NESTS AND LOGS Of AU ST KALI AN BIKDS. 325 



of soft olive markings and indistinct gi'ey. Dimensions iu iuches of a 

 proper dutch : (1) -89 x -66, (2) -88 x -67, (3) '88 x -65. 



Ohservatiuns. — Tliis is probably tlie commonest Thickhead, and is 

 known in nearly eveiy part of Australia. In any patch of bush, belt 

 of melaleuivi, or open forest, its pretty song is sure to be recognised ; 

 while there is no egg collection, however small, that does not possess 

 the familiar olive-tinted specimens. I did not, however, find its nest 

 in its extreme wcsLeni habitat, but foimd it ;us far north as the Fitzroy 

 River, where I took a uest 2nd October, 1885, containing the usual com- 

 plement of three eggs. 



In recording his Southern Queensland notes compai-iug the Rufous- 

 breasted Thickhead with the Yellow-breasted species, Air. H. Lau s;iys : 

 " This bird (the Rufous-breasted) attaches itself more to open places 

 where thick, fibrous-barked trees, such as the apple tree ( Anyuphora), 

 .-vbound, in the hanging branches of which it makes its nest, out of di'y 

 grass, lined with fibres, and deposits therein three eggs. (Dahymple 

 Creek, Januaiy, 1864)." 



Breeding months, September to Januaiy. In Victoria I found the 

 principal naonths to be October and November. 



Mr. C C Brittlebaiik informs me he has taken the egg of the Pallid 

 Cuckoo (C. inilluhix) from the nest of the Rufous-bi-easted Thickhead. 



264. — Pachycephal.\ gilberti, Gould. — (126) 

 RED-THROATED THICKHEAD. 



Figure. — Gould; Birds of Australia, fol., vol. ii , pi. 71. 

 Referittce. — Cat. Birds Brit. Mus., vol. viii., p. 210 



Previous Descriptions o/£;!;^'S. — Campbell ; Souther.i Science Record (1883) ; 

 Ramsay: Proc. Linn. Soc, N.S. Wales, vol. i., 2nd. ser., pi. ig, 

 fig, 5, (1SS6I; \orth : Austn, Mus, Cat, p. 67, pi. 8, fig. 10,(1889). 



Genfjraphical Dintrihution. — New South Wales, Victoria, South and 

 West Australia. 



Nest. — Cup-shaped, deep, constructed of dried grasses, and except 

 being more compactly built is ven" similar to those of the other mem- 

 bers of the genus. Placed in the upright fork of a small shrub about foiu- 

 feet from the ground (Gilbert). A nest found in the Malice, Victoria, 

 is composed of mallee bark, fine twigs, and dead herbage ; inside Uned 

 with fine grass. Dimensions over all, 4i inches b\- 2 J inches in depth; 

 egg cavity, 2| inches across by lA inches deep. 



Eggs. — Clutch, two to three ; nearly oval in shape, in some instances 

 with the apex sharply pointed — a peculiar feature of the eggs of some 

 other members of this genus ; texture of shell fine ; sui-face glossy ; 

 colour, light yellowish-white, sparingly marked vrith spots and blotches 

 of olive and dull-grey. Dimensions in inches of a pair: (1) -9 x -68, 



(2) -sdx-ee. 



