatest facility, feeding like the other members of the genus, upon insects of various kinds, but is frequently to be seen on the ground, searching for ants and their larvae, and in this situation presents a most grotesque appearance from its waddling gait. It makes a very warm nest of soft grasses, the down of flowers, and feathers, in • Gould, Handbk. Bds. Austr., Vol. I., p 600, (1865). CLIMACTEUIS. 49 the hollow part of a dead branch, generally so far down that it is almost impossible to reach it, and it is therefore very difficult to find. I discovered one by seeing the old birds beating away a Wattle-bird that tried to perch near their hole. The nest in this instance was fortunately within arm's length, it contained three eggs of a pale salmon-colour thickly blotched all over with reddish -brown, ele\en lines long by eight and a half lines broad, this occurred during the first week in October." Climacteris erythrops. RED-EYEBROWED TREE-CREEPER. Climacteris erythrops, Gould, Proc. Zool. Soc, lt>40, p. 14« ; id., Bds. Austr., fok. Vol. IV., pi. 95 (1848); id, Handbk. Bds. Austr, Vol. I., p. 602 (1865); Gadow, Cat. Bds. Brit. Mus., Vol. Vlir., p. .338 (1883); Sharpe, Hand-1. Bds., Vol. IV., p. 357 (1903). Adult male — Forfhead, crotvn of tlie head, ceiitre of tlte nape and liind neck blackish broun, the feathers on tlie foreliead and sinciput witlt dusky-grey margins: mantle and upper hack earf/i brown; lower back, rnmp and upper tail-coverts dark grey: upper iving-coverts like the back, the outermost feathers of the greater series blackish-brown except at the tips; primary-coverts blackish-brown ; quil/s brown at the base all but the three outermost primaries and the two innermost secondaries crossed in the centre with a band of pale greyish-buff, succeeded by a subterminal band of blackish-brown : the innermost secondaries ivaslied with grey ; two central tail feathers dark grey, the remainder dark grey paler at the tips and crossed with a broad subterminal band of blackish-brown, increasing in width towards the' outermost feather, iMch is entirely blackish-brown except at the tip; lores, a broad superciliary stripe, and the feathers beloiv the eye rusty-red; sides of the neck dark grey ; chin and throat dull white, passing into light greyish-brown on the fore neck; remainder of the under surface greyish-broivn, the apical portion of each feather having a broad didl white stripe down the centre bordered on either side witJi a narrow line of black; centre of the abdomen buff', each feather indistinctly streaked tvitli ivhite and having the remains of the black lines, form.ing spots or broken cross-bars; under tail-coverts bvjfy-white with blackish brown cross-bars broken in the centre by a narrow shaft line; bill black: legs andfeft brownish-blach: iris broicn. Total length U inches, iiing 3-4, tail 2-6, bill 068, tarsus OS. Adult fem.\le — -Diffrrs from the male in having the lores, suprrciliary stripe and feathers below the eye richer in colour, and the feat/irrs on tite fore neck rusty-rrd with a broad stripe of dull ivliite down the centrf. Distributioyt — New South Wales and Victoria. CFV O far as I can learn, from the specimens in the Australian Museum collection, and Macleay V,—? Museum collection at the University of Sydney, the habitat of the Red-eyebrowed Tree- creeper is the most restricted of the genus. New South Wales is undoubtedly its stronghold, its range extending south to Victoria, and probably to the adjoining eastern portions of South Australia, but I have never seen a specimen from the latter State. Under the name oi Climacteris erythrops specimens have reached me for examination from Northern and Southern Queensland, South Australia, and Western Australia, but in every instance they proved to be Climacteris superciliosa ; a closely allied species. I have not the slightest doubt too the birds referred to by Mr. Keartland, obtained bv the Calvert Exploring Expedition near Cue, in Western Australia, were females of C. superciliosa. A specimen of C. erythrops from any part of Queensland has never come under my notice, but a skin received in exchange from the Queensland Museum under that name and obtained by Mr. Kendal Broadbent, at Charleville on the Warrego River in South- western Queensland, is a female of C. superciliosa. Although these two species are quite distinct, 50 CERTFIIID.E. one might easily mistake the female of C. superciliosa for that of C. erythrops, especially as the distinguishing white superciliary stripe of C. iuperciliosa is bordered above by a narrower one of rusty-red. In New South Wales the western portion of the State is the stronghold of the present species. It also occurs on the Blue Mountains, specimens in the Australian Museum having been obtained by Mr. R. Grant, at Lithgow, who informs me that it is by no means uncommon in the Eucalypti growing on the sides of valleys in that district, and where he has found it breeding. It is seldom, if ever, met with now near the coast, probably owing to the altered character of the country, but there are specimens in the Australian Museum collection obtained by Dr. E. P. Ramsay at Dobroyde, in March 1S65, and by Mr. J. A. Thorpe, at WoUongong, in 1877. The latter has however, obtained it more abundantly at Tarana, one hundred and nineteen miles inland. The late Mr. K. H. Bennett wrote of this species from the Mossgiel District, New South Wales: — "Climacteris cvythrops is confined to the forests of Casuarina, Myopovum, etc.. up the rough trunks of which it runs with surprising celerity. Although in close proximity it is rarely if ever found in the clumps of Eucalyptus affected by the Brown Tree-creeper. It is much more arboreal in habits too than that species, but does occasionally resort to the ground for the purpose of capturing insects. It breeds during the months of October and November, and the site chosen is always the hollow trunk of a small tree, just large enough to contain the birds, at the bottom of which a nest is formed of a mass of vegetalile fibre covered over with a layer of fur on which the eggs — never more than two are deposited." A set of two taken by Mr. K. II. Bennett on the loth November, 1886, at Ivanhoe, New South Wales, are oval in form, the shell being close-grained, smooth, and lustrous. They are of a faint reddish-white ground colour, thickly freckled all over with light purplish-red, the markings predominating on the thicker end of one specimen, where intermingled with similar underlying spots of pale violet-grey they form a small but well defined zone. Length (A) o-8i X 0-62 inches; (B) 0-85 x 0-65 inches. A single egg taken by Mr. Bennett at Ivanhoe, on the 9th September, 1885, is of a salmon-white ground colour with narrow fleecy longitudinal streaks of salmon-red uniformly distributed over the shell. Length o-86 x 0-62 inches. September and the three following months constitutes the usual breeding season of this species. Immature birds of both sexes resemble the adults but are destitute of the rusty-red lores, superciliary stripe and orbital region, these parts being dusky greyish-brown, the chin and centre of the upper throat are dull buffy-white, remainder of the under surface uniform light earth-brown, except the centre of the abdomen which is buffy-white ; under tail-coverts buff with imperfect V-shaped blackish-brown cross-bars. The wing-measurement is the same as the average adult, and fully plumaged birds, 3-4 inches. Two specimens in the Reference Collection, showing a slightly more advanced stage towards maturity, have a faint indication of the rusty-red supercilary stripe, and each have four feathers on the breast with a broad white streak down the centre bordered on either side with a narrow black line. lUiD-KVKIiliOWED TRKE CREKPER. CLIMACTERIS. 51 Climacteris superciliosa. WHITE-EYEBROWED TREE-CREEPER. Climacteris superciliosa, Nortli, Ibis, 1895, p. 341 ; North and KeartI, Rep. Horn Sci. Exped. Cent. Austr. Pt. II., Zool., p. 96, pi, 7 lower tig. (1896); Sharpe, Hand-!., Bds., Vol. IV., p. 357 (1903). Adult male — General colour above dull ^unhi'r-hrown ; tipper tail-coverts faint greyish-hrown; upper wing-coverts and innermost secondaries slig/itly duller in colour titan the hack; primary-coverts brown, blackish-brown towards the tips : quills broivn with blackish-brown bases, all but the three outermost primaries and the three innermost secondaries crossed in the centre with a broad band of rich buff, succeeded by a subterminal band of blackish-brown; tail feathers brown, crossed with a broad suhterminal band of blackish-brown, except the central pair /chich has only an indistinct spot of blackish -brown near the shaft; forehead dark greyisli-broivn becoming slightly briy/iter on the croivn of the head; lores black; a broad stripe commencing at the nostril and extending in a less perfect line above and behind the eye white; feathers below the eye and tlte ear-coverts greyish-black, streaked down the centre ivifh white; chin ivhitish; throat and fore neck light greyisli-broivn ; breast greyish-brown, (he apical half of each feather with a broad pure 7vhite stripe down the centre bordered on either side with a line of black; abdomen and sides of the body buffy-brown, similarly but not quite so conspicuously streaked as the breast; under tail-coverts buffy-wldte, with irregular blackish-broivn crossbars ; axillaries and greater under wing-coverts delicate buff, the lesser coverts white mottled with hlackish-brown ; bill black; legs and feet black; iris dark brown. Total length 5'7 inches, wing 3'5, tail 2-45, bill 5, tarsus 073. Adult female — Resembles the male in colour but having the upper tail-coverts dark grey and the tail feathers distinctly washed with grey; the white superciliary stripe is bordered above by a narroiver line of rusty-red, and the feathers on t/ie centre and hirer part of the fore neck are dull ivhite, margined on eitlier side with pale rusty-red. Distribution. — Queensland, New South Wales, Victoria, South Australia, Central Australia, Western Australia. (^tLTHOUGH the White-eyebrowed Tree-creeper was the last discovered species of the J~ \~ j;enus, subsequent research has proxed it is also one of the most widely distributed, its range, e.xcept in the coastal districts, extending from the eastern to the western sides of the continent. Tlie late Mr. K. H. Bennett obtained a male and female of this species on Moolah Station, New South Wales, in July 1883, and the Reference Collection also contains a female procured in South-western Queensland. During the journey of the Horn Scientific Expedition in Central Australia in 1894, Mr. G. A. Keartland obtained two males, one at Illara Creek, and the other at Bagot's Creek. Dr. A. Chenery presented an adult male to the Australian Museum obtained at Yudnapinna Station, forty-six miles from Port Augusta. From the Trustees of the South Australian Museum, I have also received on loan, specimens procured by Dr. A. M. Morgan and Dr. A. Chenery during a trip to the Gawler Ranges, in August 1902. Relative to these specimens Dr. Morgan writes me : — " Climadevis siipenlliosa was seen from Nooning to Yardea, where in the latter locality they give place to C. ritfa. They are fairly numerous, but never more than a pair were obtained together. We did not see them in gum trees but seem to confine themselves to the myall." I have also examined a pair obtained by Mr. Edwin Ashby at Callion, Western Australia, and one from North-western \ictoria. Mr. Keartland also obtained specimens near Lake Augusta, Western Australia, but they were abandoned with the rest of the collection at Johanna Springs. The late Mr. K. H. Bennett refers as follows to this species: — "This Tree-creeper is met with throughout the timbered country, on Moolah Station, New South Wales, but is nowhere 52 SITTID.E. plentiful. It builds in September, forming its nest in the hollow trunk of some small tree. The nest is simply the bottom of the hollow lined with feathers and other soft material." Probably referable to this species were two nests found by Dr. A. M. Morgan and Dr. A. Chenery, during a trip made to Mount Gunson, one hundred and forty miles west of Port Auyusla. Dr. Morgan writes :—'• One found on the 4th August, 1900, at Oakden Hills, placed in the Initt of a hollow myall, was composed entirely of rabbit fur without any attempt at arrangement, and contained a single fresh egg. The other at Mount Gunson on the 12th August, containmg a single egg incubating. The nest was almost e.xactly in a similar situation and was of the same material. In colour the eggs closely resemble those of CUmadcvis scaudens, Gould {ncc Temm.). This Tree-creeper is smaller than the latter species, and I did not hear it utter a note at all. ^^'e met with it also at Mount Gunson, but were unable to procure a specimen." Mr. Keartland writes me: — "Near Lake .\ugusta, Western Australia, in September, 1896, I had the good fortune to see two White-eyebrowed Tree-creepers going in and out of a hollow branch. Both were shot, and on splitting the branch open their nest was found nearly ready for eggs." Mr. W. D. Campbell, sent from Menzies. Western .\ustralia, two eggs of this species to the Trustees of the Australian Museum, and wrote: — "The nest was in the hollow branch of a small gum tree about six feet from the ground. The hollow was tilled up for fifteen inches, and may have been an accumulation of successive nests. The bird had availed itself of all kinds of nesting material of which a thick mattress of sheep's wool and camel-hair formed a considerable portion. There was a brood of two nearly fledged young, and the accompanying two eggs, which were addled." The eggs are rounded o\als in form, the shell being close-grained smooth, and slightly lustrous. They are of a reddish-white ground, thickly freckled and spotted all over with rich reddish and purplish-brown, the markings being more numerous and are confluent on the larger end, where in one specimen they forTii a small but well defined zone. Length (.A) 072 x 0-65 inches; (B) 0-73 x 0-65 inches. .\n egg received by Mr. Keartland, taken by Mr. C. E. Cowle, in Central Australia in March 1895, measures: — 073 x 0-67 inches. The eggs of Climadcris siipcniliosa, are indistinguishable from those of small examples of C. picumnus, Temminck. Family SITTID^. Oen-U-S ISTEOSITT^^, Hrllmayr. Neositta chrysoptera. ORANGE-WINGED BARK-PECKER. Sitta chrysoptera, Lath., Ind. Orn. Suppl. p. xxxii. (1801). Sittella chrysoptpra, Gould, Bds. Aust. fol. Vol. IV., pi. 101 (1818); id., Handbk. Bds. Austr., Vol. I., p. 609 (1865); Gadow, Cat. Bds. Brit. Mus., Vol. VIII., p. 360 (1883). Neositta chrysoptera, Sharpe, Hand-1. Bds., Vol. IV., p. 351 (1903). Aditlt MALK — General colour above dusky gri'yisli-broum most of the fi-atliers of the inantle, scapulars and back ivith conspicuous blackish -brown centres; rump while; upper tail-coverts ii'hite with a slight rufous wash on the basal portion which has a dark brown streak along the shaft and widening out into a cross bar toivards the extremity of the feather ; upper wing-coverts dark broivn; quills dark brown crossed in the centre ivith a broad rich rufous band except a narrow edge on the outer web, this band decreasing in extent toivards the innermost secondaries ivhich are narrowly edged with whity brown as are also (he tips of most of the quills; tail feathers blackish-brown, the central pair NEOSITTA. 53 narroirhj edged ivith ivhila at ihe tips, the remainder tipped u-ith ivJiife, more largely towards the outermost feathers; forehead, crown of tlie head and nape dusky-brown, the ear-coverts slightly darker; chin, cheeks and upper throat white, passing into a dull white on the remainder of the under surface some of the feathers, particularly on tlie sides of the breast, indistinctly streaked with brown down the centre, the flanks slightly tinged with brown; under tail-coverts white, brown along the basal portion of the shaft, and widening out into a broad blackish-browa subterminal cros-i-bar; bill brown, yellowish at the base; legs and feet yellow ; iris very pale creamy-buff. Total length in the flesh 4-0 inches, wing 31, tail IS, bill OS, tarsus 0-65. Adult female —Similar in plumage, but having the feathers on the head, and particularly the lores, orbital region and ear-coverts, darker than in the male. Distribution— Q\xeex\s\a.nd, New South Wales, Victoria, South Australia. fT has been found that Swainson's well known name of SittcUa for this genus of birds was preoccupied; in its stead therefore, Herr C. E. Helhnayr has substituted the generic name of Neositia. The range of the present species extends from Southern Queensland, throughout the greater portion of New South Wales into \'ictoria, and some parts of South Australia. Nowhere is it more common than in the neighbourhood of Sydney where it is locally known as the "Diamond" or "Little Woodpecker." Open forest lands studded with the larger kinds of Eucalypti and Angophora are its favourite haunts, but at Ashfield and Canterbury I have found it breeding in isolated trees close to the principal streets. It is a resident species, and is usually met with during the autumn and winter months in small flocks numbering from five to eight, or more individuals. It is an interesting sight to watch these industrious little birds running up or down the trunks, or along the limbs of trees, stopping for a few moments to peer into any crevice in which an insect may lurk, or valiantly tugging at a loosened piece of bark to secure the larvse of some wood frequenting insect; if one remains quiet this they will often do, when an onlooker is only a few feet away. While engaged in their search a short "chip chip" is uttered also while passing from tree to tree when it is generally alternated with a succession of hurried warbling notes. The rufous band through the quills which shows more conspicuously durmg flight and the slender, finely pointed and slightly recurved bill will enable one to recognise this useful and active little bird. The wing measurement of adult males varies from 3 to 3-2 inches. The nest is usually a beautiful inverted cone-shaped structure with a cup-like cavity at the top, the rim being sharp and thin. It is composed of thin scales and shreds ot bark, and less frequently with the downy tufts of Banksia cones, held together with cobwebs, and ornamented with small pieces of bark fastened longitudinally on the outside with cobwebs, giving it a shingled appearance, and closely resembling the branch on which it is built, rendering it difficult of detection ; inside it is neatly lined with bits of pale green lichen, and this material is sometimes used as an outer decoration. As a rule the nest is built at the junction of an upright forked branch, sometimes against a slightly leaning single stemmed branch, frequently a long dead one, and well out of the way of bird-nesting boys. The length of the nest varies considerably accordmg to the angle of the fork, in or against which, it is built. In a number of nests now before me, those built in wide angled forks average externally two inches and three-quarters in height, and those against acute angled forks four inches and a half. In external diameter they all average two inches in diameter, at the rim, some nests being slightly broader in the centre, and the cup-like cavity measures nearly one inch and three-quarters in diameter by one inch and a half in depth. Eucalyptus and Angophora are the trees most often resorted to as nesting sites, also Cnsuivincu and Acacias, the nests varying in height from fifteen to sixty feet from the ground. The eggs are usually three, rarely four, in number for a sitting, oval or rounded oval m form, the shell being close-grained, smooth, and lustreless. When fresh, and just after being 54 blown, the ground colour is a beautiful bluish or greenish-grey, which usually fades to a bluish or dull white after some time. Some specimens are minutely but thickly freckled all over with slaty-grey and slaty-black, intermingled with much fainter subsurface markings of similar hues, but more often are they found boldly blotched and spotted with slaty-black and inky-grey particularly around the centre or the larger end, where in many instances the markings are confluent and form a more or less well defined zone. Occasionally specimens are found with a band or wreath formed of large irregular-shaped inky-grey blotches on the thicker end, the remainder of the shell having a few minute freckles of the same colour, or entirely devoid of markings. A set of three taken at Ashfield, New South Wales, measures: — Length (A) 072 x 0-52 inches; (B) 072 x 0-52 inches; (C) 07 x 0-51 inches. A set of three taken at Belmore, on the 4th October, 1896, measures: — Length (A) o-68 x 0-57 inches; (B) o-68 x 0-56 inches; (C) 0-67 x 0-58 inches. A set taken at Roseville, on the i8th September, 1904, measures: — Length (A) 0-67 x 0-5 inches : (B) o'65 x 0-5 inches; (C) 0-65 x 0-5 inches. The nest figured was built at a height of thirty feet, on a dead forked leaning branch of a Rough-barked Apple-tree ( Angophova intermedia) growing in the playground of the \\'illoughby Public School. I found it on the 3rd September, i8qg, by seeing the birds carry nesting material to it, and twelve days later, when it was taken, the female was sitting on two fresh eggs. This nest, a typical one, is now in the Group Collection of the Australian Museum. In the neighbourhood of Sydney, nidification usually commences about the third week in August, although I have taken a nest with eggs at Canterbury, as early as the 27th of August. The birds two days afterwards removed this nest piece by piece and constructed it in a more secure position in an adjoining tree. As I have pointed out,"' several birds may assist in the construction of a nest ; in one instance it was a male and two females. The first occasion I saw this was on the loth September, 1893, at Ashfield, when three birds were engaged in building a nest in an upright dead fork of a Eucalyptus close to my house, and where from a window they were under daily observation. This nest was finished eight days later, for from that time one of the birds commenced to sit, occasionly being relieved by another, whether by two it was impossible to tell, although three birds attended to the wants of apparently three young, from the number of bills visible over the sides of the nest when nearly fledged, which they vacated in October. Early in September of the following year a pair of birds constructed half a nest on the branch a few feet away from the old one, but eventually removed it to the next * Handbk. Austr, Assoc Adv. Sci , Sydney, p. 83, i8g8. NEST OF OUANGEWINGHD UAIiK-FlCCKEK. NBOSITTA. 55 tree, where the nest was completed and a bird sitting by the 15th September. At Roseville, only once have I seen three birds assisting in the construction of a nest, and that was on the 28th October, i8g8. This nest was fully sixty feet from the ground, and the same structure or nesting-site was occupied in September of the following year. On the ist September, 1896, at Ashfield, I found two nests nearly completed, built in trees close to main streets, and on the 2ist September found two more with the birds sitting, and several nests were taken with full sets of eggs during tiiat month at Canterbury. A nest found at Roseville I had my attention attracted to it by the sitting bird uttering a short "chip, chip," and which it continued for some time until relieved by another bird. If robbed of their eggs they freijuently construct a nest in a tree near at hand. I have a set of three taken at Roseville, on the iSth September, 1904, belonging to a pair of birds whose previous nest in a tree twenty yards away was robbed of an egg on the 30th August. I have found many nests being built in August, a lesser number about the middle of October, and one at Narrabri as late as November. The breeding season continues until the end of December, during which time e\idently two broods are reared. Young birds have the feathers of the head, mantle, and back tipped with a dull white sagittate marking, giving the upper parts a distinctly mottled appearance; the greater upper wing-coverts, and the innermost secondaries have a light rufous wash, the former being tipped, and the latter margined with dull whity-brown, as are also the tips of the primaries; the white tips of the lateral tail feathers ha\'e an ochreous rufous wash, and the under parts are white with only a faint indication of brown shaft lines on the sides of the breast. Wing 3 inches. Gould, who described Siiii-lln tcnuirostrts in his "Handbook to the Birds of Australia,"'^ from a specimen obtained by Captain C. Sturt, the locality in which it was obtained being unknown, refers it to a long-billed form of S. chrysoptera : while Dr. Gadow in the " Catalogue of Birds in the British Museum,"! states that Gould's type is an immature male, and regards it as a sub- species of Sittella pileata. Neositta pileata. BLACK-CAPPED BARK-PECKER. Sittella pileata, Gould, Proo. Zool. 80c., 18.37, p. 151; id., Bds. Austr., fob. Vol. IV., pi. 104 (1848); id. Handbk. Bds. Ausli-., Vol. I., p. CIl' (1865); Gadow, Cat. Bds. Brit. Mus., Vol. VIII., p. 3G2, (1883). A'nisilta pileata, Sharpe, Hand-1. Bds,, Vol. IV., p. 352 (1903). Adult male — General colour above greyisli-browu, some of tlie featliers on the back having slightly durker brown centres; rump irhite; upper tail-coverts while ivaslied ivit/i rufous, except towards the tip, wliere there is a iiarroiv black cross-bar, or wedge-shaped marking; upper wing- coverts and quills blackish-broivn, the latter edged with tvhity-brown at the tips, and crossed in the centre ivith a broad rich rufous band except a narrow edge on the outer tveb, this band decreasing in extent towards the innermost secondaries which are brown irith a dusky wash near the shaft; tail feathers brownish black, t/ie central feathers slightly and the outer ones largely tipped with tvhite; crown of the head and centre of the nape black; foreliead, lores and orbital region white; ear-coverts pale greyish-brown; cheeks, throat and all the under surface pure white ; flanks greyish-brown ; thighs blackish-brown ; tinder tail-coverts white n-itJi a slight brownish wash on the basal portion and an arrow heirled blackish-brown marking towards the tip : bill blackish-broivn, yelloiv at the base; legs and feet yellow. Total length 4'75 inches, luiug 3-4, tail 1-7, bill 0-5S, tursus 07. • Gould, Handbk. Bds. Austr., Vol. I., p 610, (1S63). t Cat. Bds. Brit. Mus , Vol. VIII., p. 363 (1S83). 56 Jl BLACK-CAPPED BARK-PECK K.K Adult female — Differs in plumage from the male, in having the forehead, lores, orbital region, nape and ear-coverts black like the croivn of the head. Distribution — South-western New South Wales, \'ictoria, South AustraHa, Central Australia, Western and North-Western Australia. v,N favourable situations tlie range of the piesent species extends o\er the southern halt ot the Australian continent. It occurs thiiiughout South-western New South Wales, Western Victoria, the greater portion ot South and Central Australia, and Western Australia as tai north as Point Cloates. There are numerous specnnens in the Australian Museum collection, olitained principally by Mr. K. Broadbent, near Port Augusta, and Mr. George Masters at Port Lincoln, South Australia, the latter of whom also secured examples at King George's Sound in Western A..ustralia in 1867. The late Mr. K. H. Bennett also forwarded specimens from the Mossgiel District, New South Wales. Although bearing a general resemblance to each other, there is a marked difference in the colour of the head of the two sexes, as will be seen in the preceding descriptions. The wing measurement of adult males \ aties from y^ to 3-55 inches. The accompanying figure represents an adult female. Dr. A. M. Morgan writes me: — "During a trip made in company with Dr. A. Chenery, from Port Augusta to the Mount Gunson District, South yVustralia, in August 1900, SittcUa pileata was frequently met with, but only in myall and mulga scrubs. Two nests were found, one on the ist August, at The Birthday, ninety-five miles north-west from Port Augusta; only two birds were seen at this nest which was just finished. The other was on the 12th August, containing one fresh egg. Five buds were seen at this nest, and both were built in myalls. In August igo2, we found it common in all timbered situations, in small flocks from six to eight in number, during a trip mad-- from Port Augusta to the Gawler Ranges." INIr. T. A. Keartland writes me: — " Irioth in Central and Western Australia I frequently saw Sittdla pikata in flocks from six to tweKe in number. They always appeared to be in a hurry and ravenously hungry, running up and down all kinds of small trees, but preferring those with rough bark, in the crevices of which they searched for food." Mr. C. G. Gibson informs me that at Tuckanarra, Western Australia he found a nest of Ncositta pileata on the i6th October, built in a mulga, containing three young, and another on the following day with three much incubated eggs. Writing from the Mossgiel District, New South Wales in 18.S6, the late Islr. K. H. Bennett remarks: — '' Sittdla pileata is by no means numerous, and is generally met with m small troops of six to eight individuals. It chiefly inhabits the timbered back country, but it is occasionally met with in the clumps of trees out on the plains." From Point Cloates, North-western .Australia, Mr. T. Carter writes: — "I have seen Sittella pileata at times in belts of a species of mallee that grows inland from here, but never succeeded in finding its eggs. I shot a fledged young one in company with the adults on 25th July, igoo." Mr. Keartland records meeting with flocks of this species at Lake Augusta, Western Australia, and later on at the Fitzroy River in North-western Australia.* The latter birds are * Trans Roy. Soc, S A , Vol. XXII., p. 183(18 most likely referable to Neoiitta leucoptcra, of which there are specimens in the AustraHan Museum collection, procured by the late Mr. T. H. Bowyer-Bower in the same locality. The nest is precisely similar to that of N. chrysoptcrj, and is of a deep cup or an inverted cone-shape with a cup like cavity at the top. It is formed of shreds of bark fitted together on the outside with fine strips of bark held together with cobwebs, and is usually built at the junction of a two or more pronged upright or nearly upright fork. Photographs forwarded to me by Dr. A. M. Morgan of nests taken by him at Mount Gunson and Athelstone, South .Australia, closely resemble that of A^. chysoptcra figured on the preceding page. The nest taken by Dr. Morgan on the 19th August, 1900, at Athelstone, about seven miles from Adelaide, was built in a Eucalyptus about twenty-seven feet from the ground and contained three slightly incubated C'^s. This nest which I saw in the South Australian Museum, Adelaide, measures greatest depth three inches and a half on one side of the fork, three inches on the other, external diameter two inches and a quarter, the inner cup two inches in diameter by one inch and a third in depth. The eggs are three in number for a sitting, rounded oval in form, the shell being close gramed smooth and lustreless. The same variation exists in the colour and disposition of the markings as in Neositta chrysoptcra, but in the sets I have examined, typically the eggs of N. pilcata appear to be more heavily blotched than are the eggs of that species. They vary from a bluish-grey to a pale bluish-white ground colour, which is freckled, spotted, or heavily blotched with slaty-black in some specimens, and slaty-grey, clouded underlying patches of the latter colour appearmg as if beneath the surface of the shell. .\ set of two in the collection of the South Australian Museum, Adelaide, are of dull white ground colour, with a broad band of blackish-grey blotches around the larger end. A set of three taken in the Wimmera District, Victoria, measures :— Length (A) o-68 x 0-51 inches; (B) o-66 x 0-5 inches; (C) 0-67 x 0-5+ inches. Another set of three taken in Western Australia, measures :— Length (A) 07 x 0-48 inches; (B) 0-69 x 0-32 inches; (C) o-68 x 0-53 inches. The young male resembles the adult, but has a narrow sagittate whity-brown markmg on the apical portion of the feathers on the crown of the head, nape, mantle and back, .giving these parts a distinctly streaked appearance, the upper wing-coverts have a rufous spot at the tip, the secondaries being similarly marked with brownish-white, and the primaries are narrowly edged with brownish-white at the tip. \\'ing 3-2 inches. Neositta leucocephala. WHITE-HEADED BAHK-PEOKER. Situlhi l,'Hru,yphaI,i, Gould, Proc. Zool. Soc, 1837, p. 1-52: id., Bds. Austr,, fol.. Vol. IV., pi. 102 (1848); id., Haadbk., Bds. Austr., Vol I., p. 610 (186.5); Gadow, Cat. Bds. Brit. Mus., Vol. VIII., p. .361 (1883). XeoAtf,! h'Hru,:i,hU l,J,„-!.Uh-l.r<,in,, thr ,„ilrr ml.s ,./thr hittn- „iu,;jn,r,J r.rt,n,„lhi irith ,inl,lr„-,irll,„r, „„,rH in Sixi' tninirds thr mltr, ,„i,st nil rithrr sidr ; rri.irii mid sidrs,,/ thr hnld and thr riir-r, irrrts liliirk : tips of thr friltJirrs 1,11 tlir fnnliriid, mid ,1 iiiirniir liiiriiii rilrJi sidr ,f thr lliljir, irhitr; „ tuft nf fiathrrs nil thr rhrrhs, mid mmthrr l,rhil,d thr nir-n.rrrts irhitr ; rhill mid rriitrr iftlir lliiprr thrnnt hi, irk: friitJirrs 1,1, tin l„„-rr thmiit. irhirh iirr U,i„i m,d hiiirdikr^ irhitr irilh hhirkish-hrniri, hnsrs : rrmmiidrr iij tin- imdrr siirjiirr purr irliitr, riiiisj,iriiniis/i/ gfreii/crd with hlurkish-hroirii more broadly OH tlir rriitrr nftlir rlirst : iiiidrr tail-rnnrts irliilr strruked ivith bhckigh-brown ; fhii/hs brown; bill 60 MEI.IPHAGID.E. black; legs and /eft black; irif: white. Total lengllt in the flesli, 7'~'i incliea, ivitiy S'l, tail o'l, bill 0-78, tarsus OS-'). Adult female — Tlie .le.ves are alike in jilumage. Distribution — Southern Queensland, New South Wales, Mctoria, South Australia, Tasmania and some of the larger Islands of Bass Strait. ^¥^HIS familiar and attractive species is freely distributed throughout the greater portion of -L South-eastern Australia, and is also common in Tasmania. It is resident throughout the year, and evinces a decided preference for the low scrubby undergrowth of the coastal districts, where the Banhsia and other nectar-bearing trees abound. Nowhere have I seen it so abundant as in the neighbourhood of Sydney, particularly at Long Bay, La Perouse, and around the shores of Botany Bay ; also, about Middle Harbour, and from INIanly on to Narra- been. It is also met with in greatly decreased numbers in swampy parts of the Blue Mountains, but I have never seen it in the level country on the western side of the range. Lively in action its richly contrasted plumage is displayed to advantage, as it flits from shrub to shrub in search of insects, or to extract the nectar from some flower with its peculiarly brush-like tongue, so well adapted for the purpose. During the hot midsummer months of some vears, it may be seen in large numbers feeding on insects in the large Fig-trees (Fictts luacvophylla) in Hyde Park, and other public parks and gardens of Sydney. They are, however, irregular in their appearance. In January and February igo2, during a period of drought these birds were unusually numerous, but I have not seen them since, although the bush-fires were very prevalent in the neighbourhood of Sydney in January 1905, and were likely to affect their food supply. These birds may also occasionally be seen in the Botanic Gardens, Sydney, and I have seen them at Melbourne and Adelaide in similar public gardens and resorts. The first nest of this Honey-eater I ever found was in the Botanic Gardens, Melbourne, and in addition to a full complement of eggs, it also contained one of the Rufous-tailed Bronze Cuckoo (Lamprococcyx hasalis). The single note of this species is shrill and loud, but when disturbed by an intruder it is rapidly uttered several times, and generally when perched on some coign of vantage, as the top of some neighbouring bush, or clinging to the side of a grass-tree stem. Stomachs of these birds I have examined contained only the remains of insects. Although the numerous members of this family are called Honey-eaters and feed largely on the nectar of flowers, insects as a rule form the staple article of the diet of most of them. A less number in addition to the nectar of flowers, show a preference for wild or cultivated fruits, while some species partake of all these diets. The nest is an open cup-shaped structure, and generally rather roughly formed externally of strips of bark, thin plant stalks, and dried grasses matted up and held together with cob-webs and the silky egg-bags of spiders, the inside being neatly lined with finer plant stalks and at the bottom most frequently with athick layer ofthe red downy tufts oiBanksia cones; at other times with the woolly portions of the Flannel-flower, or small dead flowers, thistle-down when procurable or any soft and warm material. Some nests are more neatly made than others and assimilate in colour to their surroundings. When built in the upright fork of a Melaleuca, ihe nest is often constructed externally of strips of the paper-like bark of that tree, dark brown bark is often used when constructed in a Banhsia, and spider's web and white egg-bags are largely used when built in the young and light green rigid spine-like leaves of an Hakea. The frame work of a nest I found in one of the latter shrubs at Canterbury in April 1894, was formed entirely of these materials. An average nest measures externally three inches in diameter, by two inches and a half in depth, the inner cup measuring two inches in diameter by one inch and a half in depth. In the neighbourhood of Sydney the nest is usually built in an upright pronged-fork of one of the above mentioned trees, sometimes in a mass of creepers, or stunted gum sapling, .MELIOHNIS. 61 or placed between Banksia cones. Some nests are well concealed, but as a rule they are the most easily found of any bird, in the locations this species frequents. One I found at Canterbury containing young, was placed on the top of a low bush and was entirely devoid of shelter or of an attempt at concealment of any kind. In parks and gardens any suitable shrub is selected. The eggs are two or three in number for a sitting, varying from oval to elongate and thick oval in form, occasionally they are somewhat sharply pointed at the smaller end ; the shell is close-grained, smooth and more or less lustrous. Typically the ground colour varies from a pale buff to a creamy-bufif which is freckled and spotted with different shades of reddish-chestnut, or purplish-brown, the markings as a rule being larger and predominating on the thicker end where they not infrequently form a well defined zone. Some specimens have a cap only on the larger end, formed of confluent hair lines, short wavy streaks and ill-shapen figures; while others have a few scattered underlying spots and blotches of violet-grey. Occasionally sets may be found with the ground colour almost pure white, and markings of a rich purplish-red, or a reddish-black hue. A set of two taken at La Perouse, Botany Bay, on the 8th August 1892, measures: — Length (A) 0-83 x o-66 inches; (B) o-8 x o-6 inches. A set of three taken at Canterbury, near Sydney, on the 22nd April, 1894, measures : — Length (A) 078 x 0-57 inches; (6)079 ^ o-6 inches; (C) 078 x 0-58 inches. Nestlings are smoky-black above, the crown of the head having a lanceolate patch of black feathers in the centre and tufts of long dark brown down on the sides, the quills dark brown, narrowly margined with yellow on their outer webs ; throat and flanks smoky-black the rest of the under surface dull white, the centre of the abdomen being devoid of feathers. Young birds are brown above, some of the scapulars and feathers on the back having smoky black centres, wings and tail as in the adult ; crown of the head smoky-black, the forehead slightly darker, the stripe on each side of the crown and nape dull white ; lores, feathers around the eye and the ear-coverts dull black, tips of the feathers on the forehead, and the tuft of feathers on the cheek dull yellow; chin and throat dusky-brown, remainder of the under surface dull white washed with brown on the flanks, and broadly streaked on the upper breast with dull blackish- brown. Wing 27 inches. These birds often select a certain belt of scrub and breed year after year within a few yards of each other, but a new nest is constructed for each successive brood. Usually the female slips away from the nest unobserved upon hearing the approach of an intruder, but not infrequently will remain sitting until one is quite close, trusting to escape observation by keeping perfectly still. When the nest contains young, although usually every symptom of parental solicitude is exhibited, on many occasions the old birds were induced to make their appearance only by my imitating the notes of a young bird in distress. I found the nests of this species near Melbourne, Victoria, also in the scrubby undergrowth on the shores of Port Phillip Bay, between Brighton and Frankston, but never in the numbers I have in New South Wales. As pointed out in the Proceedings of the Linnean Society of New South Wales in 1894,- I had noted for four successive years in the neighbourhood of Sydney, that the New Holland Honey- eater has two distinct breeding seasons in the year, and probably elsewhere, rearing a brood in the clear, warm, genial days of April and May, and commencing to breed again from August and continuing until the end of December; nests with eggs or young are however more frequently found during August, September, and October. These are the normal breeding seasons, but nests with eggs or young may occasionally be found throughout the year. On the 15th February, 1903, at Freshwater, near Manly, Mr. A. F. B. Hull found a nest partly lined with fowls' feathers containing eggs, and another nest on the ist March following, also with two fresh eggs. * Proc Linn Soc. N S. Wales 2nd Series, Vol. X , p. 186 (1894), 62 MELIPHAGID.B. At Canterbury and Botany during a week at the latter end of April, 1894, 1 found seventeen new nests of the New Holland Honey-eater, eleven of them containing eggs, or young ones a few days old, the remainder of the nests being in different stages of construction, and in addition saw fledgelings in the bush, that had just left the nest. These observations I have since verified during the succeeding twelve years. In the autumn and winter of 1906, unusually dry periods, the nests of this species, also of Meliornis sericea, were very common in the neighbourhood of Sydney. Many young birds are destroyed by bush fires. On the 5th August, 1895, I went to Botany and found in a small patch of scrub two nests with eggs, two with young in the down, and one nest nearly finished. At the time men were engaged in setting fire to some cut scrub, a fierce wind sprang up and it extended to the adjoining bush, and when 1 left a large tract of country was in flames. Visiting it a fortnight later, the patch of scrub where the nests were, nothing remained but burnt and blackened stems, and without a bird to be seen. 1 saw a beautiful albino of this species at Botany, several times. It was apparently beino- chased by several of its normal plumaged congeners. There is a partial albino specimen in the Australian Museum collection. It has the plumage dull white, the quills and tail feathers are margined with yellow, crown of the head and throat having a faint brownish wash; sides of the head brown. When I first visited the classic collecting grounds of La Perouse, and the northern shores of Botany Bay, in September 1886, and for many years before being more or less cleared, they possessed an especial charm for me. To search for the nests of Meliornis nova-hollandia and Glycypliila fulvifrons in the bright clear days of early spring, was indeed a pleasure. The heath- lands were then in flower, and the air laden with the perfume of .\cacia, and at times with the slowly ascending incense from some half-burnt and still smouldering Xanthorrhxa, the remains of a grass-tree gum collector's camp fire. How closely are these places associated with the early history of settlement in Australia, and its zoology and botany. Looking across the blue wind-swept waters of Botany Bay one may see at Kurnell the stone column that marks the spot where Captain Cook first landed in 1770. Here too, Solander and Banks collected specimens of an entirely new and curious fauna and flora. Eighteen years afterwards Governor Phillip in command of the First Fleet landed on its shores, and for a long time after the removal of the colony to Sydney Cove they were often visited by Surgeon-General White in quest of specimens. Many of the .Australian birds described by Dr. Latham in his "Index Ornithologicus." were obtained in these localities. Almost simultaneous with the arrival of Phillip at Botany, appeared the French frigates, the Boussoh and the Astrolabe, at the entrance of the bay, under the command of the illustrious but ill-fated La Perouse. He remained for some time and was last heard of from the spot near North Botany Head that now bears his name. The body of Pfere !e Receveur one of the naturalists of this expedition, who died on the 17th February, 1788, is buried here. Close by, the imposing cenotaph erected to the memory of La Perouse and his companions is a conspicuous feature in the landscape. On its base are attached brasses commemorating the visits at different times of the commanders and officers of ses'eral French warships. Of late years the scrub and heath-lands between La Perouse and Botany have been much altered, and a cemetery formed, to which has been transferred the remains of John William Lewin, who published the first work on Australian birds. At Kurnell on the opposite shore of the bay, but little change has apparently taken place since the famous British navigator first landed at this spot, now the richest in historic interest and associations in .Vustralia. MELIORNIS 63 Meliornis longirostris. LONG-BILLED HONEY-EATER. Jfeliphaffa longirostris, Gould, Proc. Zool. Soc, 1846, p. 83 ; id., Bds. Austr., fol., Vol. IV., pi. 24 (1848). Meliornis lourjiroslris, Uould, Handhk. Rds. Austr., Vol. I., p. 488 (186.5); Gadow, Cat. Bds. Brit. Mus., Vol. IX., p. 254, (1884) suhsp. Adult male — /w'/v //c- adult male ((/' Mklioknis nov.e-iiollaxdi.t', Latham, but tin- irh'rt,' iiatrh of feathers on the clincks is iinirli imrroivcr, and tijpifallij It has a sluihthj hniiji'r hill. Total length (tf skin) 6'7 inches, whig 31, tail o'l, bill O'SS, tarsus O'S. Adult female — 7'he se.res are alike in plumage. Distribution — W'estern Australia. "T"(?VROM specimens now before me, collected by Mr. George Masters at King George's JL Sound, typically this western form may be distinguished by the characters pointed out by Gould, but Dr. Gadow remarks" "intermediate forms frequently occur in Southern Australia." Dr. Ramsay + has included Wide Bay, Queensland, and New South Wales, as well as Western Australia, in its habitat, but all the specimens I have examined from Eastern and Southern Australia vary from M. longirostris in having the broader tuft of white feathers on the cheeks. The most constant character in the specimens of M. longirostris, collected by Mr. Masters in Western Australia is the much narrower white patch of feathers on the cheeks, the length of the bill although typically longer, is variable, but the wing and tail-measurement is the same as that of average eastern examples. Mr. Masters, who obtained twenty-five specimens and several nests with eggs and young, informs me it is indistinguishable from M. nova-hoUanditr, in the situations it frequents, habits, and sites selected as nesting places. A nest in the Australian Aluseum collection, taken by Mr. G. Masters, on the ist October i868, is an open cup-shaped structure, outwardly formed of fine strips of bark, fibrous roots and grasses, and is lined inside with the soft downy tufts ofBaiiksia cones, it measures externally four inches in diameter by two inches and a quarter in depth, the inner cup measuring two inches and a quarter in diameter by one inch and a half in depth, the rim which is thick and rounded measuring one inch in width. This nest was built in a Bnnksia close to the ground. Four nests received from Mr. C. G. Gibson and taken by him at Laverton, Western Australia, in July and August, 1905, are distinctly smaller and more neatly formed externally than are the nests of the eastern species. Grey is their prevailing colour, being formed principally of soft dead grey grasses, with which are intermingled stalks of herbaceous plants, cobwebs, and plant down, the inside being entirely lined with the latter material; they are attached at the sides to the thin terminal leafy stems of various shrubs, the one figured on the next page is built in a species of salt-bush. It measures externally two inches and a half in diameter by two inches and a half in depth, the inner cup measuring one inch and three-quarters in diameter by one inch and a half in depth. Eggs two or three in number for a sitting, varying from narrow to thick oval in form, the shell being close-grained, smooth, and slightly lustrous. They are of a pale bufif ground colour which is thickly freckled and spotted with chestnut and reddish-brown, the markings predomin- ating as a rule around the thicker end, where in some instances they form a well defined zone. Others have the markings nearly obsolete and appearing as if beneath the surface of the shell. • Cat. Bds. Brit. Mus , Vol. IX , p. 254 (1S83). t Tab. List Austr. Bds., Addenda, p. 12 (1888). 64 MELIPHAGID.E. A set of two taken on the ist October, 1868, measures: — Length (A) 077 x 0-57 inches; (B) 0-8 X 0-58 inches. A set of two taken by Mr. C. G. Gibson at Broad Arrow in September 1902, are of a rich yellowish-buff ground colour spotted and blotched on the larger end with chestnut and reddish-brown, and are sparingly marked with the same colours over the remainder of the shell. Length (.\) 0-79 x o'6i inches; (B) o'82 x 0-63 inches. Jilr. C. G. Gibson writes me from \\'estern Australia : — " I found a number of nests of the Long-billed Honey-eater at Broad Arrow during September 1902. They were built from two to five feet from the ground and in several instances on the upright fork of a sandal-wood tree. The eggs were usually two, but occasionally three for a sitting. The birds all sat very close, but when once disturbed from the nest were extremely shy. A nest I found on the 3rd September 1903, at Lake Austin, built in a low bush, contained three half-grown young." Mr. Gibson has since for- warded me his nesting notes for 1905, in which he records finding in the vicinity of the Mount Margaret Goldheld, Erlistown District, on various dates between the 2ist June and the 13th of September, thirty-six nests of this species. Some were in course of construction, most of the nests contained two eggs, only one set of three being found, the remainder contained young. The nests were built generally in the upright forks of low bushes principally mulga and salt-bush, at a height varying from eighteen inches to three feet from the ground, but one found on the I 2th September, containing two incubated eggs, was built in the vertical fork of a dead mulga at a height of eight feet. Of unusual sites, one found on the 21st July was in the top of a hollow stump two feet from the ground and contained a recently broken egg. On the 13th September another was found behind a loose piece of bark of a dead mulga, eighteen inches from the ground, containing two young. JNIr. Tom Carter writes me from South-western Australia.:— " MeHoniis longirostris is very numerous about Albany. A nest with two fresh eggs was noted at the Quarantine Station there on the 14th February, 1905." Mr. Carter also forwarded to the Trustees of the Australian Museum, a nest and set of two eggs taken by him at Broome Hill, on the 5th July, 1906. July and the four following months constitute the usual breeding season, but doubtless like Meliornis novcB-hollandice, it breeds freely again in the autumn, odd nests being found throughout the remaining months of the year. NEST AND E0i(iS OF IIIE LUNG-IULLED IIUNEV- ICATEU MELIORNIS. 65 Meliornis sericea. WHITE-CHEEKED HOXEY-EATEK. Jfeliphaga sericea, Gould, Proo. Zool. Soc, 1837, p. 144; ii/., BJs. Austr , fol, Vol. IV^,, pi. 25 (1848). Meliornis sericea, Gould, Handbk. Bds. Aust. Vol. I., p. 490 (ISG.i); Gadow, Cat. Bds. Brit. Mus. Vol. IX., p 254 (1884). Adult male — Like the ailuit male o/Mkliounis nov.e-holl.wdi.e, Latham, />?«< liaviny a white superciliary stripe extending from the sides of the forehoail — wliere it is very icide — on to the nape, and a conspicuous Jan-shaped tuft (if' white plumes, covimencing on the cheeks, spreading out and concealing the feathers at the side of the throat and neck; chin and centre of the throat black: tips of the inner icehs of the lateral tail feathers indistinctly margined with tchile; bill black; legs and feet dusky-grey ; iris blackish-browm. Total length in thefiesli 7 inches, wing 3, tail 2'S, bill O'S, tarsus OS. Adult female — Similar in plumage to the adult male but slightly smaller. Distribution — Queensland, New South Wales. K' WHITE-CHKElvKD HONEY- EATER. LTHOUGH the range of theWhite- :heeked Honey-eater extends over most of the coastal districts of Eastern Australia, New South Wales is the strong- hold of this species. In general appearance it resembles Meliornis noiue-hollandim, and is often found frequenting the same situations but is far more local in habits. Near Sydney it is very common in the swampy undergrowth between Manly and Newport, and on the shores of Narrabeen Lagoon giving preference for those localities where ferns and cycads flourish, overrun in parts with a tangled undergrowth of climbing plants, sheltered above by wide-spreading Eucalypti. Xt Roseville, Middle Harbour, Thornleigh and Hornsby it frequents the forest lands with a thick scrubby undergrowth of stunted Banksias and Eucalypti. It is common also about the Hawkesbury Ri\er, George's River, and Cook's River, its presence being an almost certain indication that water is near at hand. While at Copmanhurst on the Upper Clarence River, Mr. George Savidge showed me a skin of this species also its nest and eggs that he had obtained in that district. In some specimens the white superciliary stripe is connected with a broad band of w hite-tipped feathers on the forehead. Specimens from Cairns and Cardwell in North-eastern Queensland, are smaller than examples obtained near Sydney, averaging 6 inches in length and the wing measurement 2-6 inches. Gould states that it is a remarkably shy species, and that he had much difficulty in getting within gunshot of it. This is the reverse of my experience, for as a rule when disturbed, it generally perches near the end of a dead lower lateral branch of a lofty tree, or flies from shrub to shrub, and I could always obtain as many specimens as were required. That it is unsuspicious in habits is further evidenced by the fact that among a number of specimens received in the flesh at the Australian Aluseum, the result of a day's shooting with two guns, nineteen of the birds belonged to this species. In a gully near Middle Harbour I watched these birds bathe in a Q 66 JIELIPHAGID.E. shallow rock pool. They simply darted oft" a branch into the water and out again as quickly as possible. ISoth near Canterbury and at Roseville, I have seen these birds, on rare occasions, during the hot summer months in lofty Eucalypti around my house. It utters a clear double whistling note, which may be easily distinguished from the shrill call of its compeer, McUovuis uovic-hoUandiie. It is often uttered rapidly for several times in succession, and more particularly when it mounts up with a zig-zag flight for some distance in the air. Stomachs of these birds e.xamined contained the remains of insects, principally small black beetles ; its food also consists of the pollen and nectar of flowers. The nest is a cup-shaped structure, roughly formed externally of strips of bark, wiry plant- stems and grasses, and often has a flat platform around the rim of varying width, the inside of the nest bemg lined with dried grasses or when procurable the thread-like leaves of Casiiarina suherosa, and at the bottom with the downy tufts of Banksia cones, silky grass-seeds, small dead flowers, or other soft material. An average nest measures externally four inches and a quarter in diameter, by two inches and a half in depth, and the inner cup one inch and three-quarters in diameter by one inch and a half in depth. They are usually well concealed and built near the ground, sometimes resting on it at the bottom of a clump of Sword-grass or fern, or among the lower thin dead twigs of a tea-tree or gum saplmg, and partially concealed with standing dead grass-stalks. More often they are placed in thick upright forks of shrubs within three or four feet of the ground, and occasionally in a tea-tree at an altitude of fully twenty feet. As a rule the nests of this species are built in positions that are furthermore sheltered above with a canopy of leaves and branches of trees of a considerably taller growth. An exception was a nest I found at Middle Harbour on the 5th August, igoo, while looking for those of Glycyphila ftilvifrons. Out on a heath-land and well away from any high timber, I was surprised to flush a White-cheeked Honey-eater from some Dwarf Apple-trees ( Angophora cordifoUa) and found its nest built in the fork of one of these trees about two feet from the ground ; it contained two fresh eggs. The eggs are two in number for a sitting, elongate oval in form, the shell being close- grained, smooth, and almost lustreless. They vary in ground colour from a pale yellowish to a faint reddish-buff freckled and spotted with reddish-chestnut or chestnut-brown, the markings usually being sparingly but uniformly distributed over the shell ; in others they predominate or are almost confined to the larger end where they sometimes assume the form of a zone. A set of two taken at Middle Harbour, on the 5th August, 1900, measures: — Length (A) 078 x 0-58 inches; (B) 077 x 0-58 inches. A set of two taken at Roseville, on the gth October, 1898, measures: — Length (A) 0-83 x o-6 inches; (6)0-82 x o-6i inches. Typically the eggs of this species may be distinguished from those of Meliornis novcB-hoUandicB, by being more elongate, of a slightly richer ground colour, and less conspicuously marked. Young birds have the upper parts brown, some of the feathers on the centre of the back blackish-brown with faint yellowish-white margins, the wings and tail resemble those of the adult, but the outer webs of the greater series of the upper wing-coverts show traces of indistinct yellowish margins; crown of the head brown, forehead blackish-brown : sides of the head black, the superciliary stripe being much narrower than in the adult and of a faint yellowish-white; the sides of the forehead, chin and throat dusky-brown; remainder of the under surface dull white, washed with brown on the sides of the lower breast and abdomen, most of the feathers being centred with blackish-brown, more broadly on the upper breast ; bill blackish-brown, basal half of lower mandible yellowish-brown. Wing 27 inches. Like its ally M. nova-hollandice, this species has two distinct breeding seasons in the year. In the neighbourhood of Sydney the autumn breeders commence to build at the end of March, MELIOKNIS. 67 and nests with eggs or young are fairly plentiful during the two following months. Occasionally nests may be found with eggs in June, but they are most numerous in July and August. Nests with fresh eggs may also be found in October, and again as late as the end of December. Usually the actions of the birds betray the vicinity of the nest. At Willoughby, on the 22nd April, 1899, while searching in the undergrowth for a nest, one of the birds, probably the female, tried to lure me away by feigning a broken wing. The nest I found built a few inches from the ground, under the shelter of a small tree, contained two young ones, who as I approached scrambled out of the nest and took refuge in the surrounding scrub. At Copmanhurst i\Ir. G. Savidge has found nests containing young in July, and others with eggs in August and September. Mr. Savidge informs me that these nests were built in rushes, tufts of long coarse grass, and low undergrowth. The nest figured on Plate A.. 11, containing two fresh eggs was taken by nie at Roseville, on the 9th October, 1898. Externally it is roughly and irregularly formed of very thin wiry plant stems resting on a base consisting entirely of strips of red stringybark, a few pieces of the latter material also being worked into the platform around the sharply defined cup-like cavity. The inner walls are lined entirely with the thread-like leaves of the Casuarina, and the bottom of the structure with the dark red velvety inhsoi Bankua cones. It averages externally four inches and a half m diameter by two inches and three-quarters in depth; the inner cup, one inch and three-quarters in diameter by one inch and a half in depth. This nest was built about eight inches from the ground among some bracken ferns I Ptcvis aquilina), and was partly sheltered on one side by a dead leafy branch of a low gum sapling. Meliornis mystacalis. MOUSTACHE D HOXEV-EATER. Meliphaga mystacalU, Gould, Proc. Zool. Soc, 1840, p. 1(31: id., Bds. Austr., fol., Vol. IV., pi. 26 (1848). Meliornis mystacalis, Gould, Handlik., IJds. Austr., Vol. I., p. 491 (186.5); Gadow, Cat. Bds. Brit. Mus., Vol. IX., p. 2.55 (1884). Adult male. — Lib- thv adult mili' nf ^Ieliornls sericea, OouM, //((/ luicuiij nulij n fur af tlie iimiiUj)',itl,<-rs tin thr nntr,' af th^- fonhmil sJi,,htlii t'lpprd ir'ith ,rh it,; tli. fratloTs mi tlir lu/cr fhmiit are rirli d,irh hn,ir,i. liisl,'„d nf hlark, -rk Isluirjrr, ifirr.nfrr. ini'l hi iirmUit,' 'lu/nrni. tlv iin'iiit trniiiiintliiij towards tin- Imfk. Total IciHjlli of skin, irCi inc/a's, ivin;/ 3. tail .'S. hill O-'.l], tarsus OSo. Al)ULr FR}.\\LV. — Siiiiiliir in iJimauir to tlv nail,', hut sliiihtl ij siiailhr. Distribution — Western Australia. ■]^«T (J form of the White-cheeked Honey-eater is found in South Australia, but the present -L ^ species is an extreme western representative of Meliornis sericea, from which it differs in the characters pointed out in the above description. Typically it has a longer bill than the eastern form ; fewer of the small black feathers too on the forehead are tipped with white, and in one specimen now before me, the black feathers at the base of the culmen are entirely devoid of these white tips. Mr. George Masters obtained five specimens while collecting on behalf of the Trustees of the Australian Museum, at King George's Sound, Western Australia, in 1866 and 1868, but did not succeed in finding the nest and eggs. Mr. Tom Carter informs me that it occurs sparingly near Albany and Perth. MELIPnAr,ID,E. In his " Handbook to the Birds of Australia,'"" Gould, quoting Gilbert's notes, remarks of this species: — " It is a very early breeder, young birds ready to leave the nest being found on the 8th August ; it has also been met with breeding as late as November ; it doubtless, therefore, rears more than one brood in the course of the season. The nest is generally built near the top of a small, weak, thinly-branched bush, of about two or three feet in height, situated in a plantation of seedling mahogany or other Eucalypti: it is formed of small dried sticks, grass, and narrow strips of soft bark, and is usually lined with Zamia wool ; but in those parts of the country where that plant is not found, the soft buds of flowers, or the hairy flowering parts of grasses, form the lining material, and in the neighbourhood of sheep-walks wool collected from the scrub. The eggs are usually two in number. They are nine lines long by seven lines broad, and are usually of a dull reddish-buff, spotted very distinctly with chestnut and reddish-brown, interspersed with obscure dashes of purplish-grey." Gilbert's remarks as to its varied flight, habit of mounting in the air and notes, are equally applicable to the eastern species, Mclioniis serliea. Meliornis australasiana. HORSE-SHOE HONEY-EATER. Certhia australasiana, Shaw, Gen. ZooL, Vol. VIII. p. 226 (1812). Meliphaga australasiana, Gould, Bds. Austr., foj., Vol. IV., pi. 27 (18-48). Lichmera australasiana, Gould, Handbk. Hds. Austr, Vol. I., p. 493 (1865). Meliornis australasiana, Gadow, Cat Bd». Brit. Mus., Vol. IX , p. 2.^2 (1884). Adult male— Gfiwral colour ((l>i>r,- ihill oxhij-iinn sVniJill ij t'nnjrd ,v[th nViri-: iijiiH-r to'il-runrts l,larl.-ish-hr„H-i, : iippfr irl ,it/-ror>'r/s hlorkUli-hn.in, .■ qiiUls dork hrmn, i„onji)o-,l rxlmoill i/ irith ,lnl,lr„-,jrll,„r rxrrpt .,o lhr 1,r,. „otrr,ll„st pr\ „I0 r\r^. oihI th, „i,;rol imrfOHl ,,/ owst ,,/thr rrmoiiider ofthi'prim^oii ,'lthrr shl- ,r\th o lorij- <,rol ^i«,f ,,/ irhd,; hot drrrrosio;/ n, xlze towards thr , -.Hind poir: lood doll „.v/,,/-,/yvy, th, /,„lhrr.-< ,,„ Ih, t<>r,li.„d oudrr.on, odth lod'isfnict Uackish-broini r.„lroI sfrr.d.s: Inns, f'othrs h, /mnf ,iod l„hn,d th- -//,- hhirjy,sh. thus- Inhiod the eye bordered obnn o-dh o oormn- o-hd, In,.-: nn--n„;rts d,dl oshnur,-,/ : ,-h,-,-/.-s ,n„l thn.ot doll ,rhde, each feather Imvinij o ,„n-n,o- l,lo,-kisli-l,n,o-„ ,;-otnd stn-ok: f„r,- o.-,-k ood ,-h,'st o-hit,-, fh,- l,ilt,-r ,rdh abroad crescenti,- doll l.lo,-h hor „o ,dh.r sld, : ,;-otn- ,,/ th,- hn,ist ,nid th,- ,d„l„n„o doll o-hd,-, ■remainder of th, ood.-r sorfi,;- doll .ir.-ji si;,,htl,, t\i„,,,l ,rdh hr,.o-„. ,rho-h Is ooo;- distn,,-! „o thf: sides of the al„l,,oo-o: ood.-r tod-n,r,rts o-hd,- o-dh hn,od d,dl .in-i, .-.otns. T„tol ho.jth n, th,- jl,-sh e-2.'> inrh-s, irlioj ,,'•.'-/. tod p.',, Inll (>■;, torsos 0:\. Adult fe.male - (feneral colour alioce olive-brown; lesser and oiedian upper wing-coverts like the back, the greater wing-coverts and prioiarij coverts blackish-broicn, -narrowly edged externally tvith olive; qiiills dark brown externally edged icith dull olive-yllow ; tail feathers dark hroicn margined externally with olive-yellnw, but decreasing in extent towards the outermost feathers on either side ivhich have indications of dull ichitish tips on their inner tvebs : head olive brown, lores dusky-brown; thefeathers behind the eye have a slight dusky wash, above which is a very faint yellowish-white line, the character of the markings on the lender surface are similar to those on the male but are different in colour, being a dull brow-n slightly tinged with olive, becoming somewhat darker on the crescentic bar on each side of the chest, and the feathers on the fore neck as in-ll as those on the throat are nai-ron'ly streaked with dull brown. Distribution — New South Wales, Victoria, South Australia, Tasmania. • Gould, Handbk. Bds. Austr., Vol. I., p 492, (1865) MELIORNIS. 69 /TraVMIS species originally described by Dr. George Shaw in his "General Zoology"" in 1812 I as the "Australasian Creeper," Certhia austvalasiana, is an inhabitant of the south-eastern portion of the continent, some of the larger islands of Bass Strait, and Tasmania. It is familiarly known both in Australia and Tasmania as the " Horse-shoe Honey-eater," both sexes having a crescentic marking on each side of the chest, these parts being black in the male and dull brown tinged with olive m the female. Gould, who uses the vernacular name of Tasmanian Honey-eater for this species in his folio edition of the " Birds of Australia," I remarks :—" This little Honey-eater is abundantly dispersed over every part of Van Diemen's Land, to which country, in all probability, the species is restricted, though there is another in South Australia and New South Wales so nearly resemblmg it, as to render this supposition doubtful, and a farther acquaintance with the continental bird is necessary to determine whether it is a mere variety or a distinct species. The chief difference consists in its being smaller in size, and less brilliantly marked on the wing." Prior to 1865, Gould apparently regarded the continental and Tasmanian birds as alike, for he makes no further reference to it in his "Handbook to the Birds of Australia," ; but there gives Tasmania, South Australia and New South Wales as the geographical distribution of this species. In South Gippsland, Victoria, this species was not uncommon in the swampy undergrowth at the foot of the Strzelekci Ranges. In South Australia the late Mr. F. W. Andrews regarded it as a rare bird, and stated its principal haunts were Mount Compass, and the deep rocky thickly timbered gullies running into the neighbouring ranges. Mr. Edwin Ashby writes me.-.—'-'Mcltorms aiistralasiana is comparatively rare near Adelaide, and is more often met with in the wildest parts of the Mount Lofty Range." In New South Wales it is one of the commonest species in the dense undergrowth of the valleys and the precipitous rocky gorges of the higher portions of the Blue Mountains. In the vicinity of Katoomba, Leura, and Wentworth Falls, I have often watched these birds dart from some bush on a rocky headland, launch out into the azure space uttering at the same time a shrill note, and with a zig-zag flight disappear in the foliage far below. It is equally numerous in the humid ranges of the Illawarra District. Near Sydney it is rarely met with. At Willoughby and Roseville I have seen it on several occasions frequenting the same situations as Meliomis scvicea, principally the undergrowth and low ferns on creek banks, sheltered above with trees of a larger growth. Although very common during spring and summer on the Blue Mountains I have noted it is just the reverse during winter. Dr. L. Holden writes me from Tasmania: — •' Lichmcya luistmhsiana haunts gardens in villages and suburbs. A fuchsia bush has a great attraction for it. Four species of our Honey-eaters may be often seen in gardens, but this one is by far the commonest. Its varied and vigorous calls outside my bedroom window have advised me of the approach of spring for many a year. No bird rises earlier or utters its note so soon. The loudness, stridency, and variety of the cries of this very familar bird make the Horse-shoe Honey-eater the best known to Tasmanians of any of its family. Of nests seen, one was in a most remote and desolate spot, another between a garden and a street in a rather busy village. One in a tea-tree overhanging the shore of Bass Strait was built of dry ribbon-like seaweed as a base, on which a cup of fine dry grass, without other lining was constructed ; this had three fresh eggs on 3rd November. I saw a pair building on the 6th September, and found newly hatched young on the 27th November. I have seen the hen bird twisting off dry tendrils from a laburnum tree to build her nest in the adjoining hedge, and flying from one tendril to the other till she found one dry and loose enough to be pulled off. The cock bird did not carry materials, he kept at hand however, and drove away • Gen. Zool., Vol. VIII., p. 226 {1812). t Gould. Bds. Austr, fol. ed, Vol. IV., pi. 27, 1S4S. J Gould, Handbk Bds. Austr., Vol. I., p. 493 (1S65). 70 MELIPHAfllD,?:. Other birds from the nest, the constant Sparrow, the occasional White-eye. Once I saw the hen humbly and vainly try to dislodge a quite unconcerned Sparrow, the next moment the Sparrow was fleeing for his life fiercely pursued by the male Honey-eater." Mr. E. D. Atkinson also sends me the following note from Tasmania: — "My brother, the Rev. H. D. Atkinson, found a nest of Lichmera nustrahisiaiin at Circular Head, on the 3rd December, 1889, containing two eggs, and another at Evandale on the 29th September, 1S96, with three eggs. Each nest was built in a tea-tree." Foran opportunity of giving a representa- tion of a haunt of the Horse-shoe Honey- eater I am indebted to Messrs. Kerry and Co., Sydney, who kindly presented to the Trus- tees of the Australian Museum a photograph of the gorge at the \'alley of Waters, for the purpose of reproducing the accom- panying plate. The \'alley of Waters is situated at Wentworth Falls on the Blue Mountains, sixty -one miles west of Sydney and two thousand eight hundred and forty-four feet abo\'e the le\el of the sea. The nest is a thick walled open cup-shaped structure and varies in the materials used for its construction. It is generally irregularly formed externally of thin strips and scales of bark, dead leaves and dried grasses slightly held together with spiders' web and plant down, the inner cup being neatly lined at the bottom with hair or fur, with which one or two feathers are sometimes intermingled. Others have no binding material, either of spiders' web or plant down, but are formed throughout of strips and scales of bark, dead leaves and dried grasses, and have a slight lining only of finer dead grasses and very fine fibrous rootlets. Of the latter type is a nest in the Australian Museum collection taken by Mr. S. W. Moore, at the Valley of Waters, Wentworth Falls, on the 23rd January, 1897. It was built in a clump of ferns, and contained an addled egg. Another nest in the Group Collection, taken by the late Mr. Henry Grant at Lithgow, has a large piece of paper worked into the outer portion of one side. An average nest A HAUNT OF THE HOESESIIOE IIOXRV-EATER. GLYCYPIIILA. 71 measures externally four inches and a quarter in diameter by two inches and three-quarters in depth, the inner cup measuring two inches in diameter by one inch and three-quarters in depth. They are usually built near the ground in a clump of ferns or low shrub. One found by Mr. W. L. Moore, at Waterfall, on the i8th October 1899, containing two fresh eggs, was, he informs me, built at the base of a low scrubby bush amongst a heap of debris collected there apparently by storm-water. The eggs are usually three in number for a sitting, oval in form and pointed at the smaller end, the shell being close-grained, smooth, and slightly lustrous. They vary in ground colour from a very pale salmon to a faint reddish or a fleshy-bufif, becoming darker towards the larger end, where they are spotted, blotched or have small irregular shaped markings of chestnut-brown or purplish-brown, some specimens have a few underlying markings of dull purplish-grey. Many of the markings are penumbral, nearly all are of irregular shape, and specimens may be found distinctly zoned, while others have the markings scattered over the larger end, and forming here and there small confluent patches. A set of three taken near Hobart, in October, 1885, measures:— Length (A) 075 x 0-56 inches; (6)075 x 0-58 inches ; (C) 074 x 0-57 inches. Another set of three measures:— Length (A) 078 x 0-59 inches; (B) 07 x 0-56 inches; (C) 073 x 0-56 inches. Young birds of both sexes resemble the adult female, but are duller in colour, and the cresentic bar on each side of the chest is smaller and less distinct. September and the four following months constitute the usual breeding season of this species. Glycyphila fulvifrons. FULVOUS-FKONTED HUXEY-E.\'1'EE. MelipJiaga fuh-ifrons, Vig. and Horsf., Trans. Linn, tioc, Vol. XV., p. 317 (1826). Certhia fulvifrons, Lewin, Bds. New Holl., pi. 22 (18.38) teste Gadow. Glyciphila fulvifrons, Gould, Bds. Aust. fol. Vol. IV., pi. 28(1848); id., Handbk. Bda. Austr., Vol.1., p. 495 (1865); North, Rec. Austr. Mus., Vol. VI., p. 124, (1906). Glycyphila fulvifrons, Gadow, Cat. Bds. Brit. JMus., Vol. IX., p. 210 (1884). Adult MALK — General colour above ashy-brown sliyldly tinged with olive, the feathers on the back with a broad submarginal streak of dark brown on either side; upper tail-coverts greyish-brown; lesser wing-coverts like the back, the median and greater coverts dark brown, externally margined with dull yelloivlsh-white; primary coverts and quills dark brown externally edged with olive-yellow, the innermost secondaries with dull whitish margins; tail feathers dark broivn, narrowly edged ivith ashy- broivn; forehead and occiput reddish-fulvous ; a stripe extending from the nostril over the eye white; lores, a narrow line of feathers below and behind the eye, and the ear-coverts blackish-brown, longer feathers of the latter margined with fulvous-white ; chin, centre of the throat, chest, and breast tvhite, separated from the sides of the neck, chest, and breast— which are ashy-brown tinged with olive — by a broad line of blackish-brown feathers extending on either side from the ear-coverts towards the centre of the breast, where it is broken, giving th'.se parts a mottled appearance ; some of the longer feathers on the sides of the breast reddish-fulvous ; centre of the abdomen white, the sides ashy-brown with a slight fulvous wash; under tail-coverts white tvith greyish-brown centres : inner margins of quills and tinder wing-coverts reddish-fulvous ; bill black; legs and feet leaden-grey ; iris blackish-hrown. Total length in the flesh 7 inches, wing 3':2, tail 2 8, bill 08, tarsus 0'88. Adult femalr — Similar in plumage to the male but slightly smaller. MELIPHAGID*. Distribution. — New South Wales, Victoria, South Australia, Kangaroo Island, Western Australia, Tasmania, and the larger Islands of Bass Strait. fjr^HE range of the Fulvous-fronted Honey-eater extends over the southern portions of the J- Australian continent, the larger islands of Bass Strait, and Tasmania. It is principally an inhabitant of the coastal districts, open heath lands or sandy wastes with a stunted and scattered vegetation being its favourite haunts. Near Sydney, it is a common resident at Botany, La Perouse and Middle Harbour, resorting chiefly to those parts, more or less covered with Grcvilkas andBiviksias, and in which the Grass-tree ( Xanthorrhcea hastata ) flourishes. At Chatswood and Roseville during September and October, I was surprised to see it frequenting the larger Emalvpti in the open forest lands, my attention in each instance being attracted to it by its weird notes. When disturbed it mounts high in the air and usually flies to a long distance, uttering at the same time its mournful and plaintive notes, and which may also be often heard while the bird is clinging to the stalk of a Grass-tree. As a rule it is a shy species, but while walking along a main road to Middle Harbour, one of these birds settled within three feet of me. They are, too, less cautious when searching for food on the long flowering spikes of the Grass-trees in June and July, where I have often seen them in company with Mdithreptus brevirostris, Meliornis sericea, Ptilotis fusai and P. chiysops. In the Illawarra District it may too be frequently seen extracting nectar or insects from the corolla of the many flowers on the crown of the long stem of the Gigantic Lily (Doryanthes e.xcclsa). The stomachs of these birds examined contained the remains of insects, principally of small beetles. Mr. Edwin Ashby writes me as follows from Blackwood, South Australia :—•• G/rn'/'/(//rt fiilvifiviis often \isits my garden. During the spring of 1904, a male used to frequently perch on one of the wire arches, and seemed to get quite used to the presence of people, singing freely when one was standing unconcerned, only a tew yards off." Mr. W. \\'. White informs me that he found this species breeding on Kangaroo Island, South Australia, in September, 181)3. From Western Australia, JNIr.Tom Carter writes me: — •'Glvcyphiln fulvifrons is very numerous around Albany. Nests with recently hatched young were found up to i6th February, 1905, and one nest with two fresh eggs on the 23rd I-^bruary." The following notes were received while Dr. L. Holden was resident at Circular Head, Tasmania , " On the 3rd November, 1886, I found three nests of Glycyphila fnlvifrons, all within six inches of the ground. One built in a Melaleuca had a lining of white Epacris bloom, some feathers and a little wool, another in a Banksia was lined with a good many feathers of the Swamp Parrakeet ( Pczoporus fovmosus), and the third in an Epacris contained a number of the dried yellow blossoms of a Mimosa. There were two eggs in each nest." The nest is a deep cup-shaped structure, outwardly formed of strips of bark and is lined inside with dried grasses, and at the bottom with either small dead flowers, downy grass seeds, pieces of Flannel Flower, or the vehety tufts of Bauhsia cones. Two nests received from Mr. C. French, Junr., that were taken in the mallee scrub in North-western Victoria, were lined with feathers, and a combination of rabbit fur and plant down. .\n average nest measures externally three inches and a quarter in diameter by three inches and a half in depth, and the inner cup two inches in diameter by two inches in depth. Generally it is slightly attached at the sides of the rim and rests between several thin upright stems within six or eight inches from the ground, sometimes it is placed upon it, and occasionally it is built as high as three feet. At Botany and Middle Harbour I usually found them in the rigid stems of a species of dwarf Leptospermum, also in Epacris, Isopogon, low Banksias and Eucalypti. Little preference is shown, however, and any shrub is utilized as a nesting site, also low ferns, the shelter of a tuft of herbage, or the drooping leaves of a Grass-tree. GLYCYPIIILA. 73 I found the nest figured at Middle Harbour on the 29th January, 1899, by flushing the bird almost at my feet. It contained two eggs in an advanced stage of incubation. Approaching the nest cautiously half an hour later, I got within a yard of the female who sat watching me, and did not forsake her eggs until I attempted to get still nearer to her. The nest was built between several rigid leafy stems of an Isopogon ancathifolia, the bottom of the structure being eight inches from the ground. This shrub is also a favourite nesting site for Hylacola pyrrhopygia. Externally the nest is formed of strips of bark, some being broad and short, others narrow and long completely encircling the structure, inside it is lined with fine dried grasses and at the bottom with the red velvety tufts from Banhiia cones, intermingled with a few small white flowers. Externally it measures three inches and a half in diameter by three inches and three-quarters in depth, the inner cup measuring two inches in diameter by two inches in depth. The eggs are usually two, rarely three in number for a sitting, oval, rounded oval, or elongate oval in form the shell being close-grained, smooth, and lustreless, and vary considerably in the disposition of their markings. They are pure white and are sparingly dotted and spotted with different shades, varying from pale chestnut- brown to rich red; on many specimens the markings are penumbral, and they are as a rule confined to the larger end. Some have small faint chestnut-brown blotches with darker NicsT OF TiiK ruLvous-n;ONTED liONEY-EATER. overlying dots and spots, and I have found one egg of a set pure white, and entirely devoid of markings. Typically the eggs may be distinguished from those of any other Honey-eater by the sparseness and washed out appearance of their markings, and approach more closely a variety of the egg of Ptilotis lencotis. Specimens however, may be found with the markings of a rich red. A set of two taken at Middle Harbour, on the 1st September, 1900, measures: — Length (.\) 0-87 x 0-62 inches; (B) o-88 x o'62 inches. A set of three in the .\ustralian Museum collection, taken by Mr. A. F. B. Hull, at Freshwater, near Manly, on the 8th November, 1903, measures: — Length (A) 0-77 x o'6i inches ; (B) o-8 x 0-62 inches ; (C) o-8 x 0-62 inches. Young birds resemble the adult but have most of the feathers of the upper parts narrowly centred with whity-brown and the wings and tail feathers duller in colour; the forehead only has a reddish-fulvous wash; a small spot in front of the eye and the ear-coverts brown; chin and upper throat pale yellow ; lower throat dull white; remainder of the under surface browner than that in the adult with sagittate markings of blackish-brown on some of the feathers on the upper breast. Wing 3 inches. The last trace of immaturity is exhibited in a few yellow feathers on the centre of the upper throat. 74 MELlPHAGlD.i;. Although the breeding season in the neighbourhood of Sydney extends over the greater portion of the year, fresh eggs may be usually looked for, about Middle Harbour and Manly, when the first of the Native Roses (Boronia scrrulata) are in flower and perfuming the heath and scrub lands this species frequents. On the 5th August, igoo, I saw two birds engaged in lining a nest built on the ground, sheltered slightly by the drooping leaves of a Grass-tree, and from which six days later I took two fresh eggs. On the same day I found a nest in an exposed situation in some stunted herbage, the female remaining sitting until I was quite close to her. On flushing her I discovered a young one just hatched and a chipped egg. Two young birds left the nest as I approached it on the igth August, the female, feigning a broken wing, and tumbling over and over, while the young ones concealed themselves in the undergrowth. I found another nest on the ist September, igoo, built in a low bush close to a well frequented path and the female sitting on two fresh eggs. In company with ;\Ir. C. G. Johnston at Middle Harbour, four nests were found on the 3rd September, 1S99, one contained a broken egg, another two heavily incubated and recently deserted eggs, another two dead young ones, and the fourth two young just hatched. The latter left the nest on my approaching it on the 30th September, I caught them and after examining them restored them to their parents. The easiest way to find the nests of this species is to walk quietly over their breeding haunts and flush the birds, for when once disturbed, they often fly some distance, and seldom return while an intruder remains in sight. The normal breeding season commences at the latter end of July and continues until the end of December, but nests may also be occasionally found throughout the first six months of the year. ^^Ir. .\. F. B. Hull showed me a nest and two fresh eggs of this species he had taken at Freshwater, on the 22nd March, 1901. The nest was built in a low dead bracken fern near the roadside. Another nest he found on the igth October, 1903, contained three fresh eggs. On the 13th April, 1906, in the same locality, Mr. Hull procured another nest with two fresh eggs. Mr. W. L. Moore brought me a nest and egg of the Fulvous-fronted Honey-eater - for examination he had taken on the 3rd November, 1900, at Loftus, on the lUawarra Railway Line, and also in the same nest an egg of the Pallid Cuckoo. This set I exhibited at a meeting of the Linnean Society of New South Wales in June lyoj. Glycyphila albifrons. \V H [ I'E-FEONTED HONEY-EATER. Glycypldla alhifrom, Gould, Proo. Zool. Soc, 1S40, p. 160; /'i,>nil ,■„!,, „,■ <:!,„rr hrmr,, slhjhtlii tni,,rd with hiif „n the rump n, with dl-did m.ii h >f th, h,,al Uackish-hrmvn, eachfuthn- ,nin;rn- red, iris reddish-bro>rn."—(Gou\d). 7'n/»/ /nn/fh .',-7 inches, icin;/ :J-S, tin/ l-H. bill ():'>, farsits 0-7. Adult female — The se.res inches, loing ..'•!', tail 1-7, bill ():'>, tarsus OS. Adult fe.m.\le — Similar in plumage to the male. Wing J-6 inches. Distribution — North Queensland, Southern portion of New Guinea, .\ru Islands. Al^HE Unadorned or Dull-banded Honey-eater chiefly inhabits the coastal districts of North- -L eastern Queensland, from Cape York to the Herbert River, and also occurs in the southern portions of New Guinea, and in the Aru Islands. Respecting this species in the Bloomfield River District, Mr. F. Hislop, writes: — ''Glvcvphila modesta is only found in open forest lands, and about tea-tree swamps and waterholes. The nest which is suspended from the end of a leafy branch is dome-shaped, and is made entirely from the bark of the tea-tree. Two eggs are usually laid for a sitting. I have also taken an egg of the Bronze Cuckoo from the nest of this Honey-eater." Mr. J. .V. Boyd who forwarded me nests and eggs and sent dates of taking eggs in every month of the year except May, June and July, writes: — "I found a nest of G/irr/Zji/d modesta on the 12th April, 1892, containing two fresh eggs, and nests were very plentiful in December of the same year. I found two nests each with two fresh eggs, on the 6th January 1893, and again on the 19th September and the 27th October, 1893, each with two fresh eggs. On the i8th October, 1894, I took three eggs from an abnormal nest, ha\ ing iibre intermingled with the tea-tree bark ; and on the i8th November, 1895, found a nest with two young ones just ready to fly." Mr. .\. F. Smith writes from Hambledon, near Cairns: — " Glyeypkiln modesta is common, and generally starts building about the middle of August, usually in trees overhanging water, but sometimes in forest country well away from it. Their nests are also plentiful in the tea-tree swamps near Ingham, and are always built throughout of tea-tree bark. Usually they are dome-shape, Init not always, some are deep cup-shape with the edges drawn together so as to sti(;matops. partly hide the eggs. On the Herbert River I found a nest on the yth March, 1903, with three newly hatched young, but nests with eggs I have most frequently found in September and October." A nest received from Mr. Boyd is an elongated pear-shaped structure with a wide mouthed entrance in the side, and is formed throughout of soft yellowish-white paper-like bark of a species of Melaleuca, and is suspended from the leafy twigs of one of these trees. It measures externally eight inches in length by four inches in diameter at its widest part, and across the entrance one inch and three-quarters. Internally it measures five inches in height, by two inches and a quarter in breadth. As pointed out by me in i88g, in the first edition of this work, '^ it will be observed that both Glycyphila fasciata and G. modesta, whose habitat is confined to Northern Australia, built dome- shaped nests, while G. fulvifrons and G. alhifyons, which are found in Southern Australia, build open cup-shaped structures. The eggs of the present species are usually two, rarely three in number for a sitting, varying from elongate and compressed ovals to oval in form, the shell being close-grained, smooth, and usually lustreless. Out of many sets now before me, two only have a slight gloss. They are pure white with very minute but distinct purplish-black dots sparingly scattered over the surface of the shell, predominating as usual on the larger end. Others have a cap only on the larger end formed of almost invisible but not confluent markings or pepperings of purplish-black, while some are entirely devoid of markings. To the naked eye these minute dots appear almost black, but when examined through a lens, the purplish shade is visible in one or more penumbral dots. A set of three (elongated ovals) measures: — Length (A) 0-83 x 0-52 inches; (6)0-84 ^ 0'92 inches; (0)0-83 >^ O'ji inches. A set of two (ovals) measures : — Length (A) 0-73 x o'5 inches; (B) 0-69 X o"33 inches. The eggs of this Honey-eater are probably the commonest of any species in the coastal districts of the north-eastern portion of the continent. I have received many sets from Mr. J. A. Boyd while resident at the Herbert Ri\er, also from Mr. B. Hislop from the Bloomfield River, and a few sets from Cooktown. The feathers on the back of immature birds have an ochreous-rufous wash, which is more pronounced on the rump and upper tail-coverts, the upper wing-coverts and quills have ochreous- rufous margins which are more distinct on their outer webs, and the fore neck and sides of the breast are longitudinally streaked with brown, ^^'ing measurement 2-6 inches, almost equals that of the fullv adult male. Stigmatops ocularis. BROWN HONEY-EATER Glyciphila ! ocularis, Gould, Proc. Zool. Soc, 1837, p. 1")4. fflyciphi/a ocularis, Gould, Bds. Austr., fol.. Vol. IV., pi. 31 (1S4S). (rlycyphila ocularis, Gadow, Cat. Bds. Brit. Miis., Vol. IX., p. 213 (ISS-f). Stiymatops ocularis, Gould, Handbk. Bds. Austr., Vol. I., p. .500 (18G.T); Sharps, Rep. Voy. H.M.S. "Alert,'' p. IS (18S4); Salvaii., Ann, .Mus. Civ. Gen. Vol. 29., p. 502 (1890); North, Trans. Roy. «oc., S.A., Vol. XXII., p, UG (1898); Hartcrt, Nov. Zool., Vol. XII., p. 234 (1905). Glyciphila f siibocnlaris, Gould, Proc. Zool. Soc, 1837, p. 154. • App., p. 389 (18S9). 80 MELIPHAGID.E. Adult male — General colour above olive-brown passing into fulvous-brown on the rump and upper tail-coverts; upper wing-coverts and quills dark brown, margined externally with greenish- yellow ,: tail-feathers brown, the central pair washed on both webs, and the remainder margined externally with greenish-yellow; head like the back, but with a slight ashy-grey shade; tips of the feathers below and behind the eye white, followed by a small triangular or an acute-angled patch nf short bright yellow feathers; chin, throat and fore neck dull brownish-grey, passing into a dull yellowish- white on the remainder of the under surface and the under tail-coverts; bill blackish-brown : legs and feet grey; iris reddish -brown. Total length in the flesh 'r7'i inches, icing 2-7, tail ?■?, bill 0-68, tarsus 0-65. Adult female — Similar in plumage to the male. Distribution— Queensland, New South Wales, Central Australia, Western Australia, Xorth- western Australia, Northern Territory of South Australia. fCsy EGARDING the characters as untenable upon which Gould founded his Stigmatops J_ \_ suhocularis, the distribution of the present species extends over the greater portion of the Australian continent. Gould who originally described Stigmatops ocularis in the Proceedings of the Zoological Society,* erroneously gives its habitat as Van Diemen's Land, also that of S. subocularis, described on the same page, as New South Wales. The latter he united with S. ocularis in his folio edition of the " Birds of Australia,"' but separates it again in his '-Hand- book to the Birds of Australia," where he states the skin of S. subocularis was obtained by Lieut. Emery on the north-west coast. In New South Wales Stigmatops ocularis is freely distributed in favourable situations. I found it fairly numerous in November iSg8, in the Red Bottle-brush trees (Callistemou lanccolatus), and the Drooping Myrtle or Water Gum (Eugenia ventenatii) overhanging the banks of the Upper Clarence River, and in which they were breeding. Their cheerful and decidedly musical notes resembling those of the Reed Warbler ( .Icrocephalus australis) were heard, but with few intervals, throughout the day, from early morning until after sunset. In the neighbourhood of Sydney, it may be regarded as a comparatively rare species. Although I have seen them, and heard their merry notes poured forth while engaged in their search for food in the leafy sprays oi z. Eucalyptus in my garden at Ashfield, during August and September, I have never found or heard of any one finding the nest of this species in the vicinity of the city. The birds are more often met with on the southern shores of Botany Bay and at the National Park. Mr. G. A. Keartland who obtained this species both in Central and North-western Australia writes me : — " Among the scrub which clothes the sides of the rocky gullies in the west Macdonnell Ranges in Central Australia Stigmatops ocularis makes its presence known long before it is seen. It has a rich loud song which is heard to advantage in the narrow deep gullies it frequents. Usually it is met with singly or in pairs ; when two of the same sex meet a chase or fight ensues. At Derby, North-western Australia, it is very plentiful durmg the autumn when the Melaleuca trees are in blossom." While resident at Point Cloates, North-western Australia, Mr. Tom Carter wrote me as follows: — "The active little songster Glycyphila ocularis may be heard almost any season of the year in the deep scrubby gullies on the ranges inland. It may also occasionally be seen or heard in the thickets on the coast sand hills. The nest is generally well concealed and built in some dense creeper or bush overhanging a gully." Mr. Edwin Ashby who kindly sent me two specimens for examination, obtained by him in Western Australia, writes: — "I first met with Glycyphila ocularis, in May 1889, at York, about one hundred miles due west of Perth. In August 1901, I found it at Callion, seventy miles north of Coolgardie, and in the same month it appeared to be numerous in the neighbourhood of Perth." * Gould, Proc. Zool. Soc, 1837, p 154 t Gould. Bds. .\ustr, fol. ed., Vol. IV., p. opp. pi. 31, (1848). STIGMATOPS. 81 Mr. A. F. Smith writes me from Cairns, Xorth-eastern Queensland: — " Glycyphila ocularis is plentiful about Hambledon :\Iill, judging by the amount of singing to be heard in the forest country. At Ingham on the Herbert River, I found a nest with two fresh eggs on the 28th June, 1903," The first nest and several sets of eggs of this species, I received from the late Mr. George Barnard of Coomooboo'.aroo, Duaringa, Dawson River, Queensland. A nest taken by him on the nth September, 1888, was attached to the thin horizontal twigs of an orange tree in his garden, and was built within a few feet from the ground. It is a neat cup-shaped structure, outwardly composed of strips of bark and grasses held together with webs and egg -bags of spiders, the inside being lined with finer grasses, cow-hair, and at the bottom with white downy seeds. Externally it measures two inches in diameter by one inch and a half in depth; the inner cup measuring one inch and a half in diameter by one inch and a quarter in depth. The nest figured, reproduced fiom a photograph, taken by Mr. George Savidge, was built in a Red Bottle-brush Calhsfcinon Iniiceohitiis j over- iianging the Upper Clarence River at Copmanhurst. It is attached by the rim to the leafy txtremities of a thin forked liorizontal branch, and is extern- ally formed of plant-down, egg- bags of spiders, cobwebs and a little wool all matted up together, the inside being lined entirely ith a thick felting of white ' iwny seeds. Externally it measures three inches in diameter bv one inch and three-quarters in depth, the inner cup measuring two inches in diameter by one inch and a half in depth. It ur lUK i;i:0"\ iioxEV-iCA lEK. contained two eg£;s. XEM AMI I,' Relative to this species in the Upper Clarence River District, New South Wales, Mr. George Savidge writes me: — "I have never seen Stigmaiops ocularis away from watercourses and the riverbed shingles, and it has a very loud and pleasing note for so small a bird. The nest is usually built in the Water Gums, and sometimes in a branch overhanging the water, the site varying from an altitude of three to twenty feet. The eggs are sometimes pure white, and are usually laid from August to the end of October, but I found one nest with fresh eggs in the early days of January." The eggs are two in number for a sitting, rounded oval in form, the shell being close-grained and lustreless. They are white, and finely freckled or peppered, particularly on the larger end, with almost invisible markings of faint reddish or chestnut-brown. A set of two taken by Mr. H. G. Barnard at Coomooboolaroo, Duaringa, Queensland, on the 26th July, 1892, measures: — Length (A) o-66 x o"55 inches; (B) o-66 x 0-53 inches. .A set of two in the Australian Museum collection taken by Mr. George Savidge on the Upper Clarence River, near Copmanhurst, are dull white, slightly nest-stained on one side, but are entirely devoid of markings. Length (A) o'7 X o'5i inches; (B) o'/i x o-ji inches. 82 MELIPHAGID.E. A set of two eggs taken near the Daly River, in January iqoi, in the Northern Territory of South Australia, are indistinguishable from specimens talcen in Queensland and New South Wales. Length (A) 0-67 x 0-52 inches; (B) 0-65 x 0-53 inches. Gould's brief original description of Stigmatops suho:idaris in the Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London," is as follows: — " A species from New South Wales, which differs from Glyciphila (Stigmatops) ocularis in being smaller, and in its more olive colouring." In his "Hand- book to the Birds of Australia"! he slightly enlarges on this description, where he remarks: — "Stigmatops suhocularis is a smaller bird than S. ocularis, and consequently one of the most diminutive of the Meliphagida ; besides differing in size, a yellower tint pervades the entire plumage, and the little spangle like feathers behind the eye are scarcely observable, in all other respects the two birds are very similar. The S. subocularis was shot on the north-west coast." Authorities are disided in reference to Stigmatops subocularis. In the "Catalogue of Birds in the British Museum," Dr. }i. Gadow regards it a smaller race of S. ocularis, and remarks: — "Intermediate forms, however, frequently occur." In the I^eport of the \'oyage of H.M.S. "Alert,"* Dr. R. B. Sharpe refers an example collected on Percy Island to S///;;;^?/!)/^ ()(7//(7m, and another obtained at Port Darwin to 5. subocularis. While three specimens procured by Dr. L. Loria in the latter locality Count Salvadori regards as .S'. ocularis. An examination of a larger series of specimens has strengthened the opinion formed in 1898 when I gave a list of the birds collected by the Calvert E.xploring Expedition in North-western Australia, j part of which is here transcribed: — "Stigmatops ocularis — One adult male and one young male obtained near Derby. The adult male has a bleached appearance and the head is more greyish than examples from Eastern Australia. A specimen from the same locality obtained by Mr. E.J. Cairn in 1886, cannot be distinguished from birds procured near Svdney. The young male has the cheeks, upper wing-coverts and edge of the wing distinctly washed with yellow, and is similar in colour and size to young examples from Port Essington, the Gulf of Carpentaria, and Burwood near Sydney. This is Gould's S. suhocularis, separated by him from 5. ocularis, on occount of its smaller size, and the yellow tint which pervades the plumage. I would point out, however, that a yellow wash to some of the feathers of several species of the Meliphagidae is a certain indication of youth, and that it is entirely lost when the birds have attained their full adult livery. This may be more particularly observed in Philemon citreogularis, P. sordidus, Myzomela pcctoralis, Glycyphila fulvifrons and Stigmatops ocularis." The specimens collected by Mr. G. A. Keartland near Derby, have again been kindly sent me for examination by the Trustees of the South .\ustralian Museum, .\delaide. The wing- measurement of the adult male is 2-7 inches; of the young male 2-34 inches. All the young birds oi Stigmatops ocularis whether from Northern, Eastern, or Western .Australia, now before me are more or less tinged with yellow, especially on the cheeks, upper wing-coverts and edge of the wing, and moreover have the dried skin of the gape yellow, another sure indication of immaturity. Two specimens in the Australian Museum collection obtained by Mr. K. Broadbent, at the Gulf of Carpentaria, a young one with the yellow tmted plumage and yellow gape is labelled .?. subocularis, the other an adult specimen, 5. ocularis. That as a rule many species are typically smaller and more bleached in appearance when inhabiting the hot and arid regions or Northern and North- western Australia, no one can deny, but on the other hand, with the present species, after allowing for individual variation, there is no greater difference in specimens obtained in widely separated * Proc. Zool. Sac , 1837, p. 154. t Gould, Handbk tids. Austr., Vol. I., p. 502 (1S63) ; Voy. H.MS. Alert, p. iS (1S84). |[ Ann. Mus. Civ. Gen , Vol. 29, p. 502 (iSgo.) § Trans. Roy. Soc, S.A., Vol. XXII., p. 147 (1S98). ENTOMOPIIILA 83 parts of Australia than one could expect to find in a species with a range extending to opposite sides of the continent. Dr. Ernst Hartert, writing in -'Novitates Zoologica-,"- in January 1905, on ''A list of Birds collected in North-wsstern Australia, and Arnhem Land" refers all the specimens procured to Stigmatops ocularis, and remarks:—" I am perfectly convinced that "subocularis;' about which Gould himself was always uncertain is based on young .?. ocularis:' Entomophila picta. PAINTED HONEY-EATEE. Entomophila picta, Gould, Proo. Zool. !Soc., 1837, p. 154; id., Bds. Austr., fol, Vol. IV., pi. .50 (1S48); id., Handbk. Bds. Austr., Vol. I., p. S30 (1865); Gadow, Cat. Bds. Brit. Mus., Vol. IX., p. 219 (1884); North, Vic. Nat., Vol. XVII., p. 127, (1900). Adult male — General colour above including the head, cheeka, ear-coverts and sides of the neck brownish-black; bfhind thi- ear-coverts a small white spot; upper wing-coverts brownish-black, the greater series narrowly edged with yellow: quills brotvnish-black broadly margined on their otUer webs with bright yellow, and decreasing in extent towards the outermost primary on either side, which is entirely blackish-brown; tail feathers brownish-black, externally marghied on their outer webs with bright yelloiv, all but the central pair having a spot of white at the tip of their inner web, increasing in size totvards the outermost feathers on either side ivliich have almost the apical half of the inner web white, and their outer webs entirely brownish-black; a small spot on the chin blackish-brozva; remainder of the under surface pure white; the fore neck and breast tvitio small and short longitudinal central streaks of brotvnish-black, ivhich are larger on the loiuer flaiiks ; under tail-coverts pure white; bill purplish-flesh colour at the base passiiig into ^fleshy-brown at the tip, the under mandible paler ; legs and feel dark grey; iris dark hazel. Total length in the flesh 6-S inches, wing 3-5, tail 2-2, bill 'i-'i, tarsus 7. Adult V¥M.\L¥.—l{esrmbles the adult male, but is slightly smaller, and has tlw head, upper parts and icings smoky-black instead of brotvnish-black. Wing .J'i inches. Distribution — New South Wales, Mctoria. /T^HE Painted Honey-eater, one of the most beautiful and undoubtedly one of the rarest _L species of the family Meliphagidce inhabiting Australia, is strictly confined to the south- eastern portions of the continent. In addition to its scarcity it is nomadic in habits, all the specimens I have seen in New S^uth Wales, being obtained in districts where it has only made its appearance during one season, and up to the present time has not been seen again. Writing me in 1905, Mr. E. H. Lane remarks; — "I never saw but one example oi Eniomophtla picta during m v many years residence in the State, and that one was shot by my nephew in October 1892, on Wambangalang Station near Dubbo. Though he had previously watched it for hours till it went tu roost at dusk, he did not find any nest, or notice a second bird." This specimen which was sent me for identification, and is now in the .Vustralian Museum collection, although apparently adult, has the lores, ear-coverts and cheek on one side of the head only, rich dark brown. Wing 3-45 inches. Anotlier male in the collection, received in the flesh on the nth October, 1S97, and shot the previous day by Mr. A. E. Hays of Stony Batter, Uralla, has the entire under surface pure white with a few indistinct flecks of blackish-brown on the flanks only. * Nov. Zool., Vol. XII., p. 234 (1905). 84 MELTPHAGID.E. Wing 3"2 inches. This was the only bird of this species he had ever seen. The wing-measure- ments of two mounted adult specimens in the Old Collection are respectively 3-2 inches and 3'5 inches. Both have the white under surface almost devoid of the small blackish-brown markings. In December i8gg this species made its appearance at White Rock near Bathurst, and Dr. G. Hurst obtained its nest and eggs, presenting the former to the Trustees of the Australian Museum, and subsequently sending me the latter as well as a pair of skins on loan for examination. The adult male is similar to the one described abo\e ; but has only a few short blackish streaks on the breast. ^^ ing y6 inches. The female is smaller and has the white under surface more flecked or streaked with blackish-brown than the male, \^'inf; 3-6 inches. In February 1901, this rare wanderer visited and nested near Sytlnev, a nest with two fresh eggs being taken at P'ivedock on the 14th February, and the parent bird procured. A week later .Mr. R. Grant shot an adult male in the adjoining suburb of Abbotsford, and brought back with him an unfinished nest which had been pointed out to him by a boy. It consisted of a few thin strips of red-strmgy bark and bark fibre, and was built in the drooping leafy twigs of a Eucalyptus at a height of ten feet from the ground. The bird, an adult male, although breeding was in the moult, the greater series of the upper wing-coverts being distinctly tipped with white, and the new secondaries edged around their tips with white : all the tail-feathers, e.xcept two new ones are abraded and worn away around their tips. The stomach of this specimen contained the remains of insects, apparently those of small black beetles. The nest procured on the 23rd December, 1899, by Dr. George Hurst, at White Rock, near Bathurst, is one of the most flimsy specimens of bird architecture I have seen. It is cup-shaped and formed almost entirely of fine yellowish-brown fibrous rootlets, with a very slight addition of spider's web. The sides of it are attached to the thin drooping thread-like leaves of a Casuarina, and it is so loosely constructed that daylight is as easily seen through it as the inter- spaces of the surrounding leaves. Externally it measures two inches and a half in diameter by two inches in depth, the inner cup measuring two inches in diameter by one inch and three- quarters in depth. The nest was built in a tree on a bank of the Macquarie River, at a height of thirty feet from the ground, and contained two eggs one slightlv incubated, the other addled. The eggs are ov'al in form and somewhat compressed towards the smaller end, the shell being close grained and its surface smooth and almost lustreless. The ground colour is a pale salmon-red which is thickly freckled and spotted with darker shades of red. In one specimen the ground colour is slightly darker, and the markings larger and confluent, forming a broken zone, a few large spots also being intermingled with the smaller ones on the thinner end. On the other specimen the markings are slightly larger on the thicker end, where also a few obsolete spots of dull violet-grey are visible. Length (A) 0-78 x 0-59 inches; (B) 0-77 x 0-57 inches. These eggs resemble in colour a variety of those of the Yellow-faced Honey-eater, Ptilotis chrysops, Latham. Dr. Hurst had never observed the Painted Honey-eater in the Bathurst District prior to finding the above described nest and eggs. This pair of birds built another nest in the drooping leaves of the limb above in the same tree, from which Mr. S. Robinson took a set of two eggs early in the following January. Gould found a nest with two nearly fledged young on the 5th September, but judging by the dates quoted, (23rd December and 14th February) the Painted Honey-eater is apparently a late breeder in the normal nesting season of our Australian birds. ENTOMOPHILA. 85 Entomophila rufigularis. EED-THEOATED HONEY-EATER. Enfomopliila ru/ogularis, Gould, Proc. Zool. Soc, 1842, p. 137 ; id., Bds, Austr., foL, Vol. IV., pi. 52 (1848). Conopophila rufigularis, Gould, Handbk. Bds. Austr., Vol. I., p. 533 (18G5). Entomophila rufigularis, Gadow, Cat. Bds. Brit. Mus., Vol. IX., p. 219 (1884). Adult male — ffeiieraZ colour above brown, tvings bro/ni, f he outer series of the greater wing- coverts narroidy edged with yellow, the quills of a darker brou-ii than the hack and margined externally with yellow decreasing in extent toivards the outermost primary oh either side, which has the outer web entirely brown; tail feathers broivn, with paler margins around the tips and narrowly edged externally tvith yejloiv; crown and sides of the head brown like the back; cheeks and sides of the throat grey; chin and centre of the throat rust-red; fore neck and breast pah creamy-brown; centre of the lower breast, abdomen and under tail-coverts white with a faint creamy-brown tinge. Total length 4'8 inches, wing 2-S, tail 2'1, bill 0'42, tarsus 6. Adult female —Similar in plumage to tlm male. Z)iscnsh, which is more pronounced on the centre of the abdomen: tips of the feathers on the fore neck and chest and many of them on the breast, scarlet, on the latter part the dull basal portion of the feathers are visible, giving it a mottled appearance ; under tail-coverts dull white with pale greyish-brown centres; hill black: legs and feet black with a slight olive tinge; iris black. Total length in the flesh 4--> inches, wing 2-S, tail 1-5, hill 5, tarsus OS-'i. Adult female — Gfiwrid raluKr nhnrf hrmi-n sliijlttlii tiniinl ir'ifh iitirr^ thr nnnp(nid iipinr Itiil- coverfs tnishrd iri/h nifyr,,,!-,,!',,-,^: ,rii,,js hnun, ,n, I siimhir/,/ umrkid ,is ni tlir iii,ih' ; lad -fathers brmim, n-ilh rmj imrn.ir Injlitrr luar.jnis: h,rrs, f,r,hr.,d. ,:n./r„ ,f ihr lirad, iiapr ,ii,rii, ht'caiininj miieh liyhfer on the lower mandible; leys and feet olive-yrey, iris rediiisli-hroirn." — ((iouldj. Total hnyth 4-0 inches, winy 2:3, tail PT, bill 0-(:!, tnr.-^iis 0-6. Adult femalu — (haeral colour above includiny the winy and tail yrryisli-hrown, with a slight iiliri- fiiii/i' (III fill- iijijiir tail-coverts, the outer webs of the qidlh dull hhI pliur-olive; the under parts yreyish-hi-iiirii, liyhter on the centre of the breast and abdomen; the foreJiead, chia, upper tliroat and lower ]>ortiu,i nf thi> cheeks washed with .irarlet. Distribution — Northern Territory of South Australia, Northern Queensland, Islands of Torres Strait, South-eastern New Guinea. ^nr^HE Red-headed Honey-eater is an inhabitant of the northern portions of the continent. _L Collecting on behalf of the Trustees of the Australian Museum, Mr. Ale.x. iMorton procured specimens at Port Essington. During the "Voyage of the Chevert" fitted out by the late Sir William Macleay, six males and two females were obtained at Cape York, six males and one female on Long Island, and one young male on Warrior Island, of which Mr. George Masters writes: — "During the month of June, this pretty species was very numerous about Cape York, where it frequented the high mangroves; it also appeared to be very common throughout the islands in Torres Straits." ' Mr. Masters has also enumerated this species in a list of birds obtained by the late Mr. Edward Spalding near Port Darwin. In his original description Gould stated the type was obtained by Mr. Bynoe, and gave the habitat as North-west Australia. In his folio edition of the " Birds of Australia," Gould remarks that all the specimens that had come under his notice were procured at Port Essington. In the Australian Museum collection are two unlocalized specimens, an adult male and young male from Northern Australia. .\ nest taken on the 27th September, 1897, is a very small cup-shaped structure suspended by the rim to a thin forked horizontal twig. Outwardly it is formed of very fine strips of bark and bark-fibre, intermingled with a small quantity of cobweb, more especially where the rim of the nest is attached to the fork. E.\ternally it measures two inches in diameter by one inch and a half in depth. The eggs are two in number for a sitting, oval in form, the shell being close grained, smooth and lustreless. They are pure white, with freckles, irregular-shaped spots and blotches of pale red, unevenly distributed over the larger end, where in one specimen they form an ill-defined zone. Length (A) 0-64 x 0-45 inches; (B) o-6i x o'46 inches. The young male resembles the adult female, but has also some dull scarlet feathers on the crown and nape. Wing 2'i5 inches. * Proc. Linn. Soc, N.S.W , VoL I., p. 55 (1S77). 96 MELIPHAGID.E Myzomela obscura. DUSKY HONEY-EATEK. J/i/zoinela obscura, Gould, Proc. Zool. Soc, 1842, p, 136; id., Bds. Austr , fol., Vol. IV^., pi. 67 (1848); id., Haiidbk. Bds. Aust. Vol. I., p. 559 (1865): Silvad.. Orii. Pap. et Molucc, Pt. II., p, 303 (1881); Gadow, Cat. Bds. Brit. xMus. Vol. IX., p 143 (1884). Adult male. — General colour above and below, includimj the head, brown; the under jjart.t pah'r ivitli a reddish or vinaceoiis tinge, ivhich is more pronounced on the hnver throat; the quills mid tail feathers ivith a blackish-grey shade, the outer webs of the former loith narrow indistinct whitish edges; bill black; legs and feet tjreyish-black. Total length 5 inches, wing 2-7, tail 2'1, hill 0'6, tarstis 0-7. Adult fe-MALK — Nh^ //'(»• iu /iliiumgi' ta thf ukiIi-. Distribution — Northern Territory of South Australia, Queensland, New Guinea, Aru Islands. /T^HE range of this species extends from the Northern Territory of South Australia along -L the eastern coast of Queensland, to the islands of Torres Strait, South-eastern New Guinea, and the Aru Islands. Collecting on behalf of the Trustees of the Australian Museum Mr. Geo. Masters procured specimens at Wide Bay, Queensland, in October 1867. Mr. J. A. Boyd found it breeding at Ripple Creek, an affluent of the Herbert River in 1895. Specimens were obtained at Cairns by Mr. K. Broadbent, Messrs. E. J. Cairn and Robert Grant, and Mr. A. F. Smith. Mr. Frank Hislop found it breeding in the Bloomfield River District, and Mr. George Masters procured specimens at Cape York in 1873 during the \'oyage of the "Chevert." From examples obtained at Brock's Creek and other parts of the Northern Territory of South Australia, Dr. E. Hartert has recently characterised a new subspecies under the name of Myzomela obscura grisescens." The greyish shade to the feathers of this form is clearly visible in specimens procured by Mr. A. Morton at Yam Creek, near Port Essington, where the typical form of Myzomela obscura is found as described by Gould. The character of Dr. Hartert's subspecies is, however, far more pronounced in a specimen sent for examination by Mr. Edwin Ashby that was obtained at Port Keats, Hyland Bay, and not far distant from the border line of North-western Australia. In a large series of specimens now before me, those from the eastern coast of Queensland and the south-eastern portion of New Guinea, may be distinguished by their dark brown plumage, while those from the Northern Territory of South Australia have the plumage shaded with grey and apparently more so the nearer the specimens are obtained towards the border of North-western .Australia. Mr. Frank Hislop writes me:--" In the Bloomfield River District, North-eastern Queensland, Myzomela obscura is found both in the scrub and open forest lands. It feeds upon the nectar of flowers, insects, and also on small spiders. The nest is generally built among the thick leaves of dark foliaged trees, such as the ironwood, also in mango and orange trees in gardens. Two eggs are laid for a sitting." \\'hile resident at Ripple Creek Plantation, Herbert River District, Mr. J. A. Boyd, for- warded me a nest and set of two eggs of this species, accompanied by the following note: — "Last week, on the 3rd November 1895, I took a nest and two fresh eggs oi Myzomela obscura. The nest was built in an orange tree in the garden some six feet from the ground." The nest received from Mr. pjoyd is a small open cup-shaped structure, externally formed of fine brown wiry rootlets and spiral plant tendrils, with a slight addition, particularly at the rim, of cobwebs, the bottom of the nest inside being lined with \ery fine dried yellowish-brown grasses. It measures externally two inches and a half in diameter by one inch and three-quarters in depth, • Nov. Zool., Vol, XII., p. 235 (1905). MYZO.MULA. 97 the inner cup measuring one inch and three-quarters in diameter by one inch and a half in depth. Although thicker walled than average nests olMyzmida sanguinolcnta, it is formed of so very much finer materials, that the eggs would be plainly visible to one standing underneath the nest. l~he e"-gs are two in number for a sitting, oval in form, the shell being close-grained, smooth and slightly lustrous. They are almost pure white, dotted, spotted and largely blotched, par- ticularly on the thicker end with pale red and very pale purplish-red, in some places one colour partially overlying the other, with which are intermingled a few subsurface markings of pale purplish-grey. Length (A) 0-67 x 0-52 inches; (B) o-68 x 0-5 inches. Myzomela nigra. BLACK HONEY-EATER. Myzomela nigra, Gould, Bds. Austr., fol.. Vol. IV., pi. 66 (1848); Handbk. Bds. Austr , Vol. I., p. 558 (1865); Gadow, Cat. Bds. Brit. Mus., Vol. IX., p. 138 (1881). Adult male — General colour above dark greyish-black; lesser and median upper wing-coverts like the back, the greater coverts and quil/s dark brown with a blackish wash, ichich is more pronounced on the innermost secondaries; tail feathers blackish-brown; head, neck and a central streik extending down the breast dull black; remainder of the under surface white; under tail-coverts white, the basal portion of some of the longer feathers with a narrow central streak of dark brown; '■bill black; legs and feet black; iris dark brown" (Bennett). Total length 4-2 inches, wing 2-7, tail 1-6, bill 0-66, tarsus 0'5o. Adult female — General colour above broivn; wings brown, the greater wing-coverts and inner- most secondaries margined with dull rufous-brown ; tail-feathers dark brown narroivly edged with whily-brown; head and hind neck brown, the latter with a slight ashy-shade; lores, feathers below the eye and the ear-coverts broivn; all the under surface dull ivhite, slightly washed rvith brown on the throat, fore neck and upper breait, where some of the feathers are centred with dark brown; under tail- coverts white. Z)isVfrts and ijiidls I, mini, ihr latter nnrrowly edijed mid .«„„-■ -;/' //,-• mrduiii mid i/rni/ir coverts indistinct 1 1/ niiin/iii'd ir'ith < i,„l,' hiijl'. T„l„l hnujth ■',■'} iii,'h,'.-<, iriiiii .'■■'>. Inil ..'■■:. I, ,11 n-}, i,,,:--,,..- li'7-',. Adult femalk — Simi/nr in /ilmii,,,/,' I,, ll,,- ma/r. Dislriliutiuii— Western Australia. /T^HIS very distinct species was described by Gould in the Proceedings of the Zoological -L Society in 1837. The habitat there given is Van Diemen's Land, but Ciould corrected his mistake later on when figuring this species in his folio edition of the Birds of Australia. Mr. George Masters collecting on behalf of the ']"rustees of the Australian Museum, informs me that he found it very abundant at King George's Sound, and that in habits and the situations it frequented, it resembled the eastern representative of the genus A. tenuirostris. Mr. Masters procured nine specimens during his first visit to that part of Western Australia in 1866, and ten specimens on his second visit in iSG.S. Some adult males are paler on the breast than others. Wing-measurement 2-5 to 2-f) inch ; that of a specimen labelled adult female is 2'5 inches. Mr. Edwin Ashby writes me: — "I found Acajiih'jrhvinhiis supcvciliosiis very numerous in the neighbourhood of Albany in September 1899, and again near Perth, Western Australia, in August 1901. In the former locality they seemed to be especially fond of the flowers of a species of Banksia." Relative to this species Gould remarks,'' " The nest, which is constructed among the large- leaved Banksia, is of a round compact form, and is composed of dried fine grasses, tendrils of flowers, narrow threads of bark, and fine wiry fibrous roots matted together with Zamia wool, forming a thick body, which is warmly lined with feathers and Zinnia wool mingled together ; the e.Ktreme diameter of the nest is three inches, and that of the ca\'ity about one inch and a quarter. The eggs are two in number, nine lines long by six and a half broad; the ground colour in some is a delicate buff, in others a very delicate bluish-white, with a few specks of reddish-brown distributed over the surface, these specks being most numerous at the larger end, where they frequently assume the form of a zone. The breeding season is in October. A set of two in Mr. G. A. Keartland's collection, taken by Mr. E. J. Harris, in October i8gg, from a nest in a dog-wood bush at Bunbury, Western Australia, are oval in form, the shell being close-grained, smooth and lustrous. ' They are of a pale fleshy-white ground colour, which passes into a light red on the larger end, where there are dots, spots and small irregular shaped markings of dull chestnut-red, the remainder of the shell with the exception of a few dots and spots being devoid of markings. These eggs bear a close resemblance to those oi Acanthovhymhus tenuirostris of Eastern Australia, but they are less pointed at the smaller ends than are typical eggs of the latter species. Length (A) 0-73 x 0-52 inches; (B)o'7i x 0-51 inches. • Gould, Handbk. Bds. Austr , Vol. I., p. 554 (1865). EXPLANATION OF PLATE A. 9. Nest and Eggs of Pachycephala gui'turaus. White -throated Thickhead. NEST AND EGGS OF AUSTRALIiN BIRDS. PLATE A ft EXPLANATION OF PLATE A. 10. Nest of PALCnNCDLUS FRONTATDS. Crested Shrike-Tit. NEST AND EGGS OF AUSTRALIAN BIRDS. PLATE A 10 EXPLANATION OF PLATE A. 11. Nest and Eggs of Melioknis seeicea. White-cheeked Honey-eater. PLATE A 11 l^\ V^ ^ ^'*':^-..jf'j^y»=^-^ Wr^'>-''Kf&9 ^%r --^JT' -^^ :2v* '-r* v'/l % :<^ XZi^i ^'-^'^J^j^J EXPLANATION OF PLATE B. VIII Figs. 1, 2. Geaccalus melanops. Black-faced Cackoo-Shi-ike. Figs. 3, 4. Gradcalos paevieostris. Small-billed Cuckoo-Shrike. Fig. 5. Graucalus mestalis. Varied Cuckoo-Shrike. • Figs. 6, 11. Cracticus bufescens. Black Crow-Shrike. Figs. 7, 8, 9. Ckacticd.s NioBicuL^uiis. Black-throated Butcher-bird. Fig 10. Ckacticds picatus. Pied Butcher-bird Figs. 12, 13. Sphecotheees maxillaeis. Fig-bird. Figs. 14, 15. Sphecotheres flaviventris. Yellow-breasted Fig-bird. Fig. 16. Ckacticus leucopteeus.* White-winged Butcher-bird. Figs. 17, 18, 19. Cracticcs destbuctob Butcher-bird. Fig. 20. Cracticus cinebecs. Tasmanian Butcher-bird. Figs. 21, 22. Pteeopodocys phasiasella. Ground Cuckoo- Shrike. Figs. 28, 24, 25. Geaucalus htpoleccus. White-bellied Cuckoo-Shrike. » = Cracticus destructor, Temm., North, Proo. Linn. Soc N.S.W., August, 1906. Nests and eggs of Australian birds. PLATE B. VIII. .... . . ..^, ,:!*••' r^ V -«J* • . J»« 'S *1 \.*t . 4I iff EXPLANATION OF I'LATE B. IX. Fig. 1. Cacomantis flabellifobmis. Fan-tailed Cackoo. Fig. 2. PlEZORHYNCHCS NITIDUS. Glossy Flycatcher. Fig. 3. Petbusca phcesicea. Flame-breasted Eobin. Fig. 4. Petrceca leggii. Scarlet-breasted Kobin. Fig. 3. Erythrodbtas rhodixog.aster. Pink-breasted Eobin. Fig. 6. EKYTnRODKTAS EOSEA. Kose-breasted Robin. Figs. 7, 8. APHELOCEPHALA LEUCOPSIS. Squeaker. Figs. 9, 10. Hylacola pyrrhopygii. Eed-rumped Scrub- warbler. Fig. 11. Hylacola cacta. Shy Scrub-warbler. Fig. 12. Petbochehdon nigeicans. Tree Swallow, Figs. 13, 14. Neositta chrvsopteea. Orange-winged Bark-pecker. Fig. 15, Neositta prLE.iTA. Black-capped Bark-peeker. Fig. IG. Neositta leucocephalus. White-headed Bark-pecker. Figs. 17, 18. Petrikca goodexovii. Eed-capped Eobin. Fig. 19. Melioesis austbalasiana. Horse-shoe Honey-eater. Fig. 20. Meliiheeptus bkevieostbis. Short-billed Honey-eater. Fig. 21. MYLiGRA RUEECCLA. Leaden-coloured Flycatcher. Figs. 22, 23. MY^AGRA concinna. Pretty Flycatcher. Fig. 24. CiSTICOLA EXILIS. Grass Warbler. Fig. 25. Megalurus geamineus. Little Grass-bird. Fig. 26. Ehipiduea eufifbons. Kufous-fronted Fantail. Fig. 27. Aphelocephala nigricinxta. Black-banded Squeaker. Fig. 28. EHiPionEA aleiscapa. White-shafted Fantail. Fig. 29. EHiPlDUB.i albic.\uda. Wbite-tailed Fantail. Fig. 30. Ehipiduea diemenensis. Tasmanian Fantail. Fig. 31. Myzomela obscura. Dusky Honey-eater Fig. 32. Myzomela SANOtrisoLEHTA. Sanguineous Honey-eater. Fig. 33. Myzojiela nigra. Black Honey-eater. Fig. 34. CiNNYRIS FEENATA. Australian Sun-bird. Fig. 35. Smiceobkis beevieostris. Short-billed Scrub-Tit. Fig. 36. SiiicBORNis flavescens. Yellow-tinted Scrub-Tit. NEST AND EGGS OF AUSTRALIAN BIRDS. PLATE B. IX. W^: m \ 13 14 .v 29 30 .^■?^ 1^"^ 32 P^ 36 ACANTrrOIillVNCllUS. 105 -,/■//„' r/l,- ,n„l Ih,' <',n-^n,rrrts l,l,lrh-ish : „ ln,r n/frutlwrs ,'.,■!,■ ,rrn,,l hrhuHl Hi, n),,.,,- i,urlin,i n/lhr oyp nhU,-; rhn, ,n„l rhrrk.. irhUr : fjimnl, /„n- ,>,',■!,■ ,n, iiirliis, irlii;/ .':',. /ni/ ,.'•.;, /,/// f)-?, /iirsiis n-;5. Adult fkmalk — "^iuiihir in /Jinimiii- to tin innl,'. Distribution — Western Australia. /nR\HIS very distinct species was described by Gould in the Proceedings of the Zoological J- Society in 1837. The habitat there given is \'an Diemen's Land, but Gould corrected his mistake later on when figuring this species in his folio edition of the Birds of Australia. Mr. George Masters collecting on behalf of the Trustees of the Australian iMuseum, informs me that he found it \ery abundant at King George's Sound, and that in habits and the situations it frequented, it resembled the eastern representative of the genus A. teniiirostris. Mr. Masters procured nine specimens during his first visit to that part of Western Australia in 1S66, and ten specimens on his second visit in 1S68. Some adult males are paler on the breast than others. Wing-measurement 2'5 to 2-(j inch ; that of a specimen labelled adult female is 2'5 inches. Mr. Edwin Ashby writes me: — "I found Acantlvvhynclun supercHiostn very numerous in the neighbourhood of Albany in September 1899, and again near Perth, Western Australia, in August 1901. In the former locality they seemed to bs especially fond of the flowers of a species of Banhsia." I'ielative to this species Gould remarks," " The nest, which is constructed among the large- leaved Banksia, is of a round compact form, and is composed of dried fine grasses, tendrils of flowers, narrow threads of bark, and fine wiry fibrous roots matted together with Zamia wool, forming a thick body, which is warmly lined with feathers and Zainia wool mingled together; the extreme diameter of the nest is three inches, and that of the cavity about one inch and a quarter. The eggs are two in number, nine lines long by six and a half broad; the ground colour in some is a delicate buff, in others a very delicate bluish-white, with a few specks of reddish-brown distributed over the surface, these specks being most numerous at the larger end, where they frequently assume the form of a zone. The breeding season is in October." A set of two in Mr. G. A. Keartland's collection, taken by Mr. E. J. Harris, in October 1899, from a nest in a dog-wood bush at Bunbury, Western Australia, are oval in form, the shell being close-grained, smooth and lustrous. They are of a pale fleshy-white ground colour, which passes into a light red on the larger end, where there are dots, spots and small irregular shaped markings of dull chestnut-red, the remainder of the shell with the exception of a few dots and spots being devoid of markings. These eggs bear a close resemblance to those of Acanlluvliyuihiis tcnuii'osti'is of Eastern Australia, but they are less pointed at the smaller ends than are typical eggs of the latter species. Length (A) 073 x 0-52 inches; (B)o7i x 0-51 inches. ' Gould, Handbk. Bds. Austr., Vol. I., p. 554 (1865). 106 MKLIl'lIAGID.E. O-en-U-S :E=TII_|0TIS, S,rai7lS07L. Ptilotis lewini. LEWIN'S HONEY-EATER. Ptilotis leivinii, Swains., Class. Birds, Vol. II., p. 320 (18.'37); Gould, Handbk. Bds. Aiistr., Vol I., p. 503 (ISG5). Ptilotis chrysotis, Gould, Bds. Austr., fol., Vol. IV., pi. 32 (1846). Ptilotis lewini, Gadow, Cat. Bds. Brit. Mus., Vol. IX., p. 229 (1884). Adult m.^vle — Gtnieral colour aboce dull olive-green ; ivings and tail brig/iter, iiiclining to olive- yelloti; (he inner icebs of tin' qniUs and all but the central pair of tail feathers brown; head dull olive- green, with a blackish-grey wash on the forehead: feathers between the nostril and those encircling the eye and the fore part of the cheeks blackish; below the eye a short streak of small jiale yelloir feathers; ear-coverts dark silky-steel-grey, folloived by a patch of feathers of a slightly brighter yellow than those below the eye: throat and all the nnder surface olive-grey slightly tinged with green, wliich is more distinct on the fore iieck and breast, most of the feathers hailing more or less conspicuous darker centres, those on t/te centre of the breast and t/te abdomen having very dull oUve-yellon' margins : under tail- coverts olire-grey with brown centres: thighs dull olive-green; outer series of tlie under wing-coverts fulvous-yellow; bill black; gape straiv-wliite ; legsand feet light Jleshy-bro>un; iris bluish-grey. Total length, in tJir flesh U inclies, wing .1/-',', tail ■!■!!, bill 0'7, tarsus 0-9'). Adult femalu; — Similar in plumage to the male but smaller. Distribution — Queensland, New South Wales, \'ictoria. ~|7«) EW'IN'S Honey-eater is freely dispersed in favourable situations throughout the eastern ■ V portions of Queensland, New South Wales and X'ictoria. It gives decided preference for the coastal brushes, and the contiguous mountain ranges, and unless associated with its young is generally met with in isolated pairs. I found it numerous in the thick humid undergrowth of the Strzelecki Ranges in South Gippsland, \'ictoria, also in somewhat similar country at the head of Twofold Bay, near the southern border of New South Wales. It occurs throughout the Illawarra District, and I ha\'e observed it on the Upper Clarence River. It is also found on the Blue Mountains, but I have never seen a specimen from the open forest lands beyond the western slopes of that range. Near Sydney it is more often met with, or its rapidly quavering whistling notes heard, on the sides and beds of creeks overgrown with vine-covered Lilly-pilly, Coachwood, and Black Wattle trees. It frequents chiefly the gullies on the highlands of the Milson's Point Railway Line and Middle Harbour, also the more level country between Manly and Narrabeen. Mr. Edwin Ashby forwarded me a specimen obtained by him at Drouin, N'ictoria, and also sent me the following note: — "I found Ptilotis Icunni the most common bird in tlie Hlackall Ranges, to the north of Brisbane, Queensland. The settlers there informed me that they came in swarms amongst the fruit trees when the fruit was ripe and did much damage. They nest in the orange trees." Stomachs of these birds examined contained the remains of insects and portions of various wild fruits. I have watched these birds diligently searching the slightly roughened bark of a small gum sapling for upwards of a quarter of an hour, exploring every branch and apparently obtaining small insects in the crevices of the bark. I have also seen it pulling off the flowers of a daphne in my garden. The fast diminishing cover for this and many other species, owing to the land being cleared for building purposes, is rapidly driving many species once common in the district farther afield. When procurable too, this species feeds largely upon all kinds of cultivated soft-pulped fruits. At Roseville it attacks principally the summer fruits, but it is not numerous enough in that locality to do any considerable damage. 107 The ,™le i.Jis.inc.ly la,„e, 0..., .he female. ,l.e wihg meh.uremen. of average ad,,h ,pecL.s obtained ,n ,he Hlawa.ra Disfric, Ne« South Wa,e. be,„, ^^'^^^^^^ winter, but I th.nk goes away dur.n,, the summer months, but cannot be certam rt, readily distinguished from F. uMa in the trees. The nest is a large cup-shaped structure, outwardly formed of I^^J ^-J|tnps c. ba,K, p n tendrds, egg-bags of spiders, and a few dead 'eaves, mterwoven and Id ^^^^^^ ^, addition of spider's web; u.s.de :t >s neatly hned w.th dned ^■--;- ^^ ^j,^ ^^^^nt '■ or thistle - .Hstening white -y-n from the seed-^s . .e mtroduc^ ^Co^n^^^ - _ ^_^^ _ ;rhr;— ;;:^::; -:inofthe d. .... -- -;;;— rr:: gullies are thickly coated on the outs.de w.th br.ght green ^^^^^ ^^^^.^ ,;,as ne-ir water or in the bottom of a mountam gully, at an height varym tron , y Tom .i-ound. Near Sydney the LiUy-piUy ( Engcna snuthn) -^^ '';f 7'^;,"°', f '^"^^ ';::T.;.U., ... .. trees most frequently selected as "-;-;^--^^;^t^ ^.l;; Johnston, and the writer in a Lilly-p.lly at the bottom of a gully near C^^^--^ ' ^^^^^„^^„^^, Pymble, where I had heard a pair ot these birds, ad a ter a short ^ea ch Jdiscovering their nest in a Coachwood containmg two fres^ :^-^^^ZL, month, built . firrnrpH on Plate A 1-2, is built in a Coachwood, and was taken by i\ir. ^. o. j l!T:. inches atd a half in d.p.h : .n.ernal diameter three inches, depth two .nches. Lcker end, where in some instances they assume the form of a zone A set taken fro t above descibed nest are of a delicate fleshy-white ground colour with very -- ^^ ^ ^^ mediumsized irregular shaped blotches of light red distributed over the surface of the sh 11 In :rspecin.enthe;p.dominateon..th.l^end^ over the larger end of the shell. Length (A) 1-03 x 073 inches; (B) i o, x o, -inches. Air E H Lane has a set of eggs of this species in his collection with an egg of the M,. L. H. Lane nas ._, Richmond River, on the gth Pallid Cuckoo found m the same nest. I his set was taweii 01 December, 1902. 108 MELIPHAGID.E. September and the four following months constitute the usual breeding season of this species in New South Wales. In company with Mr. S. W. Moore, and his son, Mr. W. L. Moore, at Waterfall, on the and January, 1899, the latter found a nest with two partially incubated eggs. In the same locality Mr. \\'. L. Moore found a nest on the 12th January, containing two heavily incubated eggs and a recently hatched young bird, which he believed was a Pallid Cuckoo. At Leura he found a new nest and saw the birds at it, on the 20th January, 1900. At Copmanhurst, Mr. George Savidge showed me a set of two eggs taken by him on the 27th December, 1^94, also an egg of the Pallid Cuckoo, found in the same nest. Another nest of Lewin's Honey-eater he examined, contained a young Pallid Cuckoo, and he saw an adult Pallid Cuckoo leave the bush in which the nest was placed. Later on he forwarded me a photograph of a nest taken on the 2nd November, 1902, in an orange tree in his garden at Copmanhurst, containing two fresh eggs. The nest is somewhat similar to the one found at Chatswood, but pieces of white paper are principally used in its outer construction. E\idently, he informs me, the same pair of birds built in the tree again, for he took fresh eggs from a nest in it on the 30th December, 1902. Ptilotis notata. YELLOW SPOT HONEY-EATER. PtUotix iiolat,!, Gould, Ann. Mag. Nat. Hist., 3rd Ser., Vol. XX., p. 269 (1867); vL, 8uppl. Bds Austr., fol. pi. 41 (18G9). PtHiitis iti,,ih,,/,i. (/nni) Gadow, Cat Bds. Brit. Mus., Vol. IX, p. 227 (1884) ; North, Proc. Linn. Soc. N.S W , 2nd S,-,-.. Vol. IX , p. .S!) (1894). Adult male— L>/.'- Ih>- (ulult umli' o/'PtILOTIS LF.WINI, Swainson, Iml sukiHiT. mal hin-'uni till' vji/H'T jiKr/.o Ir-ss -5 iiiches, leiay .'■.'', tail '■■!'>, hill CiilS, tarsits 0-7. Adult VEMALE— Similar in. plu)uai/e I,, the nude I, at smallrr. ^Viaij 2-7 iaehes. Distribution. — Xorthern Queensland, Northern Territory of South Australia. g|\N the "Catalogue of Birds in the British Museum,"''- Dr. Gadow followed Count Salvadorit -L in placing the name of the present species, as a synonym of Ptilotis analoga, Reichenbach. Ptilotis gracilis described by Gould from a single specimen obtained at Cape York, was as I pointed out in the "Proceedings of the Linnean Society of New South Wales" in 1894,.]: a decidedly smaller race of P. analoga, of which there were similar specimens in the Macleay Museum, procured at Cardwell. At that time I was not aware that Dr. R. B. Sharpe, in his Report of the "Voyage of H.M.S. 'Alert,'"? differed from Dr. Gadow, and recognised the two Australian forms P. notata and P. gracilis. Nor that Count Salvadori had reinstated P. gracilis'] as a good species on the authority of a male collected by Dr. Loria at Port Darwin on the 9th May, 1889. It is the only occasion I have ever known this species to be received from the Northern Territory of South Australia ; the genus Ptilotis as a rule in the many large collections * Gadow. Cat. Bds. Brit Mus , Vol. IX., p. 227 (1S84). t Orn. Pap. et Molucc, VoL IT, p. 327 (1881). J Proc. Linn. Soc. N S. Wales, 2nd ser., Vol. IX,, p. 40, {1894). § Rep. Voy. H.M.S. "Alert," p. 19 (1884). II Ann. Mus. Civ. Gen , Vol. 29., p, 502 (1889 ) Ill recen-ed fron. that portion of Northern AustraHa, being solely represented by a single species- Ptiloiis unicolov. The above description is taken from a specimen procured by Mr. K. Broadbent a Cape Toll- .6U, October, an. .>,eo.he.o„..e ■-'- ^^o""'^- J,'" :;;j: "1"! ,f S: ™,fe is .Wallewmlpagee,' and is the same as they give to /■(■/•!.. »(•'«■ two species ate so t.ioch ahlte, their notes are entirely ti.fferent. r , ,»l-e„ hv Mr 1 -\ Boyd. at Rtpple Creek, on the 24th October, .OgC '= »P- mmmmmB in diameter by one inch and a half m depth. The e..s are two in number tor a sitting and oval ,n form, the shell betng close gramed and d, s See m".h and glossy. They are o, a reddish-flesh ground colour, «„h o^ a over the !ai,e end, m p ^^^ ^^^^^_^ ^^.^^^^j^ p^j^^ g^^^^d ^oT::r.':iTe:iYn:st:,e':r°:nd :»:=;: aud are more e.enl, distt.bu.ea over the shell. Len-th (A) o-S2 x o-b mches; (B) 0-82 x o-6 inches. I am unable to distinguish any difference in colour and size of two -^'o-h.ed s^ons m h Australian Museum collection, obtained in the southern portion of New Gumea, from typical Australian examples of this species. Ptilotis chrysops. YELLOW-FACED HOXEY-EATER. Svlvia chrysops, Lath., Ind. Oi-n. Suppl. p. liv. (1801). 7L. ..;.U Oonld, Bds. .u.t. tol., vol. : v., pl^« OS,., . H^lh. Bd.. ..u.tr , V.,. r., p 521 (1865) ; Gadov., Cat. Bds. Brit. Mus., Vol. IX., p. .30 (1.VS4). aLt M.L«-e«....^ ooZ... a6... a.%-6r...., sli,M,y Unr-d n-if.h oli., -"J ^-"J j";;J;; ADULL .uAi.r. ..^ „,„7/, hrown. externally wotsltM witli ,ro... cures to ,nost of tUefeatkers; upper -^^T U^ 2^ ^^e,: Iro.n, externally e,,ed sma the ear 112 MKLIPHAGID.t. Stripe is bordered above and below with a line of black; chin and upper throat greyish-ivhite, passing into ashybron-a on the lower throat, fore neck, chest, and flanks; abdomen dull white streaked with didlbroivn on the sides; under tail-coverts while streaked with dull brown; under wing coverts pale fulvous; bill black; legs and feet bluish-slate colour; iris bluish-grey. Total length in the flesh (rS inches, tiing ■!:-.', tail 2-S, bill <)'5-i, tarsus ()-77 . Adult femalk — Similar in plumage to tin' male. Distribution— Q\xeQns\a.-ad, New South Wales, \'ictoria, South AustraHa. /T^HE Yellow-faced Honey-eater is freely distributed throughout portions of Queensland, i New South Wales, Victoria, and South Australia. It evinces a decided preference for sapling scrubs and the contiguous mountain ranges of the coastal districts. In Victoria I found it unusually plentiful around the shores of Western Port Bay, and in far more limited numbers in the heavy undergrowth of the timber clad Sirzelecki Ranges of South Gippsland. Near Sydney it is common, frequenting the parks and gardens of the city as well as those of the surrounding suburbs, where from the resemblance of the sound of its merry cheerful notes, which is usually repeated several times in succession, it is locally known as the "Chick-up"; frequently too, its note is varied with "quitch-up-quitch-up." Inland it is common on the Blue Mountains, where it may be found fr^iuenting some of the loftiest Eucalypti, but I have never seen a specimen from the dry western portion of the State. :Mr. A. F. Smith sent me a dried specimen for determination, that he had shot on the Bellenden Ker Range, Queensland. From Port Augusta, South Australia, Dr. A. Chenery writes me:—' Ftilotis chrysops is not at all common here. An odd pair are generally to be seen in the Flinders Range, but I have never met with it on the plains. I found only one of their nests with eggs, and that was in iSgg." Mr. Edwin Ashby sends me the following note from Blackwood, South Australia: — "Although Ptilotis chrvsops occurs here, it is more numerous on the eastern side of the range near :Mount Barker. It is the earliest species to nest in that neighbourhood." There is but little variation in adult birds obtained in different parts of the continent. The wing of an adult male obtained at Cardwell in April 1874, is 3-2 inches, which is the average measurement of birds obtained in the neighbourhood of Sydney. Its normal food, away from the haunts of man, which is chiefly obtained among the flowering Eucalypti, consists of the nectar and pollen of flowers and insects. Orchardists and vignerons however, frequently suffer as much loss through the depredations of partially insectivorous birds, as those species who depend entirely for their subsistence on fruits and berries. The Yellow- faced Honey-eater is an incorrigible eater of cultivated fruits, and does but little towards counterbalancing the damage done, by ridding the orchardist's trees of injurious insects and their larvffi. One fact, however, cannot be overlooked. As our forests of Eucalypti and other nectar-bearing trees are cleared, ring-barked, or destroyed by drought or bush-fires, so will birds who derived their food from these trees be driven more into those areas under cultivation, and especially into orchards and vineyards. At Port Hacking, where these birds are common, I was informed that they preyed upon the laden bees returning to the hives, but personally I did not see an instance of it, although several birds were nesting in trees in close proximity to the hives. The Dusky Wood Swallow (Artaiuus sordidus), however, was a great offender in this respect, and I saw many birds shot, while engaged in killing these industrious insects. The nest is a neat cup-shaped structure formed of very fine dead grasses and bark-fibre, held together with a fine network of cobweb, or green mosses, the rim being securely worked over a thin forked horizontal twig. In the coastal districts it is a somewhat scanty structure, and the eggs may be frequently seen through the bottom or sides if the bird is not sitting. When built in mountain ranges the whole e.xterior of the nest is often thickly coated with bright green mosses, and the inside lined with the soft downy brown covering of the newly budded fronds of 113 ferns. Farther inland wool is also used as a building material. An average nest measures externally at the rim two inches and three-quarters in diameter by two inches in depth, the inner cup measuring two inches in diameter by one inch and three-quarters in depth. Frequently the nest is contracted at the rim by being attached to a thin acute angled fork. The position of the nest is varied, any suitable bush or tree being utilized as a nesting site. Gum saplings, tea-trees, and turpentine-trees are often resorted to in the neighbourhood of Sydney, the nest being more often built between six and twelve feet from the ground, and sometimes in a thick drooping branch of a turpentine or gum sapling at a height of three or four feet. At Port Hacking I saw them in narrow-leaved gum trees as high as forty feet, two nests with the birds sitting being found in the same tree. In parks and gardens, pines are chielly resorted to, while at Western Port, \'ictoria, I found as many as seven tenanted nests in an afternoon, built in prickly cicada hedges around gardens. In mountain ranges it is built in any suitable tree in the undergrowth. The nest figured, taken by Mr. S. Robinson, near Bathurst, in December 18Q5, is a remarkably pretty one. It is suspended to a thin forked horizontal branch of a briar-bush, the rim and outer portion of the structure being constructed of pure white lamb's wool intermingled with very fine bright green mosses, and the inside lined with thin yellowish-white rootlets. The eggs are two or three in number for a sit- ting, and are subject to ronsiderable variation in the colour, character and disposition of their mark- ings. Typically, they vary in ground colour from a l.iint reddish-white to a \ elluwish-bufl', which is either freckled or spotted with light red, chestnut- red, or purplish-brown, intermingled with a few underlying markings of lilac or purplish- grey. Usually specimens that are freckled, ha\e the markings distributed all oxer the shell, but pre- dominating on the thicker end, and as in the spotted or blotched specimens they frequently form a cap or zone. A rare variety has the ground colour almost pure white, which is spotted and blotched, but particularly on the larger end with dark purplish-red, resembling a variety of the eggs of Ptilotis pcninllata. A set of three, taken at Chatswood, on the 21st August, 1898, measures: — Length (A) 0-83 x 0-57 inches; (B) 0-84 0-58 inches; (C) 0-83 x 0-58 inches. A set of three taken at Canterbury, on the 22nd December, 1894, measures: — Length (A) o-8 X 0-63 inches; (B) 0-79 x 0-63 inches; (C) o-8 x 0-62 inches. In the neighbourhood of Sydney the normal breeding season of this species commences distinctly later than that of either of its congeners Ftilotis anricomis, and P.fusca. Odd nest^ may however, occasionally be found at the latter end of July or early in August, but nests with fresh SKST OF THE YELLOW-FACEK HONKV-EATKH. 114 MELIPHAGID.E. eggs are more plentiful in September, young birds being common in October and January. At Eastwood I found nests with fresh eggs on the ist January, and two days later one with young recently hatched, at Canterbury, the breeding season usually extending into the first week in February. Mr. S. \V. Moore found at Eastwood, three nests of the Yellow-faced Honey-eater on the 14th January, two containing two eggs in each, the other three eggs. The eggs of the Pallid Cuckoo, are frequently deposited in the nests of the Yellow-f.aced Honey-eater. :Mr. S. W. Moore on the 4th December, i8gi, also found at Haslem's Creek, an egg of the Square-tailed Cuckoo, in the nest of this species. Ptilotis fusca. FUSCOUS HONEY-EATER. Meliphaga fusca, Gould, Syn. Bds. Austr., Pt. IL, (1837). Ptilotis fuscus, Gould, Bds. Austr., fol.. Vol. IV., pi U (1848). Ptilotis fusca, Gould, Handbk. Bds. Austr., Vol. I., p. 520, (186.5): Gadow, Cat. Bds. Brit. Mus., Vol. IX., p. 229, (1881). Adult male — General colour above greyish-brown, slightly tinged n'ilh olive, becoming paler on the ru7np and upper tail-coverts; upper wing-coverts slightly darker than the back, the greater series washed with olive-yellmu ; quills dark brown, externally margined with olive-yelloiv, the apical portion of the outer webs of the primaries having narrow ashy-white edges; tail-feathers brown, narrowly edged at their tips with dull ashy-white, the central pair and outer webs of the remainder strongly washed with olive-yellow; forehead, crown, and sides of head greyish-brown, slightly tinged with olive; around the eye a ring of small blackish brown feathers; ear-coverts greyish-brown tinged with olive, some of the longer feathers tipped rvith dark brown, which is followed by a small patch of pale yellow plumes; chin, throat, fore neck and breast greyish-brown, tvilh broad but very pale fulvous margins, and passing into a dull fulvous-wliite on the abdomen and under tail-coverts: under wing- coverts fulvous ; bill black; legs and feet fleshy-grey : iris black. Total length in the Jlesh 0;? inches, wing S-2-'}, tail 2-7-'>, bill O'o, tarsus 0-7't. Adult female — The sexes are alike in plumage. Distribution— 0\ieens\a.-nA, New South Wales, Victoria. /"I^HE range of the Fuscous Honey-eater e.xtends over the southern half of Queensland, the I whole of New South Wales, e.xcept the dry western portions of the State, and the greater part of Victoria. It is a common species in the neighbourhood of Sydney, where it is resident throughout the year, and is tolerably numerous in the open forest country adjoining the large open plains in the western portion of the State. Near the coast it may be found frequenting the same situations as Ptilotis auricomis, but it gives preference more to open forest lands. After a heavy thunderstorm in summer I have occasionally seen these birds taking a bath in a wheel rut on the road side. Its food consists of nectar extracted from various flowers, and insects. During the winter months I have seen numbers of these birds in company with Mdithrcptus lunulatus and Trichoglossus pusillus, so busily engaged in extracting nectar from the blossom of a Stringy-bark tree that repeated firing into the tree and the killing of their companions failed in any way to disturb them. At Middle Harbour they may often be seen feeding on the long flowering stalks of "rass trees. It is of a extremely tame and sociable disposition. When living at Ashfield, small flocks of these birds during the winter months used to congregate regularly near the back door of our house to be fed on bread crumbs. Should there not have been any bread on the PTI I.OTIS. 115 ground for them, they quickly let one know of their presence by their loud chirruping notes, which they continued to utter until their wants were supplied. On the 2nd August, 1891, I counted no less than fifteen engaged in eating some pieces of bread thrown to them. So tame did they become that they would allow one to approach within a few feet before frying away. One of these birds that could be easily recognised by having a bare scalp, visited the place with slight intermissions for three years, returning with its young, as did others after each breeding season was over. The nest is a small, open, neat cup-shaped structure, and is usually built at the junction of a thin forked horizontal branch, over which the rim is firmly wo\en. In the neighbourhood of Sydney it is e-xternally formed of thin strips of the red inner bark of a Turpentine tree or Eucalyptus, held together with cobweb and lined inside with fine dried grasses, and at the bottom with opossum fur and cow-hair. An average one measures externally two inches and a half in diameter by two inches in depth, and the inner cup two inches in diameter by one inch and three-quarters in depth. Generally it can be distinguished from the nests of any other member of the genus, even from the ground, by its extreme neatness and the prevailmg dull red colour of the bark used almost exclusively in its outer construction. Nests taken by Mr. E. H. Lane on Wambangalang Station, near Dubbo, are formed throughout of fine wiry grasses with a slight admixture of wool just sufficient to hind it firmly together, with a lining of the latter material at the bottom of the structure only. In the neighbourhood of Sydney the nest is usually built in a Turpentine tree or Eucalyptus at a height varying from ten to sixty feet from the ground, and as a rule well out of the way of bird-nesting boys, consequently they do not fall an easy prey like those of Ftilotis aurkomis. Mr. E. H. Lane informs me that on Wambanga'ang Station he has found about a score of nests of Ftilotis fusca, and they were generally built in suckers growing from ring-barked Box trees at a height of from four to twelve feet from the ground. With the exception of once finding only two eggs, all contained three eggs. The eggs are two or three in number for a sittmg. oval in form, the shell being close grained, smooth and lustreless. They vary in ground colour from a yellowish to a rich salmon-buff, and are faintly and sparingly spotted and dotted with dull chestnut-red, but specimens are often found with the markings of only a slightly darker shade of the ground colour. Typically they may be distinguished from the eggs of most other species of the genus by the rich hue of their ground colour. A set of two taken at Ashfield on the 4th August, 1889, measure: — Length (A) 078 X 0-57 inches; (B) 076 x 0-58 inches. A set of two taken by Mr. H. G. Barnard, at Duaringa, Queensland, on the 17th July, 1892, measures: — Length (A) 075 x 0-57 inches; (B) 072 X 0-56 inches. A set of three taken by Mr. E. H. Lane, at Wambangalang Station, near Dubbo, New South Wales, on the 27th October, 1898, measure as follows: — Length (A) o-8i X 0-57 inches; (B) o'8 x 0-57 inches; (C) 079 x o-6 inches. July and the five following months constitute the usual breeding season of this species. On the 24th July, 1891, at Ashfield, I saw one of these birds tearing off shreds of the inner bark of a Turpentine tree and constructing its nest in the topmost leafy twigs of a lofty Eucalyptus. The previous year I found a nest in a similar position, as late as the 27th December, and have seen fledgelings that had recently left the nest at the beginning of February. Mr. E. H. Lane has on several occasions at ^^^ambangalang, found the egg of the Pallid Cuckoo in the nest of this species. There is almost a pure albino of the Fuscous Honey-eater in the Australian Museum collection, procured by Mr. Stanley F. Ramsay at Tumberumba, New South Wales. The plumage above and below is pure white, the ocular region and ear-c averts yellow, the wings and tail washed with vellow. 116 MELIPHAGID.E. Ptilotis sonora. SINGING HONEY-EATER. I'tUotis sonorns, Goulri, Proc. Zool. Soc, 1840, p. 160; id., Bds. Austr., fol. Vol. IV., pi. 33(1848). raiotis sonora, Gould, Handl.k., Bds. Austr., Vul. L, p. 504 (1865); Gadow, Cit. Bd.s. Brit. Mus., Vol. IX,, p. 234 (1884). Adult }.l.KLV.—:fi-oliri' : »io,s< of llip. finthrrs 011 the hack having dark brown centres ; ivinys broirn irashed with yellowinh-olive, wliic/i is briyh/est on the oiiler webs oj the outermost primaries ; tail feathers brotvn, washed ivith olive-yell ou; more distinctly on the 011 ter ire.bs; crown of tlte head like the back, passing into a f/reyish-hroirn on the forehead : lores, feathers 119 around tke .,., and e.t.n.Ung in a broad streak h^kind tie ey. do.n on to tKe sides of the neck hlack ; urver portion of ckeeks pale yellor., passing into bright yellow" on the ear-coverts, belnnd M ^s a patck of silkg-,rhi>e feathers, foUo,.ed by a ,nuch larger greyisk-nMte patch; all the nnder surface yellou,, paler on the chin and upper throat, brrgkter on the Jore neck, all the feathers .Uh a d.t^nct longitudinal streak of bro..n; vent and under taU-corerts faint yello^.i^h.^hite u,ith narron. bro^n shaft-streaks: "bill black; legs and feet dark grey; iris bror.r." (S.ith), Total length 7;.. u.ches, n-ing i'l, tail S-H, bill 0-7, tarsus Vl. Adult FEMALE-.S'imi^.r in phoaage to the male, but sUghtly s.naller. Wing .iS inches. Distribution-Co.si.\ districts of Northern Queensland, Islands of Torres Strait, South Coast of New Guinea and contiguous islands. ^T^HE present species which inhabits the coastal districts of Northern Queensland and the T: adjacent islands, also similar situations in the south of New Guinea, was described by Gould in 1842.-^ from a single specimen contained in a collection from the northern porUon of t sttlia It is beautifully figured by him in his folio edition of the "Birds of Australia I and ih re e remarks:-'It is one of the finest species yet discovered of the genus to which rt be n' and is at present so rare, that my own specimen is probably the only one brought to Europe'' During the ''N'oyageof the Rattlesnake," Mr. John MacGilhvray obtained this species on the iist May 1S4S, on Dunk Island, and Mr. M. Elsey also procured it on Albany Island in SepteX 55. Many specimens were obtained in tSys during the "Voyage of the Chevert,' fi ted out by the late Sir WilUam Macleay. Mr. George Masters records: four males and four females obtained at Cape Grenville, one female Barro.v Island, one male and one female Long Island three males and one female Dungeness. In the Australian Museum collection, this pecie is represented by specimens obtained at Salt-water Creek near Cardwell m May, 14 and October, .877, an adult male and female procured by Mr. A. F Smith on one of the Frankland Islands, on the 16th October, 1904, and others from the -th coast of New C,uinea Samarai and Dinner Islands procured in 18SS by Dr. MacKinlay ot H.M.S. 'Swinge 1 Mr Ir^nirHislop Informs me that he has noted this species on the Hope Islands, lying off the coast of North-eastern Queensland. The Varied Honey-eater is closely allied to Pt,lotis sonora, Gould, and from which it may be chiefly distinguished by its larger size, and richer coloured plumage, the general character of he markings of the two species being nearly alike. There is the same variation to be found in d pth of colour and the extent of the white or greyish-white patch on the sides of the neck as Tp. sonora Typically specimens from Cardwell are of a slightly richer yellow on the under parts than examples from the south coast of New Guinea and the adjacent islands. \nion- a small collection of bird skins sent me for examination, made by Mr. A. F. Smith principally^near Cairns, North-eastern Queensland, and the neighbourhood, was a specimen of ^tl vLolor, Gould, collected by him on one of the Frankland Islands, on the i6th October, igo4. Subsequently I received a second specimen from him, shot in company with the other, also their nest and a set of two eggs taken at the same time. The nest figured is a cup-shaped and somewhat scanty structure, daylight being visible throuc^h the greater portion of the sides. E.xternally itisformed of fibrous rootlets, held together wi^ ;iant down and spider webs, with which are intermingled a few egg-bags of spiders and Their green silky covermg, the mside being sparmgly lined with fine pale bro^vn^x>otlet^d * Gould, Proc. Zool. Soc, 1S42, p. 13G. t Gould. Bds. Austr., fol. ed., Vol. IV., pi- 34. UH^)- I Pro:. Linn. Soc. N,S Wa'es, Vol. I., p. 55 i'Sye). 120 MELIPIIAGID.B. fibre, and at the bottom with a small quantity of silky-white plant-down. It is attached by the rim on one side to a leafy horizontal branch from which springs a thin twig at right angles, but this is concealed in the structure, two leaves being worked on to the side of the nest. Externally it measures three inches and three-quarters in diameter by two inches and a quarter in depth, the inner cup measuring three inches in diameter by one inch and a half in depth. The eggs, which were in an advanced state of incubation, are two in number, oval in form, somewhat pointed at the smaller end, the shell being close-grained, smooth and lustrous. They are of a uniform fleshy-buff colour, being of a slightly richer shade on the larger end, where on one specimen, with the aid of a lens, a few very minute darker dots may be seen. The eggs of this species are indistinguishable in colour from a variety of those of its close ally the Singing Honey-eater, also from those of the Pallid Cuckoo. Length (A) o-g6 x 07 inches; (6)0-94 X 0-68 inches. Relative to taking this nest and set of eggs, jMr. Smith has kindly supplied me with the following notes: — "This species is fairly plentiful on one of the Frankland Islands off the coast of North-eastern Queensland. It has a loud call that attracted my attention as our boat drew near the island, as something quite different to anything I had heard before, but cannot describe it very well, it is a clear musical whistle of four or five notes. The nest was built in a tree on the edge of the scrub which covers half the island, and about ten yards from the beach. It was seven feet from the ground, and attached to thin upright twigs on one side, and the horizontal branch on the other side which remains fastened to the nest. It contained two eggs very much incubated, and while I was taking them the pair of birds perched on a tree alongside and uttered their loud cries. I brought both down with one shot without damaging either as specimens." Writing later, Mr. Smith remarks: — "I visited the Frankland Islands again on the 29th October, 1905, and shot an adult male of Ptilotis versicolor. I saw two pairs of adults feeding large young well able to fly about, but did not see any nests, probably it was too late." Mr. Smith has also observed this species inhabiting private gardens about Cairns. NEST AND EGGS OF THE VARIED HONEY-EATER. Ptilotis macleayana. MACLEAY'S HONEY-EATER. Ptilotis versicolor ^, Ramsa}', Proc. Zool. Soc , 18G8, p. 386. Ptilotis ntacleaijana, Ramsay, Proc. Linn. Soo. N.S.W., Vol. I., p. 10 (1S7-")); North, Proc. Linn. Sec. N.S.W., Vol. XXIII., p. 380 (1898). Ptilotis Jiavostriata, Gould, Proc. Zool. Soc, 1875, p. 31G; id, Eds. New Guin., Vol. III., pi. ."lO (187G). Ptilotis Jlavistriatn, Gadow, Cat. Bds. Erit. Mas., Vol. IX., p. 232 (1884). PTILOTIS. 1-21 ADULT MALE.-^«.-v./ cMnr aUn. d.rk bro>on washed ,cifh oli., the n.nude and l.rk ,rUk a tru.ui.da. shaped ool^acems .nark tcnoards the tip of each feather, on .o,ne on the outer u-eh o^dy r,nn.and a,,'er tad rorerts dark o!ire-hrown, the Jhrmer hidistrnrtly rentred and the. latter .nary^ned J,, lad JLyen,.r: .,,. a:,t --- /. a ,.tera,d„ .n,,,ed a-dh d.dl .Ure.edoa- aad a..ny , ,..„„„.„. 4w r^loa-;s,-a-hde .ark at the ti,: ,,adU I „ //,,„,... / '- ."^-^- ,, , V ,■ lJhr.ara ect.rnad,, ,aar<,iaed a-dh dad JU-e./eWar. their vnner webs and tips ijriioa, „i j,< '■ 1 ,1 , ,r] ,■,■,,„■„ ,,tlh,' h. ad h'a,-kish-brown, all the feathers „arr,arhi edaed with pale bro,c,i; Jorehead and nnaa nj Ita ,,,',,.,, . t;,„,,t idholi^e e.ceptonthe sides of the ocoipat, a-h^-b ^sUaek: hiad /• dadblackish-brown, eal feather haria,, a fri ,alar .haped whitish aau-k a, th. ,i,,: ar ./ the ,,,■ . ,ar,e bare space; 7 7 /• / ln.a,h,ear-.a,eaia,a-l,dish: hrhar a ad e.tradi a, Maud it, a conspicuous fine plumes t,artudh, InajiU I J ;,„U.tiact aelhnoish taft of hri,,ht ,Jolden yellow f-athers: a aarnar hue on the cheeks oh , -In a ,tl, ,a, J has^s to aaM of the feathers; chin and du'oat ,jreyish-white tinged w,d, ohr..- J..r. a.rt. aa.t apj, breast dull oli.e-yellow, each feather narrowly streaked down the centre '-'';^^"''^7'^^'7;;'r:" ^ upper breast being more distincdy washed with yellow ; remainder of the. under su^ace^ dull ohvaceous- reen, the. feathers on the centre of the Unoer hreast having whitish centres, and thnr basal ,.orti.n 'a consjdcuous broad streak of blackish-brown; abdomen dull oHvaceous-green ,ad,st,arly str.akea .,rlth dad olive-yellow; under tad-,;,r.rls creamy-white tinged with oli^e ; "btllUark,: ^;.'/-"" ;/^'' ,rey: iris dark brown, nearly hhn-k, hare space below and behind the eye yelUar ' (Smith). ! otal 'length 7 inches, wing 4:5, tail S'l, bid n-S.5, tarsus 1. Adult female "iiaidar in plumagr to the male. i)is<»-i6)il.r.p f^' ^'^^ "^ latter duU yellow. Total length in thejUsh S-5 inches, ..ing 4-.-', '^rl J,!, bM V., ta.sus 1. Adult fkmale -Slightly duller in plumage than the male, and smaller. II mg S-h. Distribution-T2.sm^m^ and some of the larger islands of Bass Strait. ^AHE Yellow-throated Honey-eater is distributed in favourable situations oyer a large T^ portion of Tasn.ania; Dr. L. Holden obtaining nests and eggs both .n the extreme north-west and the south-eastern parts of that island. There are also numerous skms m the Au Han Museum collection obtained by Mr. George Masters at the Ouse R.ver and Brown s Riv r in AprU and May, 1867, and by Mr. K. Broadbent at Badger Heac^m Fe^r-ry 1879 fn B^ss Strait, specu.ens have been obtained by members of the F.eld Naturahsts Club of Victoria, on King Island, also m the Furneaux Group. From Tasmania,Dr.L.Holdenhaskindlysentmethefollowingnotes:- The Yellow-throated Honey-eater is common in the neighbourhood of Hobart, and may occas.onally be s en m Private gardens but not in those in the town. The bird's ordinary cry .s a ratthng repetmon of th sm no e which feebly recalls the cries of some of the Barbets of India It also utters a curiou-hurning sound, bke "kra-kra,' while flying from tree to tree and bush to bus , p.kmg ins cts from under bark, rubbing its bill against stems, and examinmg clusters of fohage. It buUd n ear the ground and lines its nest with fur or hair. Some nests are th.ckly fe ted ms.de and ar em kable for their warmth and softness; 1 have one which is ch.efly -^-f w.ol and Uned with rabbit's fur, and was built in a young Native-cherry tree, t e only b.d s nest lee saw built in a tree of that species. On 5th February, I found a beaut.ful nest hned w.th he fu ofthe black opossum; it was much the s:ze and shape of half a cocoa-nut and very deep. U was made externally of tea-tree bark and inside that of f^ne strips of strmgybark. The opossum 7ur was very thickly felted together and formed a close clean bed. The nests are gerjerally "relor four feet fron> the ground. I have never found one in heavy forest, and nearly a seen by me have been ^uite close to tracks through scrub or lightly timbered country. Once I found oneTnly a few yards above the edge of the water in a great estuary where trees and bushes were ve y few and most of the ne.ghbourhood consisted of houses and fields. In that nes the Immg wasapoor one,for rabb.ts were scarce. A friend of mu,e saw this species gathermg haxr rom a Tony settling or that purpose on its back and hocks, the pony being very qu.et and tted up- co:J: hair is also used' ^he nest is not usually well hidden, however, I once found one ma LTa-'ov little box bush growing in the open which was concealed and surrounded by a tuft of P F 126 MKLIPlIAniD.E. climbing plant, the dried parts of which exactly resembled the exterior of the nest. A favourite situation is among the young shoots that spring in a clump from the butt of a cut-down Eucalyptus tree. In the breeding season the brightness of the green plumage and the bird's active habits make it very conspicuous. I have found nests with eggs early in September, and once found two half-grown young on the 17th September. I have many notes of seeing the bird building in September, but none in August." In December, 1906, I noted tiiis species in isolated pairs in various localities around Hobart, my attention first being drawn to it by its notes, some of which resembled so closely those of a tree-frog, that I was doubtful for some time, if they could have been uttered by a bird. At Glenorchy one afternoon, Mr. M. Harrison and Mr. A. lUitler, who were in a different part of the bush, returned with an adult male and female that the former had shot, the latter finding their nest about three parts built in a low Bursaria spinosa. Subsequently I met with this species at the Cascades, Knocklofty, the Springs, Brown's River, and New Norfolk. At Bellerive, Dr. L. Holden gave me one of its nests, which is thickly coated externally with wool and lined inside with rabbit fur. Close to the beach, he also pointed out a solitary small briar bush in which he had found this species nesting. The nest figured which con- tained two fresh eggs was procured by Mr. E. D. Atkinson, at Waratah, Mount Bischoff, Tasmania, on the 14th October, 1906. Outwardly, it is formed of narrow strips of dried bark intermingled with dried grasses, the inside being entirely lined with opossum fur. It is a compactly built structure and measures ex- ternally three inches and three- quarters in diameter by three inches and three-quarters in depth, the inner cup measuring two inches and a half in diameter by two inches and a half in depth. It was attached at the sides to several thin horizontal twigs at the end of a branch of a small-leaved shrub at a height of NEST OF THE YELLOW-THROATED HONEY-EATER. gjj^ fggj. fi-Q|-,i ([^g oround. A nest taken on the 2yth November, 1890, at Circular Head, on the north-west coast of Tasmania, is an open cup-shaped, thick walled structure, outwardly composed of strips of bark, grasses, dead weeds, and sheep's wool, all matted together, and thickly lined inside with a thick layer of cow-hair. Externally it measures five inches in diameter, by three inches and a half in depth, the inner cup measuring two inches and a half in diameter, by two inches in depth. This nest Dr. Holden informs me, was built against the main stem of alow, scraggy box shrub about three feet and a half from the ground, and contained two fresh eggs. The eggs are two or three in number for a sitting, oval in form, the shell being close- grained, smooth, and slightly lustrous. They are of a fleshy-buff ground colour, becoming darker on the larger end, some having rounded penumbral spots, and others irregular shaped markings of reddish-chestnut or chestnut and underlying spots of dark purple or purplish-grey, the markings predominating as a rule on the thicker end. Some specimens have the ground colour of a 127 uniform fleshy.white, others are almost devoid of n.arkin.s. The set fr rn t e -st JusUes nbed measures:-Length(A)o-95 x 07 inches; (B)o-y: x 0-7 .nches. '^ ^'^'^-'^''- ""■ '''■^'^'''l^^^^l collectior,, taken by Mrs. N. Grave on King Island, u. Noven.ber, 1893. measures .-Length (A) 0-87 X 0-68 inches; (B) o-S8 x o-68 inches. Mr. Malcolm Harrison writes me:-"The Yellow-throated Honey-eater is widely distributed in Tasmania, I have seen it in the high Lake country, although not in the numbers which obtain in the low lands, especially about Hobart, where it is very plentiful. The nests are forme o twigs, strips of bark and spiders' cocoons, and lined with fur or hair-nearly always the latter it wo;id appear where cattle are common. They are usually placed about a cpuple of feet from the ground in a low shrub, the bird apparently having no liking for any particular specie although I have found more nests in young "Box" shrubs (Bursana s^,..,; than in any other occasionally they are attached to the fronds of the ordinary bracken fern. The eggs are two or hree in number'for a sitting, and in my experience about Hobart, the latter is more common Nesting operations are commenced early, but the three principal months are September, October, and November. Mr R N. Atkinson writes me from Waratah, Mount Bischoff, Tasmania :---"P^;/o^.5 Aavi^ulans possesses a loud clear note resembling 'chock-chock-chock,' also a succession of low runnin. notes. It usually builds its nest in a low shrub, I have found it at heights varying fron. a few inches to eight feet from the ground. On more than one occasion I have noted an interval of a fortnic^ht from the apparent completion of the nest until the first egg was laid. My uncle the Rev H. D. Atkinson of Evandale, found a nest on 13th October, 1887, containing three eggs. The nest was a deep cup-shaped structure, lined with wool and built in a low scrubby bush. Ptilotis flava. YELLOW UONEY-EATER. J'UMs ;/«.,, Gould, Proc. Zool. Soc, 1842, p. 136; id., Bds. Austr., fol., Vol. IV pi 42 (1^48); U., H.ndbk. Bds. Aust, Vol. I., p. 518 (186-5); Gadow, Cat. Bds. Bnt. Mus, \ ol. IX., p 246 (1884). Adult malr-^« ihe upper sur/ac. including the head, wings and tail olic.ydlow ; inner webs of quills brown; the entire under surface, under toing and under tail-coverts dehcate cUrou-yMorc ; in front of the eye a small dusky spot; ear-coverts and cheeks olive-yellow: a short Mnct streak above and behind the eye and another below the lores extending obliquely across the cheeks yellow. Total length H-7 inches, tving 3-5, tail S-3, bill 0-6, tarsus 0-9. Adult female — Similar in plumage to the male. Z)isack, but M a more pronounced yellou^ >oash, parlicularly on the forehead ; lores sides of I kead and ear-coverts yello.o, the lo.er portion of the latter Uackisk fornnng a pronounced streak yellou,, remainder of the under surface and under tarJ-co.erts pale yellou. Total length ., o ^nches. wing -1, tail ;?■-{., bill ()■■'>, tarsus 0-7.1. <•■ ■] ... :., iJniiiiiiii' id the mule but s/ii/htli/ Kriinllrr. Adult female— .S'""'"' "' /'""""■'/' '" '" •' ■' Z)«..io«-North-western Australia, Northern Territory of South Australia, Northern ^^HE'vellow-tinted Honey-eater is widely distributed over the northern portions of the T^ Au tta ian continent. The type was described by Gould ,n t839 from a stngle specimen obtined by Mr. Benjamin Bynoeon the North-western coast of Austraha, durmg the stay there of Her Majesty's Su veying-shtp "Beagle." There are specimens m the Austrahan Museum c ife tio?i ocured by Mr. E. J. Cairn and the late Mr. T. H. Bowyer-Bower, near Derby, also by ;;: G.'a. Keart,:nd. near L junction of the F.tzroy and Margaret ^^^^^^^ Australia, and by the late Captain Armit, near Georgetown, Queensland. Dr^ K Ha rtert also recently recorded it from George Creek in the Northern Territory of South Austraha. NEST OF THE YELLOW-TISTELI HONEY-EATER. Two nests received from Mr. G. A. Keartland are deep cup-shaped structures, outwardly formed of bark fibre, plant down, and spiders' webs fimly woven together, the ins.de bemg thickly lined with fine dried grasses. They are both of about the same average measurements and are built at the junction of thin forked leafy branches oiBauhinia trees, at a height of six feet from the ground. The nest here figured is two inches and a half in diameter by three inches in depth. The e-s are oval in form, the shell being close-grained, smooth and lustreless. They are of ali<^ht rrddish-buff ground colour, one specimen being much paler than the other and almost of a fleshy-buff hue, which is spotted and dotted with chestnut and purplish-red; with the exception of a few isolated dots, the markings being confined to a fairly well defined zone around the larger end of each specimen. Length (A) 07 x 0-55 inches; (B) 07 x 0-57 inches. There is a slight variation in the colour of specimens, some having the upper parts paler, others have the sides of the head and the throat of a much brighter yellow, particularly the latter. The above description is taken from a richly plumaged male obtained by the late Mr. T. H. Bowyer-Bower, at Derby, North-western Australia in 1886. • Nov. Zool , Vol. XII., p. 234 (1905). 130 MELIPHAGID.E. Mr. G. A. Keartland sent me for examination skins, nests, and eggs of this species, together with the following notes: — "During the stay of the Calvert Exploring Expedition in North- western Australia, Ptilotisflavcsccns was found in great numbers along the course of the Fitzroy and Margaret Rivers, and was never met with far from water. They were often seen drinking, bathing, and preening their feathers. Their note is a squeaking chirp, very similar to one uttered by Ptilotis p.'uicillata, but unlike that species they are very sociable, assembling in flocks on the sides of pools or water troughs, from twenty to forty or more in number. When disturbed they scatter in all directions, each taking its own course. The sexes are alike in plumage and can only be distinguished by dissection. They were just building their nests when we left the district in March 1897. The skins forwarded — an adult male and female — I obtained on the 6th January, and the nests and eggs were taken in the same locality during ?ilarch 1899." \oung birds have the upper parts paler than in the adults and tinged with an isabelline hue. The sides of the head and throat are of a paler yellow, the patch of yellow plumes below the ear-coverts are paler and smaller, and the streak at the bottom of the latter brown. Wing 27 inches. In the "Catalogue of Birds in the British Museum,"- Dr. H. Gadow places Ptilotis germana as a subspecies of P. flavcscein, and writes: — "Very similar to P.flaveuens, from which it differs in its considerably smaller size and in having the yellow stripe behind the eye and the black stripe beneath the ear-coverts more developed. I refer the two specimens from Port Moresby, .\ew Guinea, collected by Mr. Stone, to this form, which does not deserve specific rank. \'ery likely P. germana, the habitat of which species is the north coast of Australia, and not West Australia, as has sometimes been stated, in order to establish a different geographical range for the two species or races respectively in question. Mr. Gould frequently understood by North- west Australia, the country west of the Cape York Peninsula." I have the type of Ptilotis i;i-nnana I now before me, and agree with Dr. Gadow that it is closely allied to P.Jiavcscens, and in addition to the characters pointed out by him, it has the upper parts darker and the under parts more distinctly streaked than in P.flavescem. It is a lapsus calami on the part of Dr. Gadow to state that it dififers from the latter "in its considerably smaller size" for he gives the wing-measurement of P. germana as 3 inches, and that of P. flavescens as 2-(i^ - 275 inches. The latter are undoubtedly females, the specimens he refers to P. germana being males. The wing-measurement of adult m^Xas^oi P. flavescens in the Australian Museum collection varies from 2-6 to 2-8 inches. That of the type of P. germana is 3-07 inches. An apparently young male in the collection from Port Moresby, New Guinea, is indistinguishable from young birds of P. flavescens obtained at Derby, North-western Australia. The precise locality where the type of P. germana was procured is not stated, its habitat in the original description being given as "Torres Straits." Further on in the same volume, Dr. Ramsay referring to P. germana from Port Moresby, remarks: — " I have only seen three specimens of this species, but I believe it is also found in the islands in Torres Straits."! Dr. Gadow's statement that " Mr. Gould fre(iuently understood by North-west Australia the country west of the Cape York Peninsula," is undoubtedly an error. Ciould in his original description of P. flavescens gives its habitat as North-west coast of Australia, and in his "Table of Distribution" of .\ustralian Birds in his Handbook,? recognises each of the .\ustralian colonies as then defined. * Gadow, Cat. Bds. Brit. Mus., Vol. VIII. p. 246 (1884). t Ramsay, Proc. Linn. Soc. N.S. Wales, Vol. III., pp. 2, 30, 285 (1879). J Lnc. cit , p. 285 (1879). § Gould, Handbk. Bds. Austr , Vol. II., p, 385 (1S65). 131 Ptilotis penicillata. WinrE-PLl'MED HO.VEV-EATER. Mdiphaija penicUhUa, Goukl, Proc. Zoo). 800., 183G, p. 143. Ftilotis penicillatus, Gould, Bds. Austr., fol, Vol. IV., pi. 43 (1848). Ptilotis penicillata, Gould, Handbk. P.ih. Austr., Vol. I., p. bVd (1865); Gadow, Cat. Bds. Brit. Mus., Vol. IX., p. 244 (1884). Adult male. — Gcnrml ,;,h,\ii- almrr ji,ih' ijnii'ixh-liriiu-ti dUjliilji liiiijirl ,rith ulir,' : llu' riimji mid Ujiji.r t,r,l-rn,-rrts mnrr ^1 ronijl n ir.idied irllh dull ,r,i;-,,,U,„r: nppvr ,rui,j-,;,r,'rt^ likf th.- hark, the yrnater series was/ted tvith olive-i/iUmr : (/mils hi-mi-u tJicir milrr webs exterindl 1/ uinriii mil irifh uliiy- yeUoiv, except the apical portio7i, and tipx nfthi- pn muni's n-Jm-li In some specitui us hurr inirrnir ii-Iidlsh edges; t,(U frulhi'is hma-n fin- rnilnd pnir mid nntir irrhs ,,/ tin- rruiulndi-r irnshrd n-ith „r,,:'-,ii'U,„c ; crownof 111 "d mill hl„d mrk likr tin- hurk hut stmiiijl ,/ inishrd irUl, d uU ipUnir : Inn-s, sid.s ,,f the hfiid iind riir-riiri'iis dull ijilluir: hilinid Ihr rar^rurrrts n lii/t n/sUki/ irhdr phrnii-s: idl till- Hiidn- s>ir/iii-r pull- hrnirnish-irhilr, fuihtn- i„i tlir mitrr 1,/ ihr Imrrr hmist .11, d thi' uhdi.im,,, mid inishrd wit], ,p'lli„r in, Ihi- rh'ni, thmut, fnn- inrl.- in,d iipprr hrmsl, irli'irh is ,„„i-i' rnuspU-iiniis 1,11 tin- linrrr thrniit inid/nri- nrrk : ,1 ndiT t,id-n, mis /unit iplliiirish-irhd, ,rdh pnlr liniini slin/l st rniks .■ hdl hlnrk; leys midfeet reddisli-hroicn; iris dnrk hmini. Total lenijth in tlie jiesh li-75 inches, x-ini/ -I-.'/, tail J, bill 0:5, tarsus 0-86. Adult fe.m.\lk — Similar in plumage to tlie male, but smaller. Distribution — Queensland, New South Wales, Victoria, South Australia. ^^HE type of this familiar and well-known species, described by Gould, was obtained in New South Wales, over the central and western portions of which it is freely distributed. It is exceedingly common in \'ictoria and South Australia, especially in the southern parts, and is the best known species of the genus around Melbourne and Adelaide. Although so numerous in the coastal districts of the two latter States, it does not occur near the coast in New South \Vales; probably this is the reason Gould remarked this species was rarely met with there. In the latter State I found it abundant about Wellington and Dubbo, and especially in the Eucalypti on the banks of the Bell and Macquarie Rixers, and later on in North-western New South Wales in the trees bordering the banks of the Namoi, Mehi, and Gwydir Rivers, to which localities it appeared to be almost entirely confined, for it evinces a decided preference for the vicinity of water. Open forest lands are also favourite haunts of this species; in Victoria and South Australia it breeds in private and public gardens in the cities. When engaged in searching for food among the leafy sprays or blossoms of the Eiicalvpti, a single note only is usually uttered, but when alarmed, or if one is in the vicinity of it