NESTS A.VD EGGS Ob AVSTRAUAN BIRDS. ,6g 



139. — Malurus gouldi, Sharpe. — (186) 



LONG-TAILED BLUE WREN. 



Figure. — Gould : Birds of Australia, fol., vol. iii , pi. 19. 



Reference. — Cat. Birds Brit. Mus.. vol. iv., p. 287. 



Previous Descriptions of Eggs. — Gould: Birds of Australia (1S4S), also 



Handbook, vol. i., p. 321 {1S65) ; North: Austn. Mus. Cat , p. 113 



11889). 



Geoyraphiral DUtr Unit ion. — Tasmania, and Furncaux Islands. 



Nest. — Very similar to that of the Blue Wren (M. ryaneusj; composed 

 of fine soft grasses, sometimes mixed with wool and mosses ; lined with 

 fur and feathers, and usually placed in a low bush, in grass, or in rushes. 



Efft/s. — Clutch, three to four ; inclined to oval in form ; texture of 

 shell very fine ; surface glossy ; colour, white, with a jiiukish tinge, 

 modcrnteh' blotched or spotted with reddish-brown or rufous, the markings 

 being thickest about the upper quarter. Dimensions in inches of a proper 

 clutch: (1) •72X-52, (2) -72 x -51, (3) •72x-51. 



Observations. — This fine Wren may be considered an insular form of 

 the ordinaiy Blue species ; its habitat being Tasmania, and the Furneaux 

 Group, in Bass Strait. The Long-tailed species is reported to have been 

 taken in Victoria and South Australia, but I doubt it. The Long-tailed 

 Blue Wren may be distinguished from the common Blue bird by its 

 sUghtly larger size and darker shade of blue. 



I took a nest of this species at Ridgcside, Ta,smania, October, 1883. 

 Again I renewed acquaintance with the species on Flinders Island, where 

 I bagged examples, for museum purposes, flJ^ng in the short thick scrub 

 between the boulders of granite near the sea shore. 



Breeding months from September to January or February. 



140. — M.vLURus ELIZABETHS, Campbell. (See Appendix.) 

 DARK-BLUE WREN. 



141. — Malurus melanotus, Gould. — (187) 

 BLACK-BACKED WREN. 



Figure.— Gould Birds of Australia, fol., vol. iii., pi. 20. 



Reference. — Cat. Birds Brit. Mus.. vol. iv., p. 288 



Previous Descriptions of Eggs.— RsLmsay : Proc, Linn. Soc, N.S. Wales, 

 vol. i , 2nd ser., p. 1145 fi886) ; North: Austn. Mus. Cat., pi .13, 

 fig. 19 (1SS9), also Rep. Horn Scientific Exp. p, 77 (1896)- 



Geograjjhical Dutribufion. — Interiors of Queensland, New South 

 Wales, Victoria, and South Australia. 



