NESTS AXD EGGS OF AUSTRALIAN BIRDS. 557 



The set of beautiful white eggs in my cabinet was taken from an 

 ant's nest (usually prominent objects) which was situated in the fork 

 of a bloodwood tree ( Eucalijptii^j at Roseneath, the property of the 

 Messrs. Gulliver, Towiis\dlle. The eggs were taken 25th October 

 (1885). 



These beautiful Kingfishers soon betray the locality of their 

 nests, for on the approach of an intruder the birds scream loudly and 

 fly about in an excited manner. 



Usual breeding months, October to February. 



445. — Halcyon pyrrhopygius. Gould. — (64) 

 RED-BACKED KINGFISHER. 



Figure. — Gould : Birds of Australia, fol., vol. ii., pi. 22. 

 Reference. — Cat. Birds Brit. Mus., vol. xvii., p. 258. 



Previous Descriptions oj Eggs. — Gould : Birds of Australia, Hand- 

 book, vol. i., p. 131 (1865); Ramsay : Ibis, vol. ii. (new ser.), 

 p. 3^7 (1866) ; Ramsay: Proc. Linn. Soc, N.S. Wales, vol. vii., 

 p. 45 (1S82). Le -Souef : Victorian Naturalist, vol. xvi., p. 70 

 (1S99I. 



Gfixjrapldcal Disfribution. — Australia in general. 



Ifest. — Usually a hole in a tree, but sometimes a tunnel drilled into 

 the side of a bank or dam. 



Ef/f/x. — Clutch, four to five ; round in form ; texture of shell fine ; 

 surface glossy ; colour, pure white. Dimensions in inches of a clutch : 

 (1) 1-05 X -S", (2) 1-01 X -83. (3 )l-0 x -85, (4) -98 x -85. 



Ohservatiijin. — This Kingfisher is .similar in size to the more com- 

 mon Sacred Kingfisher, but white takes the place of buff pliunage 

 underneath, while the head is mottled or streaked wdth wliite. Tlie 

 otherwise dull bluish-green plumage is relieved by the lower portion 

 of the back and rump being reddish-brown or chestnut, which at once 

 distinguishes this bii'd from the other Kingfisher, hence the name 

 " Red-backed. " Tlie Red-backed Kingfisher is found in the interior 

 of all the States. Although the Sacred or common Kingfisher is 

 found in the interior likewise, it is observed in greater niunbei's 

 between the ranges and the countiy bordering the sea, while the 

 Red-backed Kingfisher is exclusively a denizen of the interior and loves 

 to dwell where the myall and the mulga flourish, and where, I beUeve, 

 it is a stationary species. However during exceedingly dry seasons 

 individuals occasionally reach Victoria. During Christmas, 1897, Mr. 

 A. C. Smart shot a fine Red-backed Kingfisher in the Grampians. 



Like the Sacred Kingfisher it lays in holes of trees, but also resorts 

 to laying underground, as the following incidents prove : — In Queens- 

 land, Mr. Lau once discovered a Red-backed Kingfisher dead, at the 



