326 



NESTS AND EGGS OE AUSTRALIAN BIRDS. 



Ohxervations. — Formerly the Gilbei-t or Red-throated Tlricklicad 

 was deemed to be of South aud West Austrahan habitat, but the 

 distribution of the species was discovered to extend fiu'ther eastward 

 to the Wimmera district, Victoria, where I shot specimens of the bird 

 in 1882, and was presented with specimens of the eggs collected there; 

 while subsequently, according to Mr. North, the late Mr. K. H. Bennett 

 found tliis bird breeding at Ivanhoe, New South Wales. 



Mr. Bennett discovered a pair of Red-throated Thickheads building 

 their homo iu an extraordinary place — the deserted nest of the Black- 

 throated Butcher Bird (C'racficux iiiyriyularu). 



Gould writes : — " Although the practice of naming species after indi- 

 viduals is a means by which the names of men eminent for then- 

 scientific attainments may be perpetuated to after ages, I have ever 

 questioned its propriety, and have rarely resorted to it; but in assigning 

 the name of gilberti to this intercstmg hvcA I feel that I only paid a just 

 comphment to one who most assiduously assisted me in the laborious 

 investigations required for the production of the ' Birds of Australia,' 

 and who was the discoverer of the species." 



Gilbert states this bird is an early breeder. He found three newly- 

 hatched yoimg in the middle of August. Therefore the breeding season 

 may be said to extend from that month to the end of the year. 



265. — Pachycephala olivacea, Vigors and Horsficld. — (122) 



OLIVE THICKHEAD. 



Figure.— Go\i\& : Birds of Australia, fol., vol. ii., pi. 73. 



Reference — C3.i. Birds Brit. Mus., vol. viii., p. 212. 



Previous Descriptions of Eggs. — Ratasay : Proc. Linn. See, N.S. Wales, 



vol. vii., p. 47 (1S82) ; Campbell: Southern Science Record (1SS2) ; 



also Nests and Eg^s Austn. Birds, pi. i., fig. 122 (1883); North: 



Austn. Mus. Cat., p. 68, pi. 8, fig. 11 (i88g). 



Geographica! Distrihution. — ^New South Wales, Victoria, South 

 Australia, Tasmania, aud islands in Bass Strait. 



Nest. — Cup-shaped, comparatively bulky, constructed of strips of 

 bark cliiefly and a few twigs; Uned inside with grass and leaves some- 

 times added, and usually placed in the forked branches of small trees — 

 musk, melalcuca, &c., in thick scrub. Dimensions over all, 4 to 5 

 inches ; egg cavity, 3 inches across by 1| inches deep. 



lUrigs. — Clutch, two to three, rarely foiu' ; oval in shape with both 

 ends much pointed, the fornn being characteristic of that of P. glauntra 

 in having the peculiar graceful ciu-ve from the shoulder to the apex, 

 which is a« sliarp or nearly so as the bottom end ; texture of shell fine ; 

 surface sUghtly glossy ; colour, Ught yellowish- white, sparingly spotted 

 and blotched with umber and dull-grey, the markings being more 



