CINC'LORAMPIU'S. 335 



I procured specimens at Wellington and Dubbo. New South Wales, during the first week in 

 August. It is, however, somewhat erratic in its appearance in the coastal districts, and may 

 occur in numbers one season and bs absent again for years. It used to be very common in the 

 late spring and early summer months in the outlying suburbs of both Melbourne and Sydney, 

 but it is now comparatively rare, and near the latter city it is seldom seen. Dr. \\'. Macgillivray 

 informs me that it is very common on the downs in the Cloncurry District, Queensland, but he 

 only noted occasional examples in the Hamilton District, \'ictoria. Mr. Tom Carter also 

 informs me that at Point Cloates, North-western Australia, it is not nearly so numerous as 

 Cincloramphus critralis, and that he has only met witii it inland. 



Although this species usually frequents open forest and well grassed lands, specimens have 

 been received by the Trustees of the Australian INIuseum from near the snow-line of Mount 

 Kosciusko, the highest peak in Australia. Daring a trip made to the Gwydir River District, 

 New South Wales, by Mr. J. A. Thorpe and myself, we found this species, with the e.xception 

 of Lalage tricolor, the commonest in the bush. Open forest and ring-barked paddocks, with a 

 profusion of knee-high herbage, were its fa\ourite haunts. On a dead branch of nearly every 

 tree was one or more of these bu'ds, or they were disturbed from their cover while engaged in 

 family cares. The preceding descriptions are taken from a pair of adult birds in breeding 

 plumage, procured near the Gw\dir River. Other adult birds, obtained at the same time, had 

 no dark spots on the throat and fore-neck. The stomachs of the specimens we examined con- 

 tained the remains of \-arious insects and their larva:'. 



The well known notes of the male are usually uttered when tlying from tree to tree, or as it 

 mounts up high in the air. They are among the richest and sweetest strains possessed by any 

 Australian bird, and are poured forth as exuberantly as if the owner was revelling in ecstasy 

 at his powers of song; when perched he occasionally varies them with a single clear call-note. 



The nest is placed in a slight hollow in the ground, and is a small cup-shaped structure, 

 externally formed of dried grasses, and generally lined with horse-hair when available. The 

 inner cup of an average nest measures externally two inches and a half in diameter by one inch 

 and a half in depth. Usually it is built under the shelter of a tuft of grass or weeds, or among 

 the dead leafy branches of a fallen tree, and on several occasions I ha\-e taken it from under- 

 neath the overhanging bank of a dry creek. Near the Gwydir River, I found it placed amongst 

 the luxuriant herbage, and one I had pointed out to me by Mr. C. J. MciMasters at " Wilga," 

 near i\Ioree, was only a few yards away from his house. 



The eggs are three or four in number for a sitting, varying from o\al to rounded-oval in 

 form, some specimens being rather pointed at the smaller end. In ground colour they vary 

 from almost pure white to reddish and faint purphsh-white, which typically is nearly obscured 

 by numerous freckles, dots, or small irregular-shaped spots of rich reddish or purplish-brown, 

 in some instances the markings predominating at the thicker end, where a more or less well- 

 defined cap or zone is formed. Others have a few faint underlying markings of purplish- 

 grey; while a rare variety now before me, has a nearly white ground, which is sparingly 

 blotched with purplish-red intermingled with a few almost obsolete spots of lilac-grey. A 

 remarkably handsome set of three have a distinct zone around the larger end of purplish- 

 brown, and very minute pepper-and-salt markings of the same hue evenly distributed over the 

 remainder of the shell. A set of three measures as follows: — Length (.\) o-8 x o-6 inches; (B) 

 o-8xo-6i inches; (C) o-8ixo-6i inches. A set of four measures:— (A) o-86 x 0-63 inches; 

 (B) 0-85 X 0-63 inches; (C) o-Syxo-ei inches; (D) 0-85 x 063 inches. A set of small eggs 

 measures: — (A) 0-76 x o-6 inches; (B) 076 x 0-59 inches; (C) 077 x 0-58 inches. 



The immature male resembles the adult, but the feathers of the back have dull rufous 

 margins; the greater wing-coverts, quills, and tail feathers, too, are also margined with rufous; 

 the eyebrow is not so distinct; the under surface has an ashy-grey shade; the feathers on the 



