MALURUS. 



233 



is in the moult, and is of a different shade of crimson to any other specimen I have seen. 

 There are skins also in the Macleay Museum, obtained by the late Mr. E. Spalding at Port 

 Darwin, and Mr. George Masters at Cape York in 1875. Mahtrus crucntatus bo'u'eri, Ramsay, 

 the type of which I have now before me, I regard only as an abnormally plumaged young male 

 of M. cnientatus. It formed one of a large series of M. crucntatus collected by the late Mr. T. H. 

 Bowyer-Bower near Derby, North-western Australia. 



Mr. G. A. Keartland writes me: — "Malunis crucntatus is very common in the neighbour- 

 hood of the Fitzroy and Margaret Rivers in North-western Australia. During November and 

 December, 1896, I observed them in the open forest frequenting the tallest trees. When driven 

 from one tree to another, they preferred the elevated branches of the Eucalypti to the dense low 

 bushes which they passed in their flight, and one was shot from a branch fifty-feet high. As 

 soon as the rain fell they altered their habits, and were found in the long grass and low bushes. 

 Possibly the intense heat of the dry ground had previously caused them to seek the cooler 

 atmosphere of a higher elevation. Many of their nests were found in Bauhinia trees and in the 

 native "peach-bushes," usually about four feet from the ground, although some were placed as 

 high as ten feet. The birds were far from shy, and no difficulty was experienced in obtaining 

 specimens." 



A nest of this species, taken by Mr. Keartland from a low bush, is a dome-shaped structure 

 with an entrance near the top. It is rather loosely put together, and is formed throughout of 

 very fine dried grasses and strips of white bark, intermingled with the coverings of some 

 composite plant. Externally it measures four inches and a half in height by two inches and a 

 half in diameter, and across the entrance one inch. 



In the nests examined the eggs were three or four in number for a sitting. They are oval or 

 rounded-oval in form, the shell being close-grained, and its surface smooth and lustreless. The 

 ground colour, which is pure white, is finely dusted, freckled, or blotched with pinkish or 

 brownish-red, the markings on some specimens being clear and well defined, in others nearly 

 obselete. Like those of M. mclanocephahis, some are sparingly but evenly blotched over the entire 

 surface of the shell, but as a rule the markings predominate on the thicker end, where in some 

 instances they form a well defined zone. A set of three, taken by Mr. G. -A. Keartland m 

 January, 1897. near the junction of the Fitzroy and Margaret Rivers, in North-western 

 Australia, measures as follows:— Length (.A) o-6 x 0-5 inches; (B) 0-62 x 0-44. inches; (C) 

 0-6 X 0-44 inches. .Another set, taken in the same locality measures:— (A) o;6i x 0-43 inches; 

 (B) 0-59 X 0-42 inches; (C) 0-58 x 0-44 inches; (D) o-6 x 0-41 inches. 



In concluding the Maluvi, I regret that I am unable to give a description of the nest and 

 eggs of the Crowned Superb Warbler (Malurus coronatits, Gould;, one of the most beautiful 

 species of the genus. There are in the Reference Collection specimens of these birds which 

 were obtained by Mr. E. J. Cairn, about one hundred miles inland from Derby, North-western 

 Australia, in 1886, who also procured the nest and eggs. Unfortunately only portion of his 

 collection was received at the Australian Museum ; two boxes, containing many specimens and 

 including among others the nest and eggs of Malurus coronatus, were lost in transit. 



