ARTAMfS. -"■'■' 



Mr. Frank Hislop writes me :— " In the Bloomheld River District, North-eastern Queensland, 

 the White-rumped Wood Swallow is only found in the open forest lands. These birds come in 

 great numbers about a bush fire, and often f\y right down in front of the flames after insects. 

 They build a nearly flat nest, as a rule composed of She-oak leaves, in a hollow or clett m 

 a tree, and lay three or four eggs." 



From Duaringa, Dawson River, Queensland, Mr. W. B. 15arnard sends me the following 

 note :— " Aiiamns leucosaster usually builds a nest of dried grasses and rootlets in a hole of a tree, 

 but I have also found them inside old nests of GralUna pkata. They lay three or four eggs 

 for a sitting. I have also found the egg of the Pallid Cuckoo in the nest of the White-rumped 

 Wood Swallow." 



The nest is an open cup-shaped structure formed of dried grasses, and varies in size 

 according to the position in which it is built. It is remarkable that in Queensland and in the 

 northern coastal districts of New South Wales, it is more frequently built in the fork of a dead 

 tree, or in a hollow spout, while occasionally this species re-lines the deserted nest of the Magpie 

 Lark (Gmllina pkata). In the central districts of New South Wales the disused nest of the 

 latter species is more frequently appropriated than is a new nest constructed by the Wood 

 Swallows. 



The eggs are three or four for a sitting, usually the latter ; the only instance in which I 

 have known^this number to be exceeded is that referred to by Mr. Boyd, when he found five 

 young Wood Swallows in an old nest of the Magpie Lark. The eggs are oval in form, some 

 specimens being sharply pointed towards the smaller end, the shell being close-grained, smooth 

 and almost lustreless. Typically they are of a dull white ground colour, which is spotted and 

 blotched with pale brown, yellowish-brown and nearly obsolete markings of faint bluish-grey. 

 Others are almost pure white, and have the markings more distinct ; in all they predominate, as a 

 rule, or are almost entirely confined to the larger end, where often they are confluent and assume 

 the form of an irregular zone. A set of three taken at Merungle on the 19th November, 1892, 

 measures:— Length (A) 0-95 x o-68 inches ; (B) 0-93 x o-68 inches; (C) o 93 x 0-67 inches. 

 A set of four taken at Narrabri on the 27th October, 1890, measures:— Length (A) 0-9 x 0-63 

 inches; (3)0-92 x 0-64 inches; (C) 0-91 x 0-62 inches; (D) 0-89 x 0-63 inches. 



Fledgelings resemble the adults, but are more of a dusky-brown above, the base of the 

 forehead, ''the feathers of the mantle and back, the upper wing-coverts and scapulars being 

 conspicuously tipped with pale brown, and the primaries and tail feathers with buff'y-white ; 

 under surface dull white, the feathers at the base of the lower mandible and the cheeks blackish, 

 the fore-neck being crossed with an indistinct band of pale brown. Wing 3 mches. 



Immature birds have a chocolate-brown wash, the feathers on the crown of the head, the 

 throat and sides of the neck are dusky-brown, and some of the feathers on the centre of the 

 throat are dull white. Wing 5-2 inches. 



September and the three following months constitute the breeding season of this species m 

 Eastern .\ustralia. 



Artamus superciliosus. 



WHITE-EYEBROWED WOOD SWALLOW. 

 Ocypterus superciliosus; Gould, Proc, Zool. Soc, 1836, p. 1-12. 

 Artamus superciliosus, Gould, Bds. Austr., fol., Vol. TI., pi. 32 (1848); id. Handbk. Bd.. Austr, 



Vol. T., p. 152 (1865) ; 8harpe, Cat. Bds. Brit. Mus., Vo'. XIIL, p. 15(1890) ; ul. Hand-1. 



Bds., p. 261 (1903). 



