334 



.VESTS AXD EGGS OF AVSTRALIAN BIRDS. 



Mr. A. C. Smart kindly gave me for examination a specimen of the 

 nifous-nimped bird, whicli he sliot at Bass, while Mr. G. E. Shepherd 

 assures me he has frequently watched giey-nimped birds feeding nxfous- 

 rumped young ones. By the way he has also seen the female fed on 

 the nest by her mate. 



274. — Climacteris scandens, Temminck. — (366) 

 BROWN TREE CREEPER. 



Figure. — Gould : Birds of Australia, fol., vol. iv.,pl. 93. 

 Reference.— Ca.^.. Birds Brit. Mus., vol. viii., p. 336 (C. leuciphaa) 

 Previous Descriptions of Eggs.—Go\i\A : Birds of Australia (1848) ; also 



Handbook, vol. i., p. 599 (1S65) ; North : Austn. Mus Cat , p 237. 



pi. 12, fig. 7 (1889). 



Geographical Distrihutinn. — Queensland, New South Wales, Victoria 

 and South Australia. 



Nest. — Composed of grasses, fur, &c., and placed usually deep down 

 in a hollow branch, tree or stump. 



Eggs. — Clutch, two to three, usually the latter number ; roundish in 

 form ; textui'e of shell fine ; surface slightly glossy ; colour, pinkish- 

 buff, almost entirely obscured with pinkish-red and piu'plish markings. 

 Dimensions in inches of a pair : (1) '96 x '68, (2) -93 x -68 ; of a pair 

 from Queensland with markings more blotched in character : (1) '91 x "72, 

 (2) -SSx-Tl. (Plate 13.) 



Tliese beautiful eggs for the richness of their red colouring most 

 resemble those of the Rufous Song Lark (Cinclorham phus rufescensj. 



Observations. — The Brown Tree Creeper derives its name from its 

 brownish plumage. When expanded, the wings have a broad band of 

 bufl across them. Eyes, bill, and feet are dark-brown. Length, 

 6^ inches; wing, 3^ inches; tail, 2| inches; bill ^ inch; tarsus, | inch. 

 There are some blackish-brown spots at the base of the throat on the 

 male ; these markings are more i-ufous-coloiured on the female. 



Although termed a Tree Creeper, this well-known bird spends much 

 of its time on the ground, where, with head erect, it hops quickly over 

 the surface. It is found throughout the greater part of Eastern Aus- 

 tralia in the more open forest coimtry. Tlie birds are especially 

 numerous in the box flats of the interior provinces, where their shai-p 

 piping wliistles ai-e continually heard. 



Tlie nests Gould found were entirely composed of opossum fur, 

 which, judging from its freslmess, had doubtless been plucked from the 

 living animal while reposing in the hollow trees. Tlie eggs in all the 

 nests he took were only two in number. 



When a boy, the first nest I discovered was foimd by seeing the bird 

 disappear headlong into a stump where the tree had been snapped off, 



