312 NESTS AND EGGS OF AUSTRALIAN BIRDS. 



Eggs. — Clutch, two to three ; varies in shape from roundish-oval to 

 longish oval ; texture of shell fine ; surface slightly glossy ; colour varies 

 from light greyish-groeu to bright, bluish-green, spotted and blotched, 

 especially about the apex, vrith reddish-brown or chestnut and dull 

 purplish-grey. Dimensions in inches of a chxtch of round examples : 

 (1) -SSx-eS, (2) •82x-65, (3) •82x-62; of a pair of long examples: 

 (1) -94 X -62, (2) -91 X -63. (Plate 12.) 



A pair taken in Queensland is smaller in size, hght apple-green 

 iu colour, somewhat faintly spotted all over with yellowish-brown and 

 dull purphsh-brown : (1) -78 x -59, (2) •74x-61. 



Observations. — Of all our feathered forest friends I know of none 

 more attractive than the confiding and shapely Yellow-breasted Shrike 

 Robin (it has become advisable to use the words Shrike Robin because 

 these birds ai'e not truly Robins*). Enter any quiet sylvan nook or 

 deep gully for a while, and there one of these dear bii-ds will sui'ely 

 detect your presence, and, alighting in a pretty attitude on a twig or 

 chnging sideways to the bark of some tree-stem near, will watch your 

 movements. Their lovely nests, too, as forest ornaments, are ex- 

 tremely beautiful. 



In the calm autumn evenings, when darkness is coming down upon 

 the forest, it is pleasant to hear the numerous Yellow Shrike Robins in 

 the timber with chirping hisses, unsettled, or rather settling down for 

 the night. 



However, the range of habitat and the varieties of the Yellow Shrike 

 Robin of eastern parts are somewhat perplexing to naturalists. The 

 British Museum Catalogue simply bmiches them together, but not with- 

 out certain qualifications in the shape of carefvdly selected foot-notes. 



Tliis interesting Shrike Robin is at home in nearly all parts of 

 Victoria. Extending its habitat nortliward, it appears to skip the sub- 

 tropical scrubs of the Richmond and Clarence districts, where its place 

 is taken by E. chnjsnrrhous (E. mngnirostris, Ramsaj') reappeaiing in 

 the drier parts of Queensland, notably about the Fitzroy River, where 

 I procured skins in the Brigalow (acacia) scrub. 



In Victoria, although the Yellow Shrike Robin especially enjovs 

 the dark dank recesses of the gi'eat forest gullies, it may be observed 

 in more open localities, such as in the belts of coastal tea-tree (Leptos- 

 permum) near the sea. I have taken its nest in the diy scrub of the 

 Bendigo district, and once saw a pair of these birds in some acacia 

 brush on the lower Murray near Echuca. 



Naturally some of the Yellow Shrike Robins exhibit great anxiety 

 when a person approaches a nest with young. They go hopping 

 about with measured pace over the gi'ound, at each hop flattening their 

 bodies, wlule their pretty yellow breasts cleave to the eai-th. At 

 intervals the wings arc partially extended, and all through the acting 

 is the embodiment of i)ainful despair. 



Mr. Hennann Lau's poetical allusions to the Yellow Shrike Robin 

 are, " It is early morning, just as the dawn is approaching. Lying half 



' The genus Eopsaltria is intermediate between the Pachycifhalina and the 

 Muicicapina. 



