112 CAMPOPHAGID.E. 



inches and a half in diameter by three inches in depth, the saucer-shaped depression measuring 

 three inches and three-quarters by a depth of one inch and a half. The nests in New South 

 Wales are usually built in a Eucalyptus or Casuariua. Generally the site selected is a horizontal 

 branch of a lofty tree, but the height varies from twenty to seventy feet from the ground. Near 

 Moree, in November, 1897, I saw an old mud tenement of the Magpie- Lark taken possession 

 of by this species as a nesting-place. 



The eggs are usually three, and occasionally onlv two in number for a sitting. They vary 

 in form from oval to elongate oval, some specimens tapering sharply towards the smaller end, 

 the shell being close-grained and its surface smooth and glossy. In ground colour they vary 

 from olive-green to dull asparagus and bright bluish-green, which is finely and closely freckled, 

 as a rule, over the entire shell, with indistinct markings of olive-brown; in s(Mne specimens the 

 freckles are confluent, and form clouded patches or a cap on the larger end. Typical eggs are 

 of a dull asparagus-green ground colour, which is more or less obscured with numerous 

 indistmct fleecy markings of olive-brown. .V set of three measures: — Length (A) r-_33xo-93 

 inches; (B) i-33xo'95 inches; (C) i'35xo-95 inches. An unusually small set of two, taken 

 by the late Mr. K. H. Bennett, at Ivanhoe, in October, 1S86, and of a bright bluish-green 

 ground colour, measures: —(.\) i-2xovS5 inches; (B) ri8xo"83 inches. 



The nestling has the general colour above fawn-brown, crossed by dull blackish transverse 

 lines; the concealed portions of the feathers of the hetid, hind-neck, mantle, and back s^rey, and 

 those of the rump and upper tail-coverts white; wings dull black, the inner primaries and 

 the secondaries largely tipped with fawn-brown: tail black, the outer feather on either side 

 and the two central ones tipped with fawn; throat dull white with narrow lilackish bars; fore- 

 neck and chest grey, alternately barred with pale fawn and black; feathers of the remainder of 

 the under surface white, largely tipped with fawn-brown and crossed with black transverse 

 lines; centre of the abdomen and under tail-coverts white, washed with fawn. .\ slifjhtly older 

 bird taken from the nest, near Mossgiel, on the 26th October, 1886, by the late Mr. K. H. 

 Bennett, has lost most of the fawn tips to the feathers on the upper parts and chest, being 

 replaced b)' the grey basal colour which has now nearly encroached to the tip; lower portion 

 of the abdomen and under tail-coverts white, the latter crossed with a few narrow blackish 

 transverse bars; "bill dark horn colour; legs and feet horn colour; iris dark brown" (Bennett). 

 Wing 5-2 inches. A young male, shot by me at Moree on the 9th November, 1897, is like the 

 adult, but has some of the feathers on the head, hind-neck, and mantle tipped with dull white 

 and crossed with blackish transverse lines; primaries and secondaries black, edged with white 

 at the tips; tail-feathers black with whitish tips, the outer one on either side broadly tipped 

 with white; throat and fore-neck grey, the latter crossed with dull blackish transverse bars; 

 bill black, legs and feet dark grey, iris dark brown. Total length in the flesh 13 inches, 

 wing 77. 



In Central and Western New South Wales, it is an early breeder, several nests with full 

 sets of eggs being taken by the late Mr. K. H. Bennett, at Yandembab and Mossgiel, during 

 the first week in August, but the greater number of eggs may be usually found in October. In 

 the tablelands of the Mudgee District, Messrs. Cox and Hamilton state* that "sometimes this 

 species is rarely seen for years, at other times it is common all the year round, but usually 

 leaves early in winter and returns in spring. For this reason it is known as 'Spring-bird.' 

 We have taken eggs in November and December, and noted young birds leaving the nest on 

 January 29th." 



* Proc. Linn. Soc. N.SW., 2nd ser,, Vol. iv., p. 405 (18 



