BY R. D. FITZGERALD, JUNR. 971 



Campephaga leuoomel^na, v. and H. 



C leucomela, V. and Horsf. ; Gould, Bds. Aust. Handbk,, p. 203, 

 sp. 111. 



A nest of this species taken at Ballina near the mouth of the 

 Richmond River on November 4 th, is composed of the wiry and 

 pliant stems of herbs and grasses entwined and matted together 

 with cobweb, and a few pieces of lichen felted together making the 

 outside resemble the branch, in a fork of which it is placed ; the 

 nest is about the size of that of Lalage tricolor, being comparatively- 

 small for the size of the bird ; the one at present under consider- 

 ation was placed between a fork in a small branch of a Tea-tree 

 (Melaleuca sp.); it is a small and shallow structure, being only 

 2-1 inches outside diameter by 1*35 inches inside, and without any 

 special lining. It contained but one egg, which I believe is all 

 that is laid for a sitting, for on shooting and dissecting the female 

 no other egg was found in any degree of maturity. 



The egg is of a bright apple-green color, with a well-defined 

 zone of reddish-brown spots near the thicker end ; the rest of the 

 surface is thickly sprinkled with dots, freckles, and small spots of 

 the same, or of a slightly brighter tint, which are less close together 

 on the thin end; it is rather elongated in form, measuring in. 

 length 0-98 inch, its shorter diameter being 0'68. 



