j6 .VESTS A.VD EGGS Of AVSTRALIA.V BIRDS. 



56. — Ptilorhis alberti, Elliot. — (365) 



ALBERT RIFLE BIRD. 



Figure. — Gould : Birds of Australia, fol., supp., pi. 51. 

 Reference. — Cat. Birds Brit. Mus., vol. iii., p. 156. 

 Previous Description of Eggs. — Le Souef : Ibis p. 394 (1897) 



Geographical Distribution. — North Queensland (Cape York). 



Nest. — Open, loosely coustmcted of broad dead leaves and a few twigs ; 

 lined inside with fine straight pieces of twigs. Usually situated in a 

 paudaniis palm or other tree in the scrub. Dimensions over all, 9 to 10 

 inches by 5 inches in depth ; egg cavity, 3i to 4 inches across by 2 inches 

 deep. 



Eggs. — Clutch, two ; inclined to oval in form ; textvire of shell some- 

 what fine; surface glossy, but with hair-like creases or pressure hnes; 

 coloui', yellowish-white or creamy-buS, singularly streaked longituchnally, 

 as if with a brush, with brownish-olive or rufous-brown and slate. 

 Dimensions in inches of a proper pak : (1) 1-27 x -9, (2) 1-3 x -89. 

 (Plate 6.) 



Another type of eggs (there appear to be two vei-y distinct ones) has 

 a deeper groimd-coloiu- of ochraceous-bufF with similar markings to the 

 other. Dimensions: (1) 1-28 x -95, (2) 1-34 x -98. 



Observations. — This tiiily " Magnificent ' Rifle Bird, a name it was 

 first called by Gould, inhabits the densest scrvibs in the neighboiu'hood of 

 Cape York, to which the species appears to be restricted. 



Macgillivray, who furnished Gould with some observations on the bird, 

 stated that the ovary of a female shot in November contained a very large 

 and nearly developed egg. According to the testimony of the natives, 

 whom ilacgillivray questioned on the subject, the Albert Rifle Bird nested 

 in a hollow tree, laj'ing several white eggs. 



However, this is not the only published statement respecting the Rifle 

 Bird laying white eggs. Dr. Ramsay, in the " P.Z.S.," p. 599 (1875), 

 with regard to the P. paradisia, states that the natives informed him that 

 the Rifle Bii-d lays its eggs, which are white, in the hollow branch of a 

 tree, without making any nest. So much for the stories of natives. 



With commendable enterprise Dr. Charles Ryan, Dr. Wm. Snowball 

 and Mr. Dudley Le Soiief seciu-ed the services of Mr. Harry Barnard, 

 whose reputation as an excellent and rehable field uatiu'aUst is well 

 known, and subsidised him in the field for a season (1896-7) in the rich 

 region of Cape Y'ork. 



Amongst Mr. Barnard's more important finds were the nests and eggs, 

 new to science, of the following birds, namely : — Albert Rifle Bird 

 (Ptilorhis alberti), the only Manucode Australia possesses ( Phonygama 

 gouldi), a comparatively new Frill-necked Ftycatcher (Arses lorealis), the 

 Yellow-breasted Flycatcher ( Machceorhynchus flaviventerj, and the Broad- 

 billed Flycatcher (Myiagrn latirostris), this bird being discovered by 

 Gilbert nearly fifty years previously. In addition to these discoveries. 



