NESTS A.VD EGGS OF ALSIKALIAX BIKDS. 



5 "J 



Bcliiiid the nest were ground-ferns and other vegetation, tlie entrance 

 fivciug west {i.e., the stream). 



{'I) In a gully, on right bank, at the base of a fern-trcc and 

 sassafriis saphng, by a stream, and backed up with a thick iindergrowlh 

 of wire grass, ikc. ; entnuice south-cast; bird llushcd. 



(3) On tlie top of a range neai- the b;ise of a giant cuealypt by a 

 boggy sti'eam. Entrance north, on right bank. 



(4) On a liill side a foot or two from tlie ground, at the base of 

 a tree-fern, and backed up with gi'oimd-ferns. Entrance fiiced north- 

 east, down hill ; bird flushed. 



(o) In a somewhat open gully on the ground, well hidden with 

 ferns, witli stream at foot. On left bank, entrance south-west ; bird 

 flushed. 



(6) In a gully well among the hills, resting on a fallen or reeiiniug 

 fern-tree and between four hazels at a height of six or seven feet from 

 the ground. About seventy yards from a stream. Entrance facing 

 south, downhill. 



(7) On left bank of a very dark and naiTow gully, backed up with 

 ground fenis, and overshadowed by fern-trees ; stream at foot ; entrance 

 east ; bu'd flushed. In all these instances the egg lay buried amongst 

 the feathers in the bottom of the nest. Only in one instance was the 

 egg visible when I stood in front of the nest. 



However, the nest is frequently built in such other places as the 

 hollow of an old tree butt, in sassafras or musk trees, and still higher 

 in forks of blackwood or even eucalypts. The highest Lyre Birds nests 

 to my knowledge were noticed by Mr. Le Souef on the family property, 

 " Gembrook.' One was constructed in the fork of a white gum 

 (Eucalypt) about seventy feet fi'om the ground. Another was built 

 fidly eighty feet above the groimd, on the jagged end of the barrel of 

 a stringybark eucalypt, about one hundred yards from the house, the 

 top of the tree having been blown off by tempest. In both these 

 cases the trees grew in gullies. 



When the female is sitting in the nest only her head and tail tips 

 are visible at the entrance. The tail usually appears over her back 

 or tiu'ned on one side. 



Before leaving the situations of the nest I might mention one that 

 was found by a botanical collector. It was wedged between foui" tree- 

 fern stems ( A/.sojj/i/!(iJ growing from the one base. The fex'n was 

 afterwards giiibbed and forwarded to a botanical institution in Italy. 

 Another nest observed by a friend of mine 24tli August, 1889, was 

 built upon a high stump on Mount Feathertop, with snow upon the 

 gromid. 



Probably the " record ' for Lyre Bird nesting was performed by my 

 enthusiastic friend, Mr. Joseph Gabriel and companions during four 

 consecutive days (the three last of July and the first of August) in the 

 season of 1893. It will be remembered it was just at tiie time when 

 the Government of the day commenced to despoil the magnificent 

 forest tracts of the Dandenongs by throwing them open as a village 

 settlement. No small blame to Mr. Gabriel that he " cut in " for a 

 few eggs before the birds fell to the settlers' pots. 



