62 Zoological Society : 



brown and black, and with white on the wings. It lays a dull white 

 or greyish egg, marked with dirty green, at the foot of a tree, on the 

 bare uneven ground. I have two species of ^gotheles, both of 

 which I flushed from the holes of trees ; and I have seen a large 

 Podargus, with huge cellular mandibles, which was shot by the mate 

 of the schooner, and spoilt by insects when I saw it. 



About the middle of December a large flight of Swallows arrived 

 from the south, high in the air and out of shot. They remained 

 about us one afternoon, wheeling in the air, but did not pitch, and 

 were gone next morning. A little Martin common here just now 

 (May and June), is equally shy, and I cannot find its place of resort. 

 Two Dacelos are frequently seen : one entirely coloured with shades 

 of blue and grey, and with a crest of lengthened feathers on the 

 back of the head ; the other blue and warm red-brown, with finer 

 and stronger tints than the other, and without a crest. A dull- 

 coloured Halcyon (?) sanctus is common ; and I have shot a single 

 pair of the beautiful Alcyone pulchra, which I have only seen once. 

 My men, some of whom take great interest in my collection, men- 

 tion another, which I have not seen. According to their account, it 

 is a lovely bird, the under surface fine purple, &c. Of Artamus I 

 have several species, but have no means of determining them. 

 They usually frequent stumps and dead logs in open flats, in twos 

 and threes, and are very active. One species only, a dusky little 

 fellow, lives on the tops of the ranges. I have seen a number of 

 this species sitting round the top of a lofty Palm (Levistona), whose 

 head had been struck ofl^ by storm or whirlwind ; it was more than 

 80 feet high, and swayed in the breeze, and the circle of birds, with 

 their heads directed inwards and their tails turned outwards, had an 

 absurd efl'ect. Of Shrikes I have two or three, including Graucalus 

 melanops. I do not know Grallina Australis, nor have I heard its 

 cry, so often alluded to by Leichardt, unless indeed a black and 

 white bird with whitish very long tarsi, and white, rather blunt and 

 soft beak, which builds a mud nest in the branches of trees near the 

 water, be it. It has a peculiar shrill cry as it rises from the water, 

 and is called the " Water Magpie '* by our stockmen. 



Of Fly-catchers and Robins, so called, I have seven or eight species. 

 One robin has a slate-grey back, black head and wings, and chestnut 

 flanks, with a white stripe over the eye ; it lives in the mangroves, 

 and may be recognized at all times by its pretty little piping note. 

 I found it nesting in November and again in February and March ; 

 the nest is an open, shallow, slightly constructed one ; the eggs two 

 in number, dull greenish-grey, speckled with brown mostly at the 

 larger end. 



There are three or four Wrens ; one a brilliant glossy black, with 

 scarlet back and rump ; this is the male bird, which does not attain 

 this plumage till the second moulting. The young birds are uni- 

 form dull wren colour. After the first moidting they have a darker 

 tint, and a few feathers between the shoulders tipped with red, and 

 perhaps a single black feather in the tail. At the second moulting 

 they acquire all their gloss, and may then be seen surrounded by a 



