170 MUSCICAPID.E. 



of bark, but is very neat and smoothly formed of shreds of bark held together with a fine 

 lace-work of spiders' webs, the inside being neatly lined with fur and feathers, and the 

 outside ornamented with small pieces of white lichen. The nest figured, which contained two . 

 fresh eggs, was taken by Mr. E. H. Lane at Wambangalang, on 15th August, 1898. The 

 different species of pines, acacias, gums, and oaks are chiefly resorted to as nesting-sites, 

 although any bush or low tree may be selected, and they are often found in briar bushes. 

 Generally they are placed within a few feet of the ground, but vary according to the locality, 

 and are sometimes built at an altitude of thirty feet. 



The eggs are usually two, sometimes three, in number for a sitting, and vary considerably 

 in colour and the disposition of their markings. They are oval or rounded oval in form, the 

 shell being close-grained, smooth, and lustreless. The ground colour varies from a faint bluish- 

 white to a rich greyish-green, and this is minutely dotted, spotted, or blotched with brown, 

 reddish-brown, wood-brown, or purplish-brown, 'intermingled in some specimens with under- 

 lying spots of dull violet-grey. Some eggs are evenly marked all over, but as a rule the 

 markings are larger and predominate towards the centre, and on the thicker end, where they 

 form a more or less well defined cap or zone; others are peppered on the larger end only with 

 almost invisible dots of faint reddish-grey. A set of two measures:— Length (A) 0-65 x 0-47 

 inches; (B) 0-63 x 0-47 inches. A set of three measures:— (A) 0-63 x 0-51 inches; (B) 0-64 x 

 0-5 inches; (C) 0-64 x 0-51 inches. Another set of three measures:— (.\) o-6 x 0-49 inches; (B) 

 o-6i X 0-49 inches; (C) o-6 x 0-5 inches. 



The young male resembles the adult female, having a dull red cap on the forehead, and 

 some of the feathers on the breast slightly tinged with red. One specimen in the Australian 

 Museum collection, has also the feathers in the centre of the upper portion of the throat 

 washed with red. 



The Red-capped Robin is frequently the foster parent of the Rufous-tailed Bronze Cuckoo 

 (Lamprococcyx basalis). 



In Eastern and Southern Australia, the breeding season commences about the middle of 

 July, and continues until tlie end of December. Probably two or more broods are reared 

 in a season. 



0-en-U.S lS/EEIj-A.ISrOi:)IS"5r.(i^S, Gould. 



Melanodryas bicolor. 



HOODED EOBIN. 

 Grallina bicolor, Vig. & Horsf., Trans. Linn. Soc, Vol. XV., p. 233 (1826). 

 Petroica bicolor, Gould, Bds. Austr., fol.. Vol. III., pi. 7 (1848). 

 Melanodryas cucullata, Gould, Handbk. Bds. Austr., Vol. I., p. 283 (1865). 

 Peirceca bicolor, Sharpe, Cat. Bds. Brit. Mus., Vol. IV., p. 173 (1879). 



Adult male — General colour above glossy black; scapulars white; winys brownish-black, outer 

 webs and tips of inner secondaries, and a band across the quills, except on the outer primaries 

 white; two central tail feathers black, the next on either side black with the outer tveb white for 

 two-thirds of its length; the remainder white largely lipped with black; head glossy black; throat and 

 fore-neck glossy black ; remainder of the under surface white ; bill black; legs and feet black ; iris 

 brownish-black. Total length in the flesh G'o inches, iving ^-1, tail 2S, bill OS, tarsus OOo. 



Adult female — General colour above brownish-grey ; wings and tail dark brown, and similarly 

 marked with white as in the male, except in having a narrow tvhite margin to the apical portion of 

 the outer tveb of the outermost tail feather; lores and chin dull white; feathers below the eye and the 



