A'ESTS AND EGGS OF AVSTRALIAN BIRDS. 



97 



Mr. Nortli mentions ;i nest of tlie Black-faced Cuckoo Sluike in the 

 Australian Musouni that is composed entirely of the dried leaves of the 

 casuarina, securely held together by cob-webs. A nest I saw taken at 

 "Duubar," 11th October, 1890, was made chiefly of short, dead portions 

 of the mid-ribs of black wattle (Acacia) leaves, stuck together with some 

 glutinous matter in addition to tlie cob-webs. The Messrs. Brittlebank 

 informed me tliat the same pair of birds built another nest and laid a 

 second pair of eggs fourteen dajs after the first one was removed. 



September to December or January constitute the breeding months, 

 during which period two broods ai'e reaa-ed. 



75. — Graucalus melanops (sub-species) parvirostris, Gould (10-1) 



SMALL-BILLED CUCKOO SHRIKE. 



Reference. — Cat. Birds Brit Mus , vol. iv., p 32. 



Previous Descriptions of Eggs. — Campbell : Southern Science Record 

 (18S3) ; North : Austn. Mus. Cat., p. 75 (18S9). 



Geixjrfrphical Distrihxifiitii . — Tasmania and islands in Bass Strait. 



Nest. — Shallow, composed of fine, straight, dead twigs, and short pieces 

 of bark, matted together with spiders' web, lined inside with fine twigs, 

 and placed usually in the fork of a dead horizontal limb. Dimensions over 

 all, 5 inches by 2 inches iii depth ; egg cavity, 3i inches across by 1 inch 

 deep. 



Ef/t/s. — Clutch, three to foiu- ; inclined to oval in shape ; texture of shell 

 fine ; surface glossy ; colour, dark-green, somewhat boldly blotched, particu- 

 larly on the apex, with umber of different shades. Resemble those of 

 G. melaiKipi. Dimensions in inches of a pair : (1) 1-26 x 'SG, (2) 1-25 x -89. 



Observations. — After much attention to the mainland Graucali. Gould 

 was induced to regard the Tasraanian bird as distinct. 



Diuing our exjjedition to several of the intermediate islands in Bass 

 Strait, we observed what we believed to be this species. 



The Small-billed Cuckoo Shrike is commonly called the '" Summer-Bird " 

 in Tasmania ; why, I know not, because it is deemed a stationary species. 

 My query in The Australasian, 10th June, 1899, " Does the Short-billed 

 Cuckoo Shrike leave Tasmania or migrate during winter? " met with over- 

 whelming e\idence that the bird is stationaty. Numerous con-espondents 

 from north to south in Tasmania testified thoy had observed the Cuckoo 

 Shrike, usually in small flocks of about eight or ten, diuing winter months, 

 notably June and July ; wliile Mr. Erskine Dean was good enough to send 

 me a skin of a bird shot on the 7th of the latter month at Bvu-nie. 

 Tasmanians, I think, may therefore safely discard the name " Summer 

 Bird " as an inappropriate title for their local Cuckoo Shiike. 



It is worthy again of remark that some of the Tasmanian birds, 

 whether of the same species or allied forms, lay clutches with a larger 

 complement of eggs than those do on the mainland. The Ciickoo Shiike 

 7 



