lOO A'ESTS AND EGGS OF AUSTRALIAN BIRDS. 



short twigs, &c., and spiders' web, and usually situated in the fork of a 

 limb in forest country. 



Eyys. — Clutch, two usually ; in shape somewhat pointed towards one 

 end ; texture of shell comparatively fine ; surface glossy ; colour, dull-white, 

 blotched and spotted, particularly on the upper quarter, where the 

 markings form a zone, with imiber and dull-coloured slate. Dimensions 

 in inches of a clutch: (1) 1-25 x -83, (2) 1-2 x 1-86. (Plate 7.) 



Another pair resembles those of the Caterpillar Catcher (Edoliiscyma 

 tenuirostre), being a hght-greenish tinge, and havmg well-rounded markings 

 of olive and dull-slate. (1) M5 x 86, (2) 1-15 x -85. 



Observatio?is. — This lovely-marked Cuckoo Shrike, as far as at present 

 known, has a somewhat limited habitat, confined to the scrubs of the 

 eastern coastal region. My enthusiasm may be judged when, for the first 

 time, I saw my companion (Ms. W. T. Bailey^ rake with a long single- 

 barrelled gun the top of a tall Moreton Bay fig-tree, where Regent Birds 

 (Stricuhis). Cat Bii'ds ( Ai-1 u rcedii s ) . and Fruit Pigeons (Pfilopus). 

 were feasting, and bring down a pair of beautiful Barred Cuckoo Shrikes, 

 with eyes of Ught lemon-coloured hue. 



According to Gould, the late Mi-. F. Strange shot, on the 24th 

 November, a female containing a fully-developed egg. A similar experi- 

 ence befell Mr. Bailey on Xew Year's Day, 1892. In dissecting a female 

 of this species, to his siirprise he found an immature egg, which he described 

 as long in fonn, glossy -wliite in colour, without trace of markings ; length, 

 about 12 inches by a breadth of -8 inch. 



During a collecting trip to the Bloomfield River district. Northern 

 Queensland, 1893, Mr. D. Le Souef noticed a pair of Barred Cuckoo 

 Shiikes that had a nest in the neighboiu'hood, but unfortunately it con- 

 tained a pail- of young ones. Howevei', two years afterwards, Mr. Le Souef 

 was enabled, through the instrumentahty of Mr. R. Hislop, to describe 

 the eggs of this beautiful species from the same district. On the 12th 

 December, 1895, Mr. Hislop found a nest containing two eggs, placed in the 

 fork of a horizontal branch of an iron-wood (eucalypt) tree, at a height 

 of about twenty feet from the gi'oimd. The nest was composed of casuarina 

 needles and other leaves fastened together with spiders' webs. 



Another nest was taken on the 23rd December the following season. 



Breeding months October to Januaiy. 



79. — Edoliisoma tenuirostre, Jardine. — (109) 

 Campephaga jardinii, Euppell. 



CATERPILLAR CATCHER. 



Figure— Gould ; Birds of Australia, fol , vol. ii., pi. 6o. 

 Reference — Cat. Birds Brit. Mus.. vol. iv , p 55 



Previous Descriptions of Eggs. — North: Rec.Austn. Mus.. vol. i . p. 177 

 (1891) ; Campbell: Victorian Naturalist (1897). 



Geographical Distribution. — Northern Territory, Queensland, New 

 South Wales, and Victoria, also New Guinea and Am Islands. 



