318 TIMELIID^. 



nest seven inches, from front of the base to entrance of the nest proper seven inches; the 

 interior, which is rounded in form, averaging four inches in diameter. This nest, which some- 

 what resembles a miniature Lyre-bird's, was placed between the buttresses of a fig-tree, in a 

 scrub on the Richmond River, and contained two eggs. 



The eggs of this species are usually two in number for a sitting, pure white, and vary from 

 an elongate-oval to a compressed ellipse in form, the shell being close-grained, smooth, and 

 slightly lustrous. A set of two, taken at Glennifer, on the Bellinger River, in June, 1892, 

 measures: — Length (A) 1-15 x 079 inches; (B) i-i5xo-8i inches. A set taken in the scrubs 

 of the Tweed River in September, 1890, measures: — (A) 1-28 x 0-87 inches; (B) 1-2 x 0-85 inches. 

 An unusually small-sized set, taken near Ballina, on the Richmond River, in August, 1897, 

 measures: — (A) 1-02 x 079 inches; (B) 1-05 x o-8 inches. 



From Alstonville, near Ballina, Mr. H. R. Elvery writes me: — "The nest of Orthonyx 

 spinicanda is always placed on or near the ground, and generally close to decaying timber. 

 Sometimes it is built on or close to a log, and on two occasions I found it placed on top of a 

 small stone. A favourite nesting-site is in a thick bunch of lawyer-vines, and one I found in 

 this situation, built unusually high, was placed six feet from the ground. This species will 

 frequently return to the old nesting-site, even after being robbed of its eggs. July is the 

 principal month for this bird to breed, but I have taken eggs in every month inclusive from 

 March to September." 



Young birds are rich rufous-brown above, with broad blackish margins to the feathers of 

 the head, hind-neck, and upper back, the latter also having golden-buft shaft-lines; lower back, 

 rump, upper tail-coverts, tail, and quills as in the adult ; upper wing-coverts blackish, broadly 

 tipped w-ith golden-buff; all the under-surface pale ochreous-rust colour, with blackish margins 

 to the feathers, those on the breast and abdomen being almost white except at the tip; sides of 

 the lower breast like the back, but paler, and having the remains of indistinct blackish cross- 

 bars. Wing 3-25 inches. 



In the Tweed River District, this species, which is locally known as the "Scrub-Quail," 

 generally breeds in May, June, and July, and I have one set of eggs that was taken there 

 as late as the 25th September, but they were heavily incubated. From the Upper Clarence 

 River District, Mr. G. Savidge writes me: — "Orthonyx spinicanda is an autumn and winter 

 breeder, nesting in April, May, June, and July, nests with eggs being more frequently found in 

 the latter month. This bird frequently betrays the position of its nest by its cries. It is by no 

 means shy; when one discovers its nest generally it runs a short distance away and then 

 stands and watches the intruder." At Glennifer, on the Bellinger River, Mr. Robt. Grant 

 found two nests of this species built between buttresses of trees, each containing fresh eggs, 

 in June, 1892. 



Orthonyx spaldingi. 



SPALDING'S SPINE-TAIL. 

 Orthonyx spaldingi, Ramsay, Proc. Zool. Soc, 1868, p. 386; Gould, Bds. Austr., fol., Suppl., pi. .53 

 (1869); Sharpe, Cat. Bds. Brit. Mus., Vol. VII., p. 331 (1883); North, Rec. Austr. Mas., 

 Vol. L, p. 38, pi. 1, fig. 2 (1890); Sharpe, H»nd-1. Bds., Vol. IV., p. 2 (1903). 



Adult male — General colour above dark olive-brotmi, loith a blackish wash on the feathers of the 

 upper back; upper wing-coverts blackish-brown; quills dull chocolate-brotvn, their inner webs dark 

 brown ; upper tail-coverts like the back, but of a slightly more pronounced shade of olive; tail feathers 

 blackish-brorvn ; head, hind-neck, lores, cheeks, ear-coverts, and sides of the neck black ; chin, throat, 

 fore-neck, and cetUre of the breast white; the sides of the upper breast blackish-brown, of the lower 



