AfESTS AND nC.GS OF AUSTRALIAN BIRDS. 255 



Ne^t. — Open or cup-shaped ; somcwliat loosely constnicted of strips 

 of li.ird grey outer bark, (load leaves, and somclimcs grass ; lined inside 

 with liner materials — bark, grass, kc. \ placed on I he giound in a depres- 

 sion or hollow, sheltorod by a stump, fallen branch, stono or tussock, 

 in forest country. Dimensions over all, 4 to 5 inches by 3 inches in 

 depth ; egg cavity, 3 inches across by I'f inches deep. 



E(i(ix. — Clutch, two usually, thi'oe occasionally; oval or lenglhened 

 in form ; texture somewiiat line ; surface glossy ; coloiU", duU-wliito, 

 spotted and blotched with oUvc or umber and light or duU-gi-ey. 

 the markings being usiially thickest at the larger end. Dimensions in 

 inches of a lengthened pair: (1) 1-48 x -95, (2) l-44x-93;of an oval 

 pair: (1) 1-29 X -93, (2) 1-27 x -92. (Plate 10.) 



Ohxervntionx. — As the name Ground Thrush or rather Ground Bird 

 implies, the species is entirely of terrestrial habits, riinning over the 

 ground quickly, and rising when forced to lly, with the whirr of a quail 

 or pigeon. However, I have seen it perched on tliick limbs of trees 

 above forty feet from the ground. The Ground Bird has a peculiar 

 whining or whistling note. 



It inhabits the forest country, heavy and open alike, from South 

 Queensland to South Australia and incluchng Tasmania. 



One nest I saw in the open, of which T give an illustration, was 

 placed at the base of a tall sapling, where it was artfully concealed by 

 dead twiggy branches. Dr. C. Ryan and I were spending a pleasant 

 afternoon (31st October, 1896,) in the scrub at Mitcham, when we 

 flushed the bird from her pair of pretty eggs. Another nest which 

 I found the same month, two seasons afterwards, was on a rise between 

 the bases of saplings. Tlie nest was in a deep depression, and semi- 

 hooded by a short tuft of glass being bent over it. The bird did 

 not flush, but quietly rose and ran away like a Quail. 



Mr. Hennaun Lau tells a pleasant httle incident in connection 

 with the Spotted Ground Bird. He says : — " On my way from Tenter- 

 field (New South Wales) to Warwick (Queensland), in the month of 

 December, 1863, my dog (a pointer) flushed such a bird from, I believe, a 

 resting log, and when examining the spot, I found its nest on the gi'ound 

 close to the log, containing two beautiful eggs in an advanced state 

 of incubation. The nest was loosely framed of dry grass." 



Mr. A. E. Brent once found in Tasmania a nest of this Ground 

 Bird on the bare sand in an open cave. He was good enough to send 

 me a remarkable clutch of five eggs, two of wliich were nearly wliite, 

 with a few obsolete markings about the top. He either Idlled or 

 captured the bird on the nest at Austin's Ferry, 15th September, 

 1883. He further states he has several times taken a nest contain- 

 ing four eggs. I have never previously heard of four eggs to a clutch 

 of this species in any locality. 



The season commences with the early breeders in August or Sep- 

 tember, finishing with the late ones in December or January. 

 Between these extreme dates probably two broods are reared. 



