iVESTS AND EGGS OF AUSTRALIAN BiKDS. 



^ii 



Nest. — Cup-shaped, deep, extremely beautiful, constructed outwardly 

 ontii-ely of green hair-like mosses of two varieties ; lined inside with dark- 

 brown wire-like rootlets, and usually securely built into a three-pronged 

 upright fork, about six or eight feet from the gi-ound, in thick scrub. 

 Dimensions over all, 3 inches by 4 to 5 inches in depth ; egg cavity, 

 2 inches across by 2 inches deep. 



Egijs. — Clutch, two to three; inclined to be pyrifonu, or oval 

 in shajjc ; textm-e of shell fine ; surface glossy ; colour, wann- 

 white, freckled, especially round the upper quarter, with pinkish-red 

 and purple. Dimensions of a proper clutch : (1) -99 x -68, (2) -94 x -67, 

 (3) -94 X -66 ; of a smaller-sized pair : (1) 93 x 64, (2) -93 x -64. 



Observations. — The Carinatcd, or as we may call it, the Black-faced 

 Flycatcher, is readily identified by its intensely black face, which matches 

 a grey coat, chestnut-coloured chest, and white abdomen. The length of 

 the bii-d is about that of the Shining Flycatcher. 



Tills exceedingly fine Flycatcher is niigi-atory, its habitat extending 

 from Northern Australia down the eastern coastal region to Victoria, 

 where the birds have been shot in Gippsland, while a specimen has been 

 noticed as far west as the Upper Werribee district. 



The Black-faced Flycatcher, of course, winters in its most northerly 

 habitat, moving southward in August and September, i-eturning about 

 March or April. 



Dr. Ramsay writes: — "I have never myself had the pleasttte of 

 finding the nest of tliis beautiful species, but perhaps the fact that very 

 few breed about Sydney may be sufficient for this seeming neglect. For 

 the nest and eggs which at present grace my collection I am indebted to 

 Ml'. George Masters, who procured them during a visit to Kiama, in 

 January, 1864. The only instance I know of tills bird's breeding in the 

 vicinity of Sydney was in December, 1860, when I observed a pair accom- 

 panied by two young ones scAi'cely able to fly." 



Mr. Lau says of the Black-faced Flycatcher, or " Mask Bird," that it is 

 " a good-looking bird, belonging to the jimgle scrub, and not unlike 

 Pachycephalus rufiventris, at fir-st appearance, the fore part of the head 

 being black, hence the name. The handsome shape of the nest and place 

 is very conspicuous, about six feet from the ground. The green mossy 

 cup is held by three branching stems, just like that of the Reed Wai'bler 

 upon reed stems, and is also about the same size. The interior is adorned 

 by black fibres gathered from fem-trees, and wherein are placed three 

 eggs, rather glossy-white, with fine pink spots. — Cunningham Gap, 

 Toowoomba Range (Q), October, 1876." 



Mr. Kendall Broadbent has also met with this Flycatcher breeding on 

 the Darling Downs, at Gowrie Creek ; while of late, several of their 

 lovely moss-made nests and finely-speckled eggs have been collected m 

 the Richmond and Clarence districts of New South Wales, where, according 

 to Mr. S. W. Jackson's observations, these pretty birds are frequently 

 seen in the open forest country near a dense scrub ; but they seem to 

 prefer the scrubs, because he has never found their nests elsewhere. 

 The birds geneiully build in the top fork of some small sapling, at an 

 altitude vai-ying from five to tlili-ty feet. 



