SirPPIiEMENT TO NESTS AND EGGS OF AUSTR. BIRDS NORTH. 13 



Steix CANDIDA, Tickell. Grass Owl. 

 Gould, Suppl. Bds. Austr., fol. edit., pi. i. 



Mr. J. A. Boyd, of the Herbert River, Queensland, has kindly 

 sent the following notes relative to the nidification of this species : 

 " This Owl nests on the ground, choosing a high thick tussock of 

 grass, forming a bower in it, and laying its eggs on the few grass 

 blades that have been trampled down. On the 1st of June, 1884, 

 I found two nests of this bird, each of which contained three 

 young ones and one egg. It is a curious fact that thougli this 

 bird always lays four eggs, I never found more than three young 

 ones, one egg being always addled. A friend of mine here has 

 also had the same experience. It seems strange that the bird 

 should lay an egg more than she is able to hatch. When first I 

 came here these birds were comparatively common, but latterly 

 have almost disappeared from this immediate neighbourhood, 

 owing I think to the largely increased quantity of cattle running 

 over the plain." 



The two eggs referred to by Mr. Boyd are more elongated than 

 is the rule with most Owl's eggs, and may be described as thick 

 ovals in form, white, the shell with the exception of a few 

 calcareous excrescences at the larger end being perfectly smooth 

 and lustreless. Length (A) 1-G9 x 1-27 inch ; (B) 1-73 x 1-26 inch. 



The range of this species extends over India, China, the 

 Phillipine Islands, and the Northern and Eastern portions of 

 Australia. 



Edoliisoma tenuirostre, Jardhie. Jardine's Campephaga. 



Graucalus te^iuirostris, Jard., Edinb. Journ. Nat. Sci. iv. p. 211. 

 Cehlejjyris jardhiii, Riippell, Mus. Senckenb. iii. p. .30. 

 Campephaga jardinii, Gould, Bds. Austr. fol. Yol. ii. pi. 60. 



Gould, Handhk. Bds. Austr., Vol. i., sp. 109, p. 200. 



*During the latter end of September, 1882, Mr. C. C. L. Talbot 

 observed a pair of these birds building their nest in the angle of 

 a thin forked horizontal Ijranch of an Ironbark {Eucalyptus sp.), 

 about forty feet from the ground, on Collaroy Station, Bi-oad 

 Sound, 556 miles N.W. of Brisbane. A week after, seeing the 

 female sitting on the nest for some length of time, he climbed up 

 to it and found it contained a perfectly fresh egg, which he took 

 (not waiting for the full complement, which is probably two), as 

 the tree was a difficult one to climb, at the same time securing 

 the nest. It was a small and shallow structure composed of wiry 

 grasses securely fastened together with cobwebs, and closely 

 resembled the branch on which it was placed. The egg is ovoid 

 in form, of a very pale bluish-grey ground colour, uniformly 



* North, Eec. Austr. Mus., Vol. i.. No. 8, July, 1891. 



