302 



NESTS AND EGGS OF AUSTRALIAN BIRDS. 



Mentioning Queensland, and wTiting from Darling Downs, Mr. 

 Hermann Lau says of the Black-throated Butolier Bird : " It has a beau- 

 tiful song, sounding like a claiion, especially on spring or autiunn 

 mornings. Sometimes the site of its family home is low, at other 

 times high in situation, and either placed on the border of a prickly pine 

 (bunya-bunya) scrub or in a eucalypt in the forest. When the hopeful 

 young begin to fill out their cradle, the observer usually finds under- 

 neath upon the ground the remains of little birds' heads, wings and legs 

 of Parrakeets, on which the cruel parents feed their children. At Tum- 

 maville, in August, 1884, I had the great satisfaction to hunt and 

 secure a magnificent albino of this species, although many were coveting 

 the prize. As is the case with the common Butcher Bird (C. (hxtructor), 

 two broods, if not three, are reared a season." 



Mr. Hari-y Baiiiard informs me he has occasionally taken five eggs 

 from the nest of the Black-throated Butcher Bird. It is a pity that 

 such a beautiful creature should feed on small birds, and have been seen 

 endeavovuing to capture poor little " Tom " Tits. But such is a law 

 of nature — one species preying upon another. 



Breeding season usiially commences in September, ending with the 

 year. 



243. — Cracticus nigrigul.\ris (sub-species) picatus, Gould. — (96) 

 PIED BUTCHER BIRD. 



Figure. — Gould : Birds of Australia, fol , vol ii , pi. 50 

 Reference —Cat. Birds Brit. Mus., vol. viii , p 96 



Previous Descriftivns 0/ Eggs. — Le Souef: Victorian Naturalist (1897) ; also 

 vol. xvi., p. 67 (1S99.) 



Gciigraphirnl Dixtrihution. — North-west Australia and Northern 

 Territory. 



X'e.'ft. — Open, composed of sticks, lined with small twigs and rootlets, 

 and generally placed high in a large tree. Dimensions over all, 6 inches 

 by 4 inches in depth ; egg cavity, 3i inches across by 2 inches deep 

 (Le Soucf). 



Edijx. — Clutch, three usually ; inclined to pear-shape or pyriform ; 

 texture of shell comparatively fine ; surface glossy ; colour, light or pal'^ 

 olive-brown, blotched especially about the apex with umber and di;!l 

 brown, with sometimes here and there an ink-like dot. Dimensions in 

 inches of a proper clutch: (1) M9 >■ -89, (2) M8 x -88, (3) M6 x -86. 

 Similar to C. niyrif/uhiris. but smaller. 



Ohservatinns>. — When describing the nest and eggs before the Field 

 Naturalists' Club of Victoria, Mr. D. Le Souef remarked : — " I noticed 

 this bird on several occasions when at King's Plains, about 30 miles from 

 Cooktown, North Queensland. They are very similar in appearance to 

 C. nii/rii/tihiris, but are smaller and have a totally different note, and it 

 is possible the two varieties may be found in the same country, although 



