I'TILOIIS. 109 



obtained at Cape York, three at Cape Granville, and three on Darnley Island. In the Australian 

 Museum Collection are specimens obtained by Mr. A. Morton at Cape Vorlc, by Messrs. E. J. 

 Cairn and R. Grant at Herberton, by Mr. A. F. Smith at Hambledon near Cairns, and by 

 Mr. J. A. Boyd at the Herbert River, its most southern limit yet recorded. A spirit specimen 

 was also received from the Bloomfield River, respecting which Mr. P'rank Hislop subsequently 

 furnished the following interesting notes: — "-Ptilotis notata is found both in the forest and scrub. 

 Its food consists of insects, nectar of flowers and small berries ; it is also \ery fond of bananas, 

 paw-paws, mangoes, granadillas, and other soft cultivated fruits. I have often found the nests 

 of this species, built in thick shrubs growing on the margin of a lagoon. The outer portion of 

 the nest is usually constructed of strips of bark, but when built near where there are Fan Palms 

 the birds utilize the fibre which covers the butts of the leaves, the inside being lined with white 

 plant down. Two eggs are usually laid for a sitting, but some times I have found nests 

 containing three. The breeding season generally commences in September and continues until 

 the middle of December. I have frequently referred to a tree growing in the Bloomfield River 

 District, known locally from the adhesive nature of its seeds as the ' Fly-catcher Tree.' I have 

 found several birds caught by the seeds and seed-pods as they lay on the ground — Torres 

 Straits Pigeons, a Rufous Owl, and a Crested Mawk. Frequently I have found smaller birds 

 caught, and among them, more than any other Ptilotis notata. This is, I expect, probably owing to 

 the fact that it likes building in the thick foliage of this tree, and I have liberated several which 

 would never have been able to free themselves. The feathers were in some cases stuck 

 together, to such an extent with these seeds that neither wings or legs cpuld be used. The 

 aborigines on the Bloomfield River who call the tree "J\Ii-yir," believe that cutting or bruising 

 it will cause rain, and it is one of the trees used by some of the old men, who professed to be 

 rainmakers." At my request, Mr. Hislop subsequently obtained specimens of this tree, and its 

 pods and seeds from his brother, Mr. Bertie Hislop, and they have been identified by Mr. F. 

 Manson Bailey, F.L.S., Colonial Botanist, Brisbane, as those oi Pisonia hrunoniana. 



Mr. A. P". Smith writes me from Hambledon, as follows: — "Ptilotis notata is resident here 

 throughout the year and is very common in the scrub about the creeks, and also frequents private 

 gardens, and is fond of exploring the blossoms of Cocoa-nut Palms. In this district it appears 

 to be the most plentiful of the genus Ptilotis, and favours trees with dense foliage. I have never 

 seen it in forest country. The note of this species resembles 'chivee,' as near as anything. 

 The number of times it is sounded varies, generally from three to ten, sometimes slowly, at 

 others faster; the latter notes are fainter the more often they are repeated. Its food consists 

 of insects and small fruits, one I wounded and kept in captivity disgorged several berries about 

 the size of currants. I fed it on milk and bananas of which it seemed very fond." 



Nests of this species taken by Mr. J. A. Boyd, at Ripple Creek, Herbert River, are cup- 

 shaped structures, outwardly formed of the hair-like fibre of the Cocoa-nut Palm, dried skeletons 

 of leaves and pieces of white paper-like bark of a Melaleuca, the inside being beautifully lined 

 with downy glistening white seeds. Externally they average three inches and a half in diameter 

 by two inches and a half in depth, the inner cup measuring two inches and a half in diameter 

 by two inches in depth. They were suspended by the rim to thin forked horizontal branches of 

 Mango trees, at a height of five or six feet from the ground. 



The eggs are usually two, rarely three in number for a sitting, oval in form, the shell being 

 close-grained, smooth and slightly lustrous. They are pure white, with small blotches, rounded 

 dots and spots, varying from a rich reddish-black to a purplish -brown, the markings as a rule 

 being confined to the thicker end, and closely resemble small typical eggs of Ptilotis Icwini. 

 Some specimens have only a few large blotches on one side, or on the thicker end. A set taken 

 by Mr. Boyd, at Ripple Creek, on the nth September, 1893, measures as follows: — Length (A) 

 0'92 X o'67 inches; (B) 0-93 x 0-67 inches. Another set taken on the 30th October, 1894, 



