■[46 MUSCICAPID*. 



Myiagra nitida. 



SHINING FLYCATCHER. 

 Myiagra nUida, Gould, Proc. Zool. Soc, 1837, p. 142; id., Bds. Austr., fol, Vol. II., pi. 91 (1848); 

 id., Handbk. Bds. Austr., Vol. I., p. 2-5.5 (186.5); Sharpe, Oat. Bds. Brit. Mus., Vol. IV., 

 p. 375 (1879). 



Adult male — General colour above ff lossy greenish-black; upper wing-coverts like the back; 

 primaries, secondaries, and tail feathers black margined externally with glossy greenish-black; lores, 

 and a broad frontal line deep velvety Mack ; sides of the neck, throat, fore-neck, and upper portion 

 of the breast glossy greenish-black ; remainder of the under surface and under tail-coverts tvhite ; bill 

 leaden-black; legs and feet black; iris black. Total length in the flesh 6-5 inches, wing JS, tail 3J, 

 bill O'JfO, tarsus 0-62. 



Adult female — General colour above dull slaty-grey, the feathers of the head darker and 

 tipped with glossy greenish-black; lesser and median upper wing-coverts like the back ; quills and 

 greater wing-coverts brown ; the secondaries narrowly edged externally with ashy-brown ; tail brown, 

 the four central feathers having a blackish n-ash ; lores blackishbroivn ; chin, sides of the neck, 

 throat, and fore-neck orange-rufous; remainder of the under surface and under tail-coverts white. 

 Total length dS inches, wing 34, tail 31, bill 04.5, tarsus 0-62. 



Distribution. — Queensland, New South Wales, \"ictoria, Tasmania. 



/~|5>,HE present species is sparingly distributed over most parts of the eastern and south- 

 J- eastern portions of the Australian continent. In New South Wales it is more frequently 

 met with in the Blue Mountains and in the open forest country further inland, from October 

 until the end of February. Mr. R. Grant informs me that it is the commonest bird in the 

 bush at Lithgow during the month of November, keeping about half-way up the hill-sides, and 

 breeding in forest-oaks and gums. During the spring and summer months it is also fairly 

 numerous in Tasmania, where it remains to breed. I have never seen it near the coast in New 

 South Wales, but there is an adult male in the collection procured at North Shore, Sydney, 

 in October, 1867. 



In habits it closely resembles its ally, M. ruhccida, being constantly on the move, and 

 frequently swaying its tail from side to side in a tremulous manner. Its food consists entirely 

 of insects, procured chiefly while on the wing. The note is clearer than that of the former 

 species, and \yhile uttering it the male frequently erects its lengthened crest feathers. 



From Dr. Lonsdale Holden's MS. notes, made principally in North-western Tasmania, I 

 have extracted the following information: — "On the 12th November, 1886, I saw a pair of 

 Myiagra nitida in thick scrub in the neighbourhood of Circular Head. The female was 

 building her nest, and I closely watched her for some time. It w-as on the upper side of a 

 small dead limb in a white gum tree, thirty feet from the ground, and looked like a knot on the 

 branch. The bird utters a note like 'tweet, tweet, tweet,' and the oscillating movement of its 

 tail is frequently seen. I did not get a close view of the male bird. On the 23rd November, I 

 took the nest after four hours' labour and elaborate mechanical preparations. The first seven 

 or eight feet of the branch being sound, I was able with the help of a rope made fast to a 

 branch above, to go out on it far enough to reach the nest with my scoop. It was a round 

 open structure, built across a nearly horizontal branch, and mainly composed of strips of bark, 

 matted together and neatly secured with cobwebs, the lining consisting of a few root-fibres and 

 a little hair; e.xternally it was covered with cobwebs and a few bits of lichen. Outwardly it 

 measures three inches in external diameter, and internally two inches and an eighth in diameter 

 by one inch and three-eighths in depth. It contained three eggs, which I dipped out of the 

 nest with a muslin bag on wire at the end of an eleven feet wand. The nest was so high 



