XliSTS AND ECGS OF AUSTRALIAN BIKDS. \2J 



Neat. — Svning like ;i short hiuiiinoLk on a vine ; composed of fnio 

 cliocolate-folourod twngs or tendrils, fastened togetiier with colj-webs or 

 woven like net-work, tlirough wiiich daylight may be seen ; ornamented 

 outwardly with in-egular-shaped pieces of silvery-grey lichen, and lined 

 inside spaiiiigly on the bottom with a few dark liair-like fibres or rootlets. 

 Dimensions over all, '1\ to 1\ inches by V\ inches in depth; egg cavity, 

 2 inches across by lA inches deep. 



Eijijs. — Clutch, two ; nearly elliptical in shape, shghlly more jioiuled at 

 one end ; texture of shell fine ; surface slightly glossy ; colour, pinkish- 

 white, spotted or freckled, more nimierously on the apex, with rufous or 

 reddish-chestnut and piu-plish-grey. Dimensions in inches of a clutch : 

 (1) -S'J X -58, ("2) -81 X -58 ; of a smaller-sized pair : (1) -76 x -56, (2) -76 x -55. 

 (Plate 9.) 



Ohxcrvatuim. — This fine Fiilled Flycatcher is a dweller in the dense 

 northern scrubs. 



Up a mountain side, on Hinchinbrook Island, we enjoyed a gi'eat 

 treat. The scrub was very dense, overgrown with vines and creepers, 

 staghorn ferns, climbing ferns (variety of Lomaria), forming basket>like 

 bunches, rai'e lycopodiums, and tree-orchids bedecking the stems of 

 beautiful and (to us) strange trees, wliilc the groimd was cai-peted with 

 maiden-hair ferns of two varieties, and other graceful plants. In one dry 

 gully was quite a garden of teirestrial orchids, botanically known as 

 Pliajus grandifoliux and Dipodiiini ensifoUum, the first^named a splendid 

 flower about two feet high, with each stalk containing a dozen or more 

 snapdragon-like flowers of light-purplish colours. Among such rich and 

 romanuc flora my companions (Messrs. A. and F. Coles and A. Gulliver) 

 and I secm-ed one pair of Pied Fantails (Kaups). Tliis occurred during 

 our Cardwell camp, 1885. However, we were much too early in the 

 season for their eggs, which were first collected by Mr. R. Hislop, in the 

 Bloomficld River district, 3rd December, 1894, and subsequently described 

 by Mr. D. Le Souef in the " Ibis." 



The nest was situated or suspended at the end of two hanging creepers 

 about thirty feet from the groimd. A similar nest was found, and was 

 likewise built on creepers, at a height of about twenty feet, but it contained 

 two voiuig. On Mr. Lc Souef receiving another and better conditioned 

 pail- of the rare eggs (taken the 10th or 12th of the same month), the type 

 specimens fell to my collection. 



During his own visit to the Bloomfield district, 1893, Mr. Le Souef 

 obsei^ed that the Pied Flycatcher is peculiarly a denizen of the thick palm 

 scrubs. Its movements are graceful, and the white frill, which appeared 

 to be erected at will, imparts a singular appearance to the bird, and serves 

 at once to an-est the eye of the obsen'er. The birds, which were 

 somewhat scarce, wore generally seen either in the morning or towards 

 evening. Mr. Le Souef brought a skin with him to ]\Ielbounie, which differed 

 in the nature of its pied phunage from the specimen prociu-cd at Hincliin- 

 brook Island, and also from Gould's figure, which does not show the 

 characteristic nuchal frill, so that I proposed, as the new scientific name 

 for it, ierrcB regince. However, this \vill have to sink as a synonym inider 

 the original lean pi. 



