56 



DESCRIPTIONS OF THE NESTS AND EGGS OF THREE 

 SPECIES OF AUSTRALIAN BIRDS. 



By Alfred J. North, C.M.Z.S., Ornithologist, Australian 



Museum, Sydney. 



1. Cracticus rufescens, DeVis. 



Rufous Crow-Shrike. 



The known range of the Rufous Crow-Shrike extends through- 

 out the coastal scrubs of north-eastern Queensland from the 

 neighbourhood of the Daintree River in the north to the Herbert 

 River in the south. Future research will undoubtedly extend 

 this i^ange both north and south, to all districts of tropical 

 Queensland having a similar flora. Dr. Ramsay first drew 

 attention to this bird at a meeting of the Linnean Society of 

 New South Wales in November, 1877, from specimens obtained 

 b}'^ Mr. Kendal Broadbent, near Cairns ; but stated that he 

 believed it to be the young of Cracticus quoyi. In Volume II. 

 of the Society's Proceedings, Dr. Ramsay fully describes it, and 

 adds 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 j^lumage." Sub- 

 sequently* Mr. De Vis described it as a new species, under the 

 name of Cracticus rufescens, from specimens also obtained by Mr. 

 Broadbent in the Tully and Murray River scrubs. Tt is beauti- 

 fully figured by Dr. Sharpe in his " Birds of New Guinea"! from 

 examples procui'ed by the late Mr. T. H. Boyei'-Bower on the 

 Mulgrave River. Specimens were also obtained by Messrs. 

 Cairn and Grant, who were collecting in the same locality on 

 behalf of the Trustees of the Australian Museum. Mr. Grant 



* Proc. Linn. Soc. N.S.VV. Vol. vii. p. 562 (1883). 

 t Gould and Sharpe, Birds of New Guinea, Vol. iii. PL 16 (1875-88). 



