P(KClLOI)liYA.S. 



421 



^■«.'-"l 



Supplement of his foliu edition of the " IJirdsof Australia," under the name of Eopsaltria tauunv. — 

 "The late John Gilbert was probably the first person who shot this fine species of Eopsalti'm, of 

 which I have had a mutilated skin, obtained by him at Port Essington, in my possession for the 

 last twenty years. The specimen alluded to is too imperfect for describing or figuring; but I 

 am enabled to supply these desiderata from two others now before me in the finest state of 

 preservation. Unfortunately nothing is known respecting the Eopiiiltria Iciiciii'ti, except that it 

 inhabits the great beds of mangroves bordering the coasts of the northern part of Australia . . . 



that it is very quiet in all its actions, and rather rare in the neighbourhood of Somerset 



Its nearest ally is the E. hucof^astcy of Western Australia ; but it differs from that species in being 

 of larger size, and in the basal portion of the five outer tail-feathers on each side being white." 



From the Northern Territory 1 have examined three specimens procured in the mangroves 

 at Port Darwin, in February and May, 1913, by Mi.C. G. Gibson, where he informs me it 



is sparingly distributed. 

 Dr. W. Macgillivray, of 

 ^.''-^' Broken llill, has kindly 



favoured me with the fol- 

 lowing notes relative to this 

 species, and has presented 

 the nest here figured to the 

 Trustees: — "My collector, 

 Mr. \V. McLennan, ob- 

 tained his fust specimen of 

 Pa-cilodi-yas piilvcrnh-nta at 

 Paira, Cape York Penin- 

 sula, on the i6th March, 

 191 1, where it is known 

 locally as the ' Mangrove 

 Kobin,' an excellent and 

 distinctixe vernacular name 

 for the bird. He found 

 the first nest on the 22nd 

 September, 191 1, and re- 

 marked : — ' I went over to 

 Pudiger mangroves again to have a look at EifLilodiyas pnlvnideitta ; it was some time before 

 I located a pair, and iiad not been watching them long before the female llew to a nest about 

 fourteen feet up in a mangrove, and about thirty yards away from where I was sitting. She 

 added some stuff to the nest, and then fiew away, returning in abuut a quarter of an hour with 

 more material ; the male daring this time was feeding close by, and did not take any interest in 

 the nest building, which appeared about half finished. On the 2nd (October, 191 1, I again visited 

 the nest, and found the female sitting, so I sat down and watched her for about an hour and a half. 

 She left the nest three times, and returned again within a couple of minutes. During that time 

 she occasionally uttered a short low whistle ; her mate did not put in an appearance, but I heard 

 him call some distance away. By imitating the call he came along to see what was the matter, 

 but soon left again. The nest contained two eggs much incubated. On the i6th January, 1912, 

 I went to Gwindi mangroves, and heard P.pulvcndcnta calling, and soon located the bird. I imitated 

 the call, and the other bird, a female, llew up; the male immediately chased her away again. I 

 went on to where I had lost sight of the bird, and again imitated the call; the male answered at 

 once, and in a short time the female came along ; the male chased her away. I followed, but soon 

 lost sight of them, so imitated the call again, but neither answered to it. I spent some time 

 searching round, but did not see any sign of the birds, so I made my way through the mangroves 



106 





NEST AND KGliS OF WHI'rK-TAILEll ItOlilN. 



