PQCCILODRYAS. 179 



and there. Externally it measures three inches and a ([uarter in diameter by one inch and a 

 quarter in depth, and the inner cup two inches in diameter by one inch in depth. Another 

 nest has a few pieces of moss worked into the outer portion of the structure, and a quantity 

 of cobweb where it is attached at the sides to a thin forked horizontal branch. 



The eggs are two in number for a sitting, oval, slightly compressed oval, and elongate- 

 oval in form, the shell being close-grained, smooth, and lustreless. In ground colour they 

 vary from pale yellowish-green to bluish-green and greenish-grey, which is spotted and blotched 

 with different shades varying from pale yellowish and chestnut-brown to reddish and purplish- 

 brown, with which are intermingled similar underlying markings of purplish-grey. In some 

 specimens the spots and blotches are evenly distributed, others have them blurred and forming 

 confluent patches at one end or side of the shell, or few and very distinct, forming an irregular 

 shaped zone on the thicker end. Two sets, taken by Mr. Spalding near Cardwell, in 1867, 

 who obtained the birds at the same time, measure respectively, 1: — (A) 0-78 x 0-57 inches; 

 (B) 077 X 0-57 inches; "2: — (A) o-8 x 0-55 inches; (B) 0-9 x o'55 inches. A set taken on the 

 25th November, 1892, by Mr. Boyd at Ripple Creek, near the mouth of the Herbert Kiver, 

 measures: — (A) 0-77 x 0-58 inches; (B) 0-75 x 0-55 inches. 



Poecilodryas capito. 



LAKGE-UEADED EOBIN. 

 Eopsahria capito, Gould, Proc. Zool. Soc, 1851, p. 285; id., Handbk. Bds. Austr., Vol. I., p. 297 

 (1865); id., Bds. Austr., fob, SuppL, pi. 17 (1869); North, Proc. Linn. Soc. N.S.W., 2nd 

 ser., Vol. II,, p. 146 (1888). 



Pcecilodryas capito, Sharpe, Oat. Bds. Brit. Mus., Vol. IV., p. 245 (1879). 



Adult male — General colour above olive-yreen ; upper wing-coverts like the back; quills and 

 tail-feathers dnshj brown, externally edged with olive-green ; head dark greyislirbrown, washed with 

 olive-green; lores and feathers in front of the eye ivhite; ear-coverts brownish-grey with narrow 

 white shaft lines ; chin atid upper part of the throat greyish- ivhite; remainder of the nnder surface 

 yelloiv, strongly ivashed with olive-green on the sides of the breast and flanks ; bill black ; legs and 

 feet flesh colour; iris brown. Total length o inches, wing 3-15, tail 2 3, bill O-J^S, tarsus 0'75. 



Adult fe.male — Similar in plumage to the male. 



Distribution. — South-eastern Queensland, North-eastern New South Wales. 



^I^HE brushes of the northern coastal rivers of New South Wales and the south-eastern 

 -L portion of Queensland forms the stronghold of the present species. Rockingham Bay 

 and the Bellender Ker Range have also been included in its habitat, instead of, I believe, for the 

 following species, Pcecilodryas nana. It is remarkable, that if P. capito inhabits the latter range 

 it was not met with by Messrs. E. J. Cairn and R. Grant during their two collecting trips 

 in 1888-9. P- '"tna, on the other hand, was common there, and as far north as the Bloom- 

 field River District, where, during a twelve years' residence, Mr. Frank Hislop informs 

 me that he never met with P. capito. So far as the latter species is represented in the 

 Australian Museum collection, the most northern locality from which any of the specimens 

 was obtained is the Coomeri River, to the north of Moreton Bay. 



In New South Wales, the Large-headed Robin is restricted to the rich coastal brushes 

 and contiguous mountain ranges from the neighbourhood of the Manning River to the northern 

 boundary of the State. Mr. R. Grant found it freely dispersed in the scrubs of the Bellinger 

 River; 1 observed it farther north, but in decreased numbers, during a visit to the Upper 

 Clarence District, where it has been found breeding by Mr. George Savidge. It is also 

 fairly numerous in the brushes of the Richmond, Brunswick, and Tweed Rivers. 



