XESTS AND EGGS OF AUSTRALIAN BIRDS. 



447 



CapL\ vvliciv, he remarks, " It is a difficult bird ' to spot ' in the white 

 giun-trccs. " 



Dr. Ramsay states: — "From letters received from Mr. William E. 

 Armit, I learn that this species is b)- no means rare on tlic Norman 

 River (Queensland), and is also found rather plentiful on the Etheridgc 

 River. It comes as far south as Georgetown, where Mr. Armit 

 obtained nests and eggs. Like P. piincluiiiK, P. meliinoceplinlus, and 

 P. urapygialk. this species digs holes or tunnels in the banks of 

 creeks, &c., making a long naiTow tunnel from two to throe feet in 

 length, at the end of which it excavates a chamber large enough to 

 contain the nest, which is about foiu- inches in diameter. Tliis round 

 chamber is lined on all sides, both above and below, with fine gi-a.sses, 

 except a small hole for exit opposite the tunnel." 



Tlie specimens of eggs described by mc were taken by the Messrs. 

 Barnard, Coomooboolaroo, Queensland, the parent or parents being 

 identified by .skins forwarded to the Australian Museum, Sydney. 



Mr. K. Broadbent, in his account of " The Birds of Charlevillo,"* 

 states, the Red-browed Pardalote is essentially a bird of the interior. 

 He first noticed it on the 19th September, after wliicli dat« it was 

 tolerably abundant. It breeds in the district, utilizing for this purpose 

 tlie burrows of the Billbie ( Hypsiprymnu^ grayii ), and always 

 excavates tlic hole for its nest in some perpendicular portion of them. 

 Duiing the day the Red-browed Pardalote frequents the tops of the 

 loftiest eucalypts, in company with the Black-headed Pardalote, where 

 tlie former may be recognised by its characteristic call, resembling that 

 of the Pale-headed Parrakeet (P. pallidiceps) — a low sort of whistle, 

 made when stationary in its havmts. 



Eggs have been taken during June, July, and August. 



374. — Pard.^lotus melanoceph.^lus, Gould. — (86) 

 BLACK-HEADED PARDALOTE. 



Fig!ir,\ — Gould ; Birds of Australia, fol., vol. ii., pi. 40. 



Reference. — Cat. Birds Brit. Mus., vol. x., p. 60. 



Previous Descriflions of Eggs. — Ramsay : Proc. Zool. Soc, p. 584 



(1875) ; Diggles : Companion Gould's Handbook (1877) ; 



Campbell: Southern Science Record (1883); North: Austn. 



Mus. Cat., p. 52 (1889); Campbell: Geelong Naturalist, vol. 



iv., p. 60 (1895). 



Gengrnphirnl Diafrihution. — Queensland and New South Wales. 



N'esl. — Similar to that of P. punctntus. Constructed of bark and 

 grasses, and placed in a cavity at the end of a tunnel, usually excavated 

 in a bank of a creek or watorholo or side of well, 



* Proc Roy Soc , Qd . vol iii (1885) 



