VESTS A.VD EGGS Of AVSTKALIAN BIRDS. loi 



.Vc.,^ — Small and shallow ; composed of very fine twigs, casuarina 

 needles, and a few pieces of bark, stuck together with spiders' web, and 

 outwaidly decorated with portions of silveiy-gi-ey hchens, a few bits also 

 bein? inside. It resembles that of a Gruiicn/us also in its situation — a thin 

 forked branch of a tree — eucalyptus, casuarina, or banksia. Dimensions 

 over all, 3A inches; egg cavity, '2{ inches across by J inch deep. 

 (See illustration.) 



Eggs. — Clutch, one invariably ; lengthened in form, with a sharp- 

 pointed apex, like some of the Thickheads' eggs, notably Porhycephala 

 o/ivaren ; texture of shell fine ; surface slightly glossy ; colour, pale or 

 light-green (the hue being more beautifid and intense when a specimen is 

 freshly blown), spotted and blotched nearly over the whole siu'face with 

 roundish markings of umber and slate. Dimensions in inches of single 

 examples: (1) 1-34 x -88, (2) 1-24 x -88, (3) 1-2 x -86. (Plate 7.) 



Olixerrafions. — This fine species is a northern bird. Gilbert foimd it 

 extremely shy and retiring in its habits. It probably migrates down 

 tlurough eastern forests to different localities in Easteni Victoria, where 

 I first saw and shot the bird, in Gippsland (October, 1881). Eveiy 

 summer they may be heard in the Dandenongs, near Melbourne. 



Tlu-ough the diligence of Mr. C. C. L. Talbot, Mr. North was enabled 

 to describe the first authenticated nest and egg of this rare bird. During 

 the end of September, 1882, Mr. Talbot observed a pair of the Caterpillar 

 Catchers building their nest in an iron-bark (eucalypt), at about forty 

 feet from the groimd, on Collaroy Station, Broad Sound, 556 miles north- 

 west of Brisbane. A week afterwards, noticing the female sitting, he 

 climbed (a rather difficidt task) to the nest and found it contained a 

 perfectly fresh egg. 



For several seasons Mr. G. E. Shepherd noticed these birds in Oliver's 

 Gully, at the back of Mount Eliza, Mornington Peninsula. During a visit 

 of my son and self to Mr. Shepherd, who lives near the locality, we took 

 the opportimity of exploring the interesting gully, and were fortunate in 

 finding the nest (the second on record) 20th November, 1896. 



The nest was situated in a forked horizontal branch of a messmate 

 (eucalypt). growing near the jimction of two little gullies. The nest was 

 about thirty feet from the ground and easy to reach. However, as 

 Mr. Shepherd was climbing the tree, the hen, being startled, darted off 

 her shallow nest and most imfortunately smashed the single egg, shooting 

 it on the Umb behind her. The egg was partly incubated. Great was oiu" 

 delight at the discovery of the nest, but our spirits fell below zero, i.e., into 

 our boots, when the only egg was broken, and we were all almost silent for 

 the rest of the day. 



We observed that the male bird possessed a song or call note resembling 

 the pulsating soimd of a large Cicada singing. The alarm notes of both 

 male and female are a Parrot-like " tweet-tweet-tweet," or " wheet>wheet^ 

 wheet." 



Besides the original nest taken on the 20th November, the same pair 

 of birds built other two nests, one being built in a peppermint, the other 

 in a messmate, the single eggs of which Mr. Shepherd took 2nd and 12th 



