752 NESTS AXD EGGS OF AUSTRALIAN BIKDS. 



584. — Triboxyx mortieri. Du Bus. — (565) 

 NATIVE HEN. 



Figure. — Gould : Birds of Australia, fol., vol. vi., pi. 71. 



Reference. — Cat. Birds Brit. Mus., vol. xxiii., p. 164. 



Previous Descriptions of Eggs. — Gould : Birds of Australia (1848) , 

 also Handbook, vol. ii., p. 325 (1865); North: Austn. Mus. 

 Cat., p. 324, pi. 19, fig. 4 (1869). 



Geographical Dixfrifnitio/i. — South Australia (?) and Tasmania. 



Xe.^f. — Constiaicted of glass and other herbage, and usually placed 

 in rushes or scnib on the gi-ound, near water, .such as the bank of a 

 river, &c. 



Egijs. — Clutch, seven to nine ; long oval in shape, or ellipticAlly 

 incUned ; texture of shell coarse ; sm-face slightl)- glossy ; colour, greyish 

 or greenish-stone, sparingly blotched with large markings of reddish- 

 brown and pvu'plish-brown, also minutely freckled or spotted all over 

 with the same colours. Dimensions in inches of a proper clutch : 

 (1) 2-19 X 1-55, (2) 2-18 X 1-52, (3) 2-17 x 1-52, (4) 2-16 x 1-52, 

 (5) 2-14 X 1-5, (6) 2-1 X 1-56, (7) 2-08 x 1-55. (Plate 19.) 



Observations. — The Native Hen of Tasmania is i peculiar to that 

 island. I can find no evidence of this bird having been found on the 

 mainland. It is almost terrestrial in its habits, and is exceedingly shy. 



When going to enjoy a bath in the South Esk, Tasmania, one warm 

 afternoon in October (1883), a pair of Native Hens kept dodging about 

 the bank, producing a loud " crake-crake " noise, at the same time 

 making a curious bobbing action with the tail, which is otherwise carried 

 erect like a domestic fowl's. After a good search I foaind an empty 

 nest. 



Mr. A. E. Brent once on the 1st Aug^ist took an early chitch of eight 

 eggs. Breeding season usually extends from that month to .January. 



585. — MiCROTRiBONYx vENTRALis, Gould. — (566) 

 BLACK-TAILED NATIVE HEN. 



Figure. — Gould : Birds of Australia, fol., vol. vi., pi. 72. 



Reference. — Cat. Birds Brit. Mus., vol. xxiii., p. 165. 



Previous Descriptions of Eggs. — Ramsay : Proc. Linn. Soc, N.S. 

 Wales, vol. vii., p. 56 (1882); Campbell: Southern Science 

 Record (1883); North: Austn. Mus. Cat., pi. 17, fig. 4 (1889). 



GeograpJiirnl Distribution. — Australia in general. 



Nest. — Open, constructed of gi-ass, and placed on the ground among 

 bushes such as polygonums, &c., in a swampy situation. 



