SERICORNIS. 301 



The nest is a dome-shaped structure, with a rounded entrance in tlie side; it is outwardly 

 formed of strips of bark and skeletons of leaves, and thickly lined inside with feathers, hair, or 

 fur. Others are constructed externally of rootlets and debris, and resemble a heap of rubbish. 

 They vary much in size, some being smaller and neater than others; an average one 

 measures externally five inches in length by three inches and a half in breadth, and across the 

 entrance one inch. The nesting-site is varied. In \'ictoria I have frequently found them about 

 eight or ten feet from the ground, packed between two upright stems of tea-tree, or where 

 one branch crossed another, and more or less hidden by the pieces of loose hanging bark; or 

 among debris collected under bushes or long grass. In the humid mountain ranges of South 

 Gippsland, I found them built at the bottom of a clump of "sword grass," the entrance alone 

 in many instances being visible; at other times I have been startled when gathering the smaller 

 species of ferns, by flushing the female from her nest built under the shelter of a projecting fern- 

 covered bank. In New South Wales I have generally found them on the ground in low under- 

 growth, hidden by long coarse grass or bracken fern, and one I discovered at Ashfield, containing 

 a young Fan -tailed Cuckoo, was built in the dead leafy top of a fallen gum sapling. The birds 

 seldom betray the whereabouts of their nest, and at all times sit very close, so much so that I 

 have unknowingly placed my hand over the entrance of the nest while the female was sitting. 



The eggs are three in number for a sitting, oval in form, the shell being close-grained, 

 smooth, and lustrous. In ground colour they vary from a faint purplish-white to pale purplish- 

 brown, which is usually sparingly freckled with a darker shade of the ground colour, except on 

 the larger end where there is a well defined zone or cap of dull purplish-brown. In rare 

 instances the ground colour is almost pure white, in some it is darker on the larger end, others 

 are only sparingly freckled with a slightly darker shade than the ground colour. Typically, 

 however, the eggs of this species are distinctly zoned on a light ground. A set of three, taken 

 at Middle Harbour, on the nth Au^aist, 1893, measures: — Length (A) 0-83 x 0-62 inches; (B) 

 0-87 X 0-63 inches; (C) 0-85 x 0-62 inches. Another set of three measures: — (A) 078 x o-6 inches; 

 (B) 0-8 X 0'57 inches; (C) 0-78 x 0-59 inches. 



For several seasons Mr. E. H. Lane and his son found many nests of this species, con- 

 taining eggs or young, in the Canoblas Range, near Orange, New South Wales. Writing 

 under date i6th December, 1899, '^Ir. Lane remarks: — "A nest of Sericornis frontalis, which my 

 son and a friend found building on the 29th August, I took three fresh eggs from on the 12th of 

 last September; and I found two more nests, with three young ones in each, a week later. On 

 the 24th and the 29th September, I found on each occasion a nest with two young ones and 

 an addled egg. I found another nest on the 6th October with three young birds, and on 

 the 9th December saw three young birds that had just left the nest. One of these nests was 

 built about fifteen feet from the ground, among some shoots and vines at the bottom of a small 

 tree. Another was among some vine growth overhanging a stream, and was about a foot from 

 the bank. A third was built under some coarse grass a yard away from a tree, and a fourth 

 among some rubbish at the butt of a tree. None of these nests could possibly be seen, only for 

 watching the birds going to them, and then we had to open out the bushes or grass before we 

 could find them. The nest from which I took three fresh eggs on the 12th September, the bird 

 sat very close, and although I repeatedly struck some rubbish just above it with a stick, the 

 bird did not leave her eggs until I put my hand against the nest." 



Young birds resemble the adults, but are duller in colour, there is no subterminal dark 

 band on the tail feathers, the white eyebrow is not so well defined, and the lores and ear-coverts 

 are dusky brown. 



Nidification usually commences in July, and eggs may be found at the end of the month, 

 but are more common during August. There are two, if not three broods reared during the 

 season, for fledgelings are numerous in September, and nests containing young ones may be 

 frequently found during the early part of January. 



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