NOTES ON THE NESTING OF PYCNOPTILUS 

 FLOCGOSUS (Gould), IN N.S.W. 



By Dr. E. Pierson Ramsay, F.R.S.E., F.G.S., &c. 



(Plate XX.) 



Some months ago I made some remarks on the occurrence of 

 this hitherto scarce bird in N. S. Wales, prior to which it had only 

 been recorded from our more southern provinces. Our taxidermist, 

 Mr. J. A. Thorpe, procured some beautiful specimens in the flesh 

 at Cambewarra, about 100 miles south of Port Jackson; and Mr. 

 Yardley, of that district has forwarded quite recently the nest and 

 eggs taken by a Mr. Sinclair, a timber-getter working in the 

 adjacent scrubs. The nest, I am informed, was placed on or very 

 near the ground among some debris on a bank or slope ; it is a 

 rather loose structure, built of shreds of bark chiefly, and lined 

 with feathers of various kinds, among which may be distingushed 

 those of the Lyre bird, Cat-bird, and some of the Pycnoptilus 

 itself. In form it is somewhat dome-shaped, placed on its side and 

 with a large, rough ill-defined opening, which was probably 

 narrowed by the adjacent debris among which it was placed. 



The eggs, two in number for a sitting, are in tint of a dark 

 rich purplish brown like those of Sericornis citreogularis, with an 

 indistinct zone at the larger end of a blackish tint, and a few 

 ill-defined obsolete spots of the same on the other parts ; they are 

 smaller and more dot-like nearer the thin end, where the ground- 

 colour is slightly lighter in tint ; they measure as follows (A.) 

 1 inch, by 0-75, and (B.) 0'95 inch by 075 inch. They are 

 decidedly swollen and much shorter in proportion, but otherwise 

 very like the dark variety of the eggs of the Sericornis citreogularis. 



