252 ARTAMID.i;. 



in pairs or family groups, consisting of parents and young. They seem to be the most affectionate 

 species of the genus. When not engaged m securing food they were perched side by side 

 preening each others feathers. It is a pretty sight to see a family of these birds perched on a 

 dry twig, their beautiful white breasts contrasting with the leaden grey of their heads, necks and 

 backs. I never noticed them in flocks, but on several occasions found them perched on the 

 same tree as a pair with the Black-faced Wood Swallow. I was informed that they remained 

 in the same neighbourhood throughout the year." 



The following information is e.xtracted from notes made by Mr. F. L. Whitlock, while 

 collecting in North-western Australia, in 1908, on behalf of Mr. H. L. White, of Belltrees, Scone, 

 New South Wales: — " Artaiiins hncogaster breeds on the Lower Pe Grey River, and more 

 commonly in the mangroves at Condon, on the coast. On the De Grey I had a nest under 

 observation near one of my camping places; it was in a ca\ity of a gum tree, at a height of 

 about twenty-five feet, and contained young birds. At Condon I found half-a-dozen or more 

 nests in the mangroves, most of them containing young a day or two old; I got, however, two 

 nests with eggs, and an addled egg in a third nest. The usual situation for the nest was in the 

 topmost fork of the highest mangrove in the immediate neighbourhood. They are easily located, 

 as the male was generally perched near at hand, and on my approach he gave vent to a harsh 

 alarm note, to which the female usually responded, and slipped off her nest. The nests, as a 

 rule, had a more substantial foundation than those of other Wood Swallows with which I am 

 acquainted."' 



Writing on the birds of the Cloncurry District, Northern Queensland, Dr. W. Macgillivray 

 sends me the following note; — " Artamus pcrsonatus, A. snpfrciliosus, A. liiicppygialis and A. minov 

 are all fairly numerous, especially during the wet season, early in the year, and on into the 

 winter. .-!. Ifticopygialis usually builds in the spout of a tree." 



While resident in the Herbert River District, North-eastern Oueensland, Mr. J. .A. Boyd 

 wrote me as follows : — " On the ist November, 1893, I found a nest of the Magpie Lark (GraUina 

 ptcata) at Goose Lagoon ; it was placed in a triple horizontal fork of a Leichhardt tree, some 

 eight feet from the ground. Sitting on the edge of the nest was a White-rumped Wood Swallow, 

 which I thought was only resting there, and getting hold of the drooping end of the limb I tried 

 to pull the nest down, but could only get it low enough to put my fingers on the rim. Failing 

 to touch the bottom of the nest, I pushed it off, and caught it as it fell, and to my surprise I 

 found that the nest had been relined at the bottom with grass, and contained five young Wood 

 Swallows." 



Mr. H.\'. Foster, writing to me from the Rous SugarMill, Richmond River.New South Wales, 

 remarks : — '■ I took a nest of Artamus Icucogaster from the fork of a Tea-tree on the 5th November, 

 1900 ; the same year I saw a pair of these birds building in the trunk of a Bean-tree fully eighty 

 feet from the ground, and saw another pair feeding young ones in the trunk of a gum tree, about 

 thirty feet from the ground. The latter nest was built in a niche where a piece had been split 

 out near the top." 



From Copmanhurst, on the Clarence River, Mr. George Savid^cfe sends me the following 

 note : — " Artamus leucogaster is the commonest species of Wood Swallow here, but the eggs are very 

 difficult to get, as they usually build in the rotten dead limbs of the old ring-barked gums, and 

 placed very high up, in any crevice or hole. One nest I found was built in an old nest of Grnllina 

 picata, and contained four eggs. It is a migratory species, arriving here early in September and 

 departs about March. This species is a great bee-eater ; some I shot on the 22nd April, 1905, 

 were full of bees. A flock of thirty or forty used to alight on the telegraph wire close to my 

 apiary, and would soon have caused great havoc if not driven away. .Another species, Artamus 

 siipcrciliosus, came here about the end of last winter in great numbers, but they did not stay long." 



