.VESTS A.VP EGGS OF AUSTRALIAN BIRDS. 335 



near the bed of a river. Disturbing the birds and looking in I could 

 perceive far down in the dim light the beautiful red -mottled eggs. 



Mr. A. E. Bradly foimd three eggs August 12tli, 1896, also young 

 birds a few davs later in the Ararat district, Victoria. In Queensland 

 Mr. W. B. Barnard has foimd these eggs as early as July. 



BreeiUng months July to January. 



275. — Climacteris erythrops, Gould. — (368) 

 RED BROWED TREE CREEPER. 



Figure. — Gould ; Dirds of .\iistrali.n. fol.. vol. iv.. pi. 95. 



Reference. — Cat. Birds Brit. Mus., vol. viii., p. 338. 



Previous Descriptions of E';gs. — Ramsay: Proc. Linn. Soc, N.S. Wales, 



vol. i., 2nd ser , p . 149 (1886) ; North : Austn. Mus. Cat , pi. g, 



fig. II (18S9). 



Geographical Dintribution. — South Queensland, New South Wales, 

 (ind Victoria. 



ye-4. — Composed of dry gra.sses, warmly lined with feathei-s, and 

 usually situated low down in a hollow tree. 



Ege/s. — Clutch, two to foiu- ; inclined to oval in fonn, or more taper- 

 ing at one end ; texture of shell fine ; surface glossy ; coloiu", 

 pinkish-white, decidedly marked with reddish or rufous-brown, also with 

 dull purplish markings. Not unlike a type of those of the Yellow-faced 

 Honeyeater (Ftilotis chrysopit), only proportionally larger. Dimensions 

 in inches of a pair : (1) 1-0 x -68, (2) -98 x -67 ; of an odd example : 

 •88x-72. 



Observation!^. — It would be interesting to know if the Red-browed 

 Tree Creeper really ranges across the Continent. Mr. Keartland 

 reports that two birds were shot near Cue, West Australia, but unfor- 

 tunately thev were amongst the treasures abandoned in the desert. 

 Otherwise the bird has a hmited range from South Queensland to 

 Victoria. 



Gould first obtained this interesting species while camped on the 

 low gr;issy hills under the Liverpool Range. He pointed out a singular 

 feature in connection with the .species, namely, the circumstance of the 

 female alone being adorned with the beautiful radiated rufous markings 

 on the throat, the male having this part quite plain — a reversion of the 

 general law of nature — but a fact he ascertained beyond doubt by 

 dissection of numerous specimens of both sexes. 



Although not the first egg taken of the Red-browed Tree Creeper, 

 the late Mr. K. H. Bennett foimd a pair at Ivanhoe, New South Wales, 

 November, 1885 or 1886. in reference to which Dr. Ramsay says: — 

 " I am indebted to Mr. K. H. Bennett, of Mossgeil, for a fine set of 

 the eggs of tliis species, the first I have seen ; they closely resemble 



