iVESTS AND ECGS OF AUSTKAUAN BIRDS. 



449 



Again T have to quote Dr. Rainsay, wlio states: — "This species 

 is an inhabitant of the Gulf of Carpcntaiia district. I have received 

 it in collections from the Norman River, and also received the head, 

 wings and t,ai], accompanied witli eggs, from Mr. William E. Arniit, 

 taken on the Eitheridge River, where tliis gentleman found it breeding 

 in tunnels dug in the banks of creeks and watercourses, in company 

 with P. rnhricatus. I can see no difference in the eggs of this and 

 those of P. riihriratuK* The remarks on P. riihriratiix are equally 

 applicable to this species also. Mr. Armit assures me that they breed 

 and nest in the same way, and often accompany each other in small 

 troops, searching for insects among the leafy tops of trees. Both 

 species seem to be confined to the inland distiicts.' 



376. — Pardalotus quadragintus, Gould. — (83) 

 FORTY-SPOTTED PARDALOTE. 



^igurc. — Gould ; Birds of Australia, fol., vol. ii., pi. 37. 



Reference. — Cat. Birds Brit. Mus., vol. x., p. 62. 



Preiious Descriptions of Eggs. — Gould : Birds of Australia (1848) ; 



also Handbook, vol. i., p. 160 {1865) ; North : Austn. Mus. 



Cat., p. 54 (1S89) ; Campbell : Geelonp; Naturalist, vol. iv., 



P- 57 (i805)- 



Geagraphicnl DiMrihution. — Tasmania and King Lsland. 



Ne^t. — Constructed of soft grasses, bark, &c., and built into a hole 

 or hollow of a lofty green tree. 



Eggs. — Clutch, four, roundish or oval in shape ; textm-e of shell fine ; 

 colour, pure white, %vith ?lightlv glossv sui-face. Dimensions in inches : 

 (1) ■66x-52, (2) -ePv-Sl; "of a "set: 0) -64 x -51, (2) -62 x -5?., 

 (3) -58 X -53. 



Ohservatiniix. — This aesthetic-coloured, and the least of Pardalotes, 

 is peculiar to Tasmania and sonic of the islands in Bass Strait, notably 

 King Island, whci-e we obtained specimens diiring the Field Naturalists' 

 Expedition, November, 1887. The bird is exceedingly difficult to 

 discover high up in the trees, where its sombre-green coat and light- 

 greyi.sh under parts closely assimilate to the foliage. It measures 

 about 3.', inches in length. 



Gould found the Forty-spotted Pardalote numerous in the gullies 

 about Mount Wellington, and observed it breeding in a hoi-.; in one 

 of the loftiest trees, at about forty feet from the ground. He also 

 took a properly developed egg from the body of a female that was 

 shot on the 5th October. 



Breeding months are from September to January. The eggs of the 

 Forty-spotted Pardalote in n>y cabinet were taken by Mr. G. K. Hinsby, 

 Tasmania, on DenistoMn rvn, near Bothwell. Christmas, 1876. 



* P. nrnpygialis is the smaller bird, therefore should lay the smaller eggs, or 

 about the size of those of P. nielanncrpluhis -V.J.C. 



29 



