52 NESTS AND EGGS OF AUSTRALIAN BIRDS. 



Gulf of Carpentaria district, where the birds usually deposit their eggs 

 within a hole of a flooded box or coolibar ( Eucalyjituii microtheca 'I ) that 

 grows along the streams. 



Mr. North states: — ' On two occasions Mr. K. H. Bennett foimd nests 

 of this species at Ivanhoe, in the interior of New South Wales. Tlie eggs 

 were in both instances six in number, of a dull uniform w^hite, and were 

 deposited on the decayed wood in the hollow hmb of a box tree." 



Mr. Price Fletcher, in the course of his peregi-inations through the 

 north-west interior of Queensland, observed that this bird lays two eggs 

 in September and October, and again in Januaiy and Februai-y. 



Regarding the Lesser Masked Owl in its western habitat, 

 Mr. G. A. Keartland writes : — " These beautiful birds were met with in 

 the Mulga sci-ubs east of Lake Way, where they presented a most grotesque 

 appearance as they gazed at the passing caravan. At the Camel depot 

 several more were noted, and specimens obtained. These birds were all 

 perched among the foliage of the trees. Wliilst shooting at one of the 

 creeks passed, Mr. C. F. Wells disturbed a pair from the hollow spout of 

 r. eucalypt, and on another occasion, at the Fitzroy River, I had sent a 

 native to examine a hollow branch, when another pair flew out, striking 

 him in the face with their wings as they escaped." 



42 — Stri.n: TENEBRicosA, Gould. — (30 I 



SOOTY OWL. 



F/5K«. — Gould : Birds of Australia, fol., \ol. i , pi. 30. 



Reference, — Cat. Birds Brit. Mus., vol. ii., p. 306. 



Previous Description o/fio'gs.— Campbell : Victorian Naturalist (1889). 



Geographical Distribution. — Queensland, New South Wales, and Vic- 

 toria, also New Guinea. 



Nest. — A hollow-spouted limb of a tree in heavy forest. 



Eggs. — Clutch, three ; nearly round in form ; texture somewhat 

 coarse ; surface without gloss and minutely pitted ; colour, pure white. 

 Dimensions in inches: 1'83 x 1'6L 



Observations. — This is a beautiful compact creature in general sooty 

 or brownish-black plimiage, ornamented with a spot of white near the tip 

 of each feather; the eyes are dark-brown, siu'rounded with facial discs of 

 sooty grev ; bill and feet are the same colour as in the Masked Owl. 

 Total length. 13 to 15 inches; wing, Hi inches; tail, 5 inches. 



I have shot this fine diisky-coloured Owl on the forested shores of 

 Lake King, Gippsland. I have also seen it procured in the Dandenongs, 

 near MelboiuTie. It ranges along the eastern timber tracts to the northern 

 sci-ubs, where my friend, Mr. Le Souef, procured an example on the 

 Bloomfield River. However, Mr. Broadbent considers the Sooty Owl 

 a rai'e bird in the northern scrubs, compared with the forests of Gippsland. 



