82 



ORIOLID.E. 



The nest is an open shallow structure, formed of vinelets or long pliant stems of climbing 

 plants, with which are intermingled a few fine twigs. It is usually built in the forked horizontal 

 leafy twigs near the extremity of an outspreading branch, and well away from the trunk of the 

 tree. Although apparently of a flimsy character, for the eggs are generally visible through the 

 bottom of the nest, the rim is securely worked over the twigs or branchlets, and the whole 

 structure has a wire-like consistency and is remarkably strong. An average nest measures 

 externally six inches in diameter by two inches and a quarter in depth ; internally four inches 

 and three-quarters in diameter by two inches and a quarter in depth. In the Upper Clarence 

 District the trees mostly favoured as nesting-sites are apple-trees, bloodwoods, ironbarks, and 

 grey gums. Generally their nests are built at a height varying from thirty to seventy feet from 

 the ground. 



The eggs are usually three in number for a sitting, and vary much in form and colour. 

 Oval and elongate ovals are the most common types, while rounded o\als are sometimes found, 

 the shell being close-grained and its surface smooth and slightly lustrous. The ground colour 



varies from very pale apple-green 

 "'^^^'^'^ tj to dull olive-green, some speci- 



\ ^ — \ ^— ^ mens being of a much lighter 



shade at the smaller end, but as a 

 rule the ground colour is uniform. 

 Irregular-shaped blotches, spots, 

 and freckles of different shades 

 of reddish-brown, or purplish- 

 red, and similar underlying 

 markings of purplish-grey are 

 distributed over the shell, but 

 particularly on the larger end, 

 although they rarely assume 

 the form of a zone. In some 

 specimens there is a reddish 

 wash on the larger end, or the 

 markings thereon are penumbral, 

 but generally they are clear and 

 well-defined. Typical eggs re- 

 semble those oiCradicus destmctov 

 more than -any other species. A 

 set of two, taken in the Richmond 

 River District in November, 1 886, 

 measures as follows: — Length (A) 1-28 x 0-95 inches; (B) 1-29 x 0-95 inches. A set of three, taken 

 at Copmanhurst, on the i6th November, 1898, measures: — Length (A) 1-28 x 0-95 inches; (B) 

 1-29 X 0-95 inches; (C) x-3 x 0-97 inches. A remarkably handsome set of three eggs, taken by 

 Mr. Clarence Savidge on the same day, and the largest I have seen, measures: — (A) 1-45 x 0-92 

 inches; (B) 1-45 x 0-9 inches; (C) 1-45 x 0-92 inches. The ground colour of this set is a very 

 pale apple-green, which is distinctly dotted and spotted with different shades of purplish-red, 

 and similar underlying markings of purplish-grey, intermingled with a very few irregular 

 shaped blotches on the larger end of the shell. 



This species is a comparatively late breeder. While driving from South Grafton, on the 

 3rd November, 1898, Mr. George Savidge drew my attention to a pair of these birds busily 

 engaged in constructing their nest in a Bloodwood (Eucalyptus corymhosa) near the roadside. 

 This was the first nest he had found that season. Subsequently, at Copmanhurst, I found two 



NEST AXD KliOS OK FIOHIHIJ. 



