122 A'ESTS AND EGGS OF AUSTRALIAN BIRDS. 



" The form of the nest appears to depend upon the nature of the site 

 upon wliich it is built : if placed on a level pai-t of a branch, the nest is 

 large and high ; if in a fork, then it is a more shallow structure ; in each 

 case the opening is as perfect a circle as the nature of the materials wiU 

 admit." 



I fear the great naturalist lia« fallen into error or transposed some of 

 his examples (probably a Robin's nest) when referring to the " dense 

 lining " of fur. The nests I have seen are simply hned \\-ith soft bark, 

 grass or rootlets, and in this respect resemble the nests of the other 

 members of the genvis. 



A beautiful nest and eggs of the Satin Flycatcher that grace my 

 collection were a gift (a Christmas one, by the way) from Mr. G. K. Hinsby, 

 who enjoyed considerable nesting experiences among these Flycatchers in 

 Tasmania. Tliis nest was taken from a dead limb, at the height of about 

 si.Kty feet from the ground in a eucalypt tree, Mr. Hinsby adding, in 

 parenthesis, "a straight shin for thirty feet." 



On one occasion he found no less than nine ne.sts in an area of about 

 half-a-mile at the junction of two creeks, above wliat is locally known as 

 O'Brien's Bridge. On the morning of 16th December, 1885, Mr. Hinsby 

 took fifteen eggs, all fresh. Although a full complement of eggs is three, 

 only two arc sometimes laid. He remembered a season in which all the nests 

 he found of this Flycatcher contained pairs only. 



The chief breeding months are October, November, and December, 

 to which may be added January. 



98- — Myi.\gra latirostris, Gould. — (147) 

 BROAD-BILLED FLYCATCHER. 



Figure. — Gould : Birds of Australia, fol . vol. ii., pi. 92 

 Reference. — Cat Birds Brit. Mus., vol. iv., p. 381. 

 Previous Description of Eggs.— Le Souef : Ibis, p. 53 (1898). 



Geographical Distribution. — North-west Australia, Northern Territory, 

 and North Queensland ; also New Guinea and Ani Islands. 



Nest. — Cup-shaped, somewhat shallow compared with those of the rest 

 of the genus ; constructed of fine portions and tendrils of plants, with 

 decayed wood on the base ; lined inside with ciurly tendrils, and attached 

 by means of a small quantity of spiders' web to the fork of a branch. 

 Dimensions over all, 2 J to 2| inches by 2 inches in depth; egg cavity, 

 If inches across by f inch deep. 



Eggs. — Clutch, two, and possibly three ; roundish oval in shape ; 

 texture of shell fine ; surface glossy ; colour, dull-white, spotted and 

 blotched with umber and dull-slate, cluefly in the fonn of a belt roimd the 

 upper quarter, leaving the apex " bald, ' as is usual in the Mijiagra type 

 of eggs. Dimensions in inches of the type clutch: (1) -76 x -57, 

 (2) -75 X -56. 



