1^8 NESTS AND EGGS OF AUSTRALIAN BIRDS. 



On King and Flinders Islands, the islanders brought similar nests and 

 eggs into our camp. In the fonner locality the nest was taken from a 

 stump. In the other instance the nest was placed about five feet high 

 in a tliick bush. Both dates were towards the end of November. 



Gould remarks that the size and form of the nest depend upon the nature 

 of the situation chosen for a site ; if a ledge or fissure of rock, it is much 

 spread out, but with the inside and top very neatly finished. 



A remarkable trait in the character of the Dusky Robin is that not 

 unfrequently it returns to the site of an old nest, rebuilding a fresh one 

 thereon. Mr. E. D. Atkinson thoughtfully presented me with one of 

 these double nests. He tells me he has found as many as five piled one 

 upon the other, and on another occasion six. 



After the manner of some other birds, the Dusky Robin has been 

 observed to feign lameness, or a broken wing, in order to chvert attention 

 when its young are approached or interfered with. 



The egg of the Pallid Cvickoo has been found in the nest of this 

 Robin. 



Breeding months from August to December. 



120. — Amaueodryas gulakis, Quoy and Gaimard. — (177) 

 Eopsaltria hticogaster, Gould. 



WHITE-BREASTED ROBIN. 



Figure. — Gould : Birds of Australia, fol., vol. iii.. pi 13. 

 Reference. — Cat. Birds Brit. Mus., vol. viii., p 181 



Previous Description of Eggs. — Campbell; Proc. Roy. Soc, Vict., vol. iii., 

 P-3.pl- I. fig- I (1890). 



Geographical Distribution. — West Australia. 



Nest. — Cup shaped ; composed of strips of bark, fine twigs and leaves ; 

 in some instances decorated outwardly with dead, bleached pieces of 

 bracken fronds; lined inside with fine rootlets and grass. Usually placed 

 low in the upright forked branches of a small tree (such as a Casuarina), 

 in the fork of a grass-tree (XanthorrhceaJ, or in a thick bush in forest. 

 Dimensions over all, 3^ to 4 inches by 2i inches in depth ; egg cavity, 

 2 inches across by IJ inches deep. 



■ Eggs. — Clutch, two usually ; inclined to oval in f omi ; texture of shell 

 fine ; surface glossy ; colour, olive or bronze-gi-een, of a darker shade on 

 or around the apex. Most resemble those of the Dusky or Hooded 

 Robins. Dimensions in inches of a clutch: (1) '83 x -6, (2) -81 x '61 ; 

 of another pair : (1) -86 x -61, (2) -83 x -59. (Plate 12.) 



Observations. — The White-breasted Robin has a habitat peculiar to 

 Western Australia, and may be easily identified by its dark, gi-eyish coat, 

 all the under surface being white. Both sexes are ahke in colour. To 

 discover its nest and eggs was one of the tasks I set myself before 



