iVESrS AND EGGS OF AUSTRALIAN BIRDS. 151 



Next. — Cup-sliapcd, neat, lesciiibling tiioso of the Enpxnltria', but 

 smaller and not so hcavaly built; constnictcd of moss, sometimes out- 

 wardly decorat^:d with pieces of lichens; lined inside chiefly with portions 

 of dead lawyer-palm (Cahimus) leaves and a few wire-like rootlets. 

 Usually placed low on a cane of a lawyer-palm, or in the fork of a slender 

 tree, no;ir a stream in dense scnib. Dimensions over aU, 2-^ inches by 

 2i inches in depth; egg cavity, 2 inches across by lA inches deep. 



E<j(jK. — Clutch, two; neai'ly elliptical in fomi; texture of shell fine; 

 surface glossy ; colour, dehcate greenish-white, spotted and marked with 

 somewhat large blotches, especially round the apex, of rusty or reddish- 

 brown and pm-pUsh-brown. Dimensions in inches of a proper clutch : 

 (1) -Sx-e, (2) ■79.x -6; of another pair: (1) -79 x -61, (2) -79 x -59. 



Ubservutiuns. — The Lai-ge-lieadcd Robin is an unobtrusive species 

 and a dweller of the inmost recesses of the dense scnibs of the 

 coastal region from the Clarence and Richmond Rivers to Rockingham 

 Bay, North Queensland. 



Its discovery was due to the late Mr. F. Strange, who sent Gould 

 several specimens. Gould placed it with the Eopsaltrice, but in the 

 British Museum Catalogue Dr. Shai-pe has relegated it to the genus 

 Pcecilodryas. 



In 1888, Mr. A. J. North described, from Mr. R. D. Fitzgerald's 

 collection, a nest and eggs of the Large-headed Robin taken near 

 Balhna, at the mouth of the Richmond River. 



In November, 1891, in the " Big Scrub " of the same wonderful 

 district for bird life, I was fortunate in finding two nests. They were 

 built on lawyer-canes, near Pearce's Creek, and each contained a pair of 

 fx'esh eggs. The first nest was discovered on the 7th of the month. 

 A photogiaph I took at the time shows the pretty structiure resting upon 

 the leaf at tlie junction of an upright cane. 



124. — Pcecilodryas nana, Ramsay. 

 LESSER LAKGEHEADED ROBIN. 



Reference. — Cat. Birds Brit. Mus., vol. iv., p. 246. 



Previous Description of Eggs. — Ramsay :' Proc. Linn. Soc, N.S. Wales, 

 vol ii., p. 374 (1877). 



Gengraphical Distribution. — North Queensland. 



Nest. — Very similar in shape and size to that of the Large-headed 

 Robin (P. capi/oj ; constructed of fibrous material, decorated outwardly 

 with green moss and shields of lichen ; lined inside with wliitish fibre and 

 portions of dead, flat, lavirj-er-palm (Calamus) leaves. Usually placed low 

 on the cane of a lawyer-palm, fork of a vine, &c., in scrub. Dimensions 

 over all, 2i inches by 3 inches in depth; egg cavity, 2 inches across by 

 IJ inches deep. 



