146 



iVESTS AXD EGGS OF AUSTRALIAN BIRDS. 



wliich are already as strong as in the aged birds. Tlie nest was first 

 observed on the 17th September, 1896, and in construction and material 

 did not appear to differ from the usual one of the species. The first egg 

 was deposited between the 22nd and 23rd of September, and a second 

 between the 2.3rd and 24th of the same month, when the female bird 

 immediately began to sit. These two eggs, typical in evei^y respect, 

 constituted the clutch, and they hatched out on the 10th October. Thus 

 sixteen to seventeen days were occupied in incubation. The female on 

 each visit was foimd to be sitting, and on no occasion diuing the frequent 

 journeys to the nest was the male observed upon the eggs. Thus we are 

 led to beUeve that the female bird takes upon herself the task of sitting 

 throughout the period. The female, natm-ally a shy bird, did not show 

 any inclination to leave the eggs when approached, and only when within 

 a foot of her nest would she temporarily leave. The young birds were 

 able to fly in about fourteen days from the time of hatching, but the exact 

 day was not observed." 



In every instance the female of the Hooded Robin does not solely 

 undertake the task of incubation, proved by the fact that my son Archie 

 observed a male bird leave a nest containing two fresh eggs, near 

 Springvale, Victoria, 23rd November, 1895. 



Breeding months July to December. Both in Queensland and Victoria 

 nests with eggs of this species have been foiuid as early as the 

 fii-st-mentioned mouth (July). 



118. — Melanodryas bicolor (sub-species) picata, Gould. — (169) 

 PIED ROBIN. 



Reference. — Cat. Birds Brit. Mus., vol. iv , p. 174. 



Previous Description of Eggs. — North: Proc. Linn. See, N S. Wales, 

 vol. ii., 2nd ser., p. 554 (18S7). 



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

 and Interior. 



Nest. — Small, shallow structure ; composed of strips of bark, gra.=;ses, 

 roots, (fee, held together on the outside with cob-webs, and placed on a 

 dead branch of a tree witliin a few feet of the ground (North.) 



Eggs. — Clutch, two, and probably three. One specimen (1) is dark 

 asparagus-gi'een, faintly tinged with brown on the larger end; the other (2), 

 with the exception of the smaller end, which shows the asparagus-green 

 ground-coloiu', is shaded all over with rich browni, more particularly 

 towards the larger end, which is entirely capped with a darker tint of the 

 same coloiu-. Dimensions in inches : (1) -8 x "59, (2) -78 x -6 (North). 



Observations. — For want of specimens of my own I am glad to adopt 

 Mr. A. J. North's description of the nest and eggs of th; Pied Robin, 

 wliich, it will be observed, resemble those of its compeer, the Hooded 

 Robin. 



