PCECILODRYAS. 181 



/"I^HE known range of the present species extends from the neighbourhood of the Bloom- 

 JL field River in North-eastern Queensland, as far south as the Herbert River District. It 

 frequents alike the dense coastal scrubs and the undergrowth at all levels to the top of the 

 contiguous mountain ranges. Dr. Ramsay described it, also its nest and eggs, from specimens 

 procured by Mr. Kendal Broadbent near Cairns. 



In the "Catalogue of Birds in the British Museum,"'^ Dr. Sharpe makes the following 

 observations on PcBcilodryas nana: — "Mr. Ramsay speaks of having seen a good many 

 specimens of this supposed new species. Mr. Godman's collection contains a single 

 example, which has the loral spot white, with the eye ring only tinged with rufous, 

 which also pervades the cheeks and chin. This would seem to indicate that the rufous 

 tinge is a sign of immaturity; and the species is certainly doubtful." Pcecilodryas nana, 

 however, is a valid species. It is the northern representative of P. captto, with which it 

 does not intergrade, and may be distinguished from that species, in addition to the rufous 

 spot in front, and ring of feathers partially encircling the eye, by the white or greyish-white 

 feathers of the throat, extending on to the fore-neck, and by the head and hind-neck being 

 dark brown, and destitute of the slight olive-green wash which extends from the back on 

 to the feathers of the hind-neck and head of P. capito. In ten adult specimens now before 

 me, the specific characters pointed out by Dr. Ramsay are constant, and it is unquestionably 

 a good and distinct species. 



Mr. Frank Hislop writes me as follows: — ''Pcecilodryas nana is very common in the scrubs of 

 the Bloomfield River District, North-eastern Queensland, frequenting the flats and all localities 

 right up to the summits of the mountain range. It builds its nest sometimes in the fork of a 

 sapling, but more often on a young lawyer-vine, the nest being placed in the angle formed 

 by the leaves growing out of an upright stalk. It is a cup-shaped structure, formed of pieces 

 of dead lawyer-vine leaves and strips of fibre, and the outside is often covered with green moss. 

 Two eggs are usually laid for a sitting. It breeds during the months of October, November, 

 and December." 



The nest is a small open cup-shaped structure, formed of strips of dried leaves, or shreds of 

 bark, held together with spider's webs and neatly lined inside with the fibre of the lawyer-vine, 

 and at the bottom with portions of dried lawyer-vine leaves. Externally it is decorated with 

 large scales of bark and pieces of green moss. An average nest measures two inches and a half 

 in external diameter by two inches and a quarter in depth, the inner cup measuring one inch 

 and three-quarters in diameter by one inch and a half in depth. It resembles very much the 

 nest of Eopsalti'ia chrysorrhous, and is usually built in the same situation against the stem of a 

 lawyer-vine, the bottom of it being supported by the leaves. The external shape of the nest, 

 however, varies according to its situation, some nests being nearly flat and slightly wider at 

 the base than at the rim. 



Eggs two in number for a sitting, oval or elongate oval in form, the shell being close- 

 grained, smooth, and almost lustreless. The ground colour varies from pale green to greenish- 

 grey and faint yellowish-brown, which is freckled, dotted, and spotted with different shades, 

 varying from yellowish-umber to reddish and chestnut-brown, intermingled with underlying 

 spots of violet-grey, the markings predortiinating as usual on the thicker end, where in some 

 specimens they assume the form of a more or less well defined zone. These eggs bear a 

 strong resemblance to those of Pcecilodryas capito. A set of two measures: — (A) 0-85 x 0-58 

 inches; (B) 0-85 x 0-56 inches. Another set measures: — (A) o-8 x o-6 inches; (B) 0-82 x 0-62 

 inches. 



• Cat. Bds. Brit. Mus., Vol. iv., p. 247 (1879). 



