470 



A'A'.S7'.V A.\D hGGS OF Al'STK.AUAN BIRDS. 



nest prei'orably uu bottlc-treos aud on tlic tops of broken-ofl' stumps 

 near watercourses. 



Gilbert's information from West Australia was that the bird breeds 

 there in October and November, and it is a very local but by no 

 means uncommon species, particularly in the Swan River district. 

 I am inclined to venture the ojiinion that this bird at times wanders 

 northward or towards the interior, according to the seasons. I had 

 favoiu-ablc opportunities, both as regards time and locality, of 

 observing them in Western Australia during the season of 1889, and 

 failed to detect a single bird. 



The eggs I obtained were from a number that were in the Mechanics' 

 Institute and Museum, Perth. 



Dr. Shai-pe has created a new species, A. venustus; habitat. 

 North-western Australia, wliich Dr. Ramsay tliinks is identical vdth 

 A. cinereus. Further research can only prove which authority is 

 correct. Mr. G. A. Keartland received eggs from the Fitzroy River 

 taken during the month of February. 



387. — Artamus hypoleucus, Sharpe. — (76) 

 A. alhiventris, Gould. 



WHITE-BELLIED WOOD SWALLOW. 



Figure. — Gould : Birds of Australia, fol., vol. ii., pi. 30. 

 Reference. — Cat. Birds Brit. Mus., vol. xiii., p. 17. 

 Frevioi:s Descriptions of Eggs. — Campbell : Victorian Naturalist 

 (1886) ; North : Austii. Mus. Cat., p. 45 (1S89). 



Geoijnrphicnl Dixtrihution. — Northern Territory, Queensland, and 

 interiors of New South Wales (probably) and South Australia. 



Nest. — The visual open, somewhat flat stinicturc ; composed of fine 

 twigs and grasses, and situated in any convenient position on a tree. 



Eyys. — Clutch, four usually ; round oval in shape, but some 

 examples arc more pointed at one end ; textiu-e of shell fine ; surface 

 glossy ; colour, bufTy-wliite, somewhat boldly blotched all over with 

 umber or purplish-brow?i and dull-grev. Dimensions in inches of a 

 proper clutch: (1) -86 x -69, (2) -86 x -68, (3) -85 x -68, (4) -84 x -69. 



Ohsn-vati(in.<<. — From the little knowledge we possess of the White- 

 bellied or White-vented Wood Swallow I think we may infer it is a 

 frequenter of the interior and north-castem portions of AiLstralii, and 

 that it is a stationary species, as the Messrs. Barnard have proved in 

 Queensland, where the principal breeding months are from August to 

 December. 



