342 iEGOTHKLISiK. 



the Clarence and neighbouring rivers in New South Wales," from any part of the latter State. 

 Gould's figure of P. pliiwifcriis, in his folio edition of the " Birds of Australia," is, however, identical 

 with the preceding description of the female obtained by Mr. Olive near Cooktown, and which has 

 the throat and fore neck unspotted. Although I have not seen a female of P. papuensis from New 

 Guinea, I do not think the slight difference in colour would warrant the separation of P. plumiferns 

 from the former species. I look upon it in the same light as one finds a variation in the plumage 

 of P. strigoides. \\"ith the above described specimens, Mr. Olive forwarded the stomach of one 

 in spirits, which contained only some vegetable fibre ; also two nests and two eggs, together 

 with the following notes : — " Both of these nests of the Papuan Podargus, from which the birds 

 were shot, were taken from large tea-trees about thirty feet from the ground. They also build 

 on the large branches of trees ; they select a branch running at right angles from the trunk, 

 where there is a slight depression or hollow, and place a few twigs in it. When on the nest 

 they do not sit like other birds, but lie on the nest parallel with the branch, and are consequently 

 very difficult to detect. When not nesting, and in the day time, they select a tree with thick 

 leaves ; three or four are generally found together sitting with the head and beak pointing 

 skyward, and it is easy to approach within a few feet of them, if care is taken to avoid noise. I 

 frequently see them in the mangrove bushes on the banks of the Annan River. One egg I send 

 you was heavily incubated, the other quite fresh, and from the partly formed egg I secured when 

 dissecting the body, I conclude some of them lay two eggs, but as a general rule they lay only one. 



" These birds make a sound like ' Woo-woo-woo,' repeated quickly about a dozen times, 

 then make a snapping sound once or twice repeated (I conclude by opening the mouth and 

 closing it smartly). Other sounds are attributed to them, viz., a low booming, and a cry like 

 ' waugh, waugh,' repeated slowly several times, but I have not been able to verify these two 

 latter." 



The nests sent are small, irregularly-shaped and nearly flat structures, formed of thick twigs, 

 and are in each instance built in the three-pronged fork of a tea-tree. One, from which the male 

 was shot on the 7th September, 1907, averages eight inches in diameter by four inches in depth. 

 The other, on which the female was sitting, taken on the nth October, 1907, measures only six 

 inches in length, four inches in breadth, and two inches and a half in depth. Each contained a 

 single egg. 



The eggs vary in shape ; one is a nearly true ellipse, the other a compressed ellipse, pure 

 white, the shell being close-grained and smooth, and one specimen slightly glossy, and measure 

 respectively i'93 x 1-32 inches and 2-15 x 1-32 inches. 



August and the four following months constitute the usual breeding season of this species 

 in the Cooktown, Bloomfield River, and Cairns Districts of North-eastern Queensland. 



Sub-family ^GOTHELIN^. 



Oen-VLS .iECSOTHEXjES, Vigors and Horsfield. 



Mgotheles novae-hollandiae. 



OWLET NIGHTJAR. 

 Caprimulgus novm-hollandim, Lath., Ind. Orn., Vol. II., p. 588 (1790). 



^Egotheles novce-hollandiie, Gould, Bds. Austr., fol. Vol. II., pi. 1 (1818) ; id., Hand-bk. Eds. Austr., 



Vol. I., p. 79 (1865); Hartert, Cat. Bds. Brit. Mus., Vol. XVI., p. 651(1892); Sharpe, 



Hand-1. Bds., Vol. II., p. 14 (1900) ; Hartert, Nov. Zool., Vol. XII., p. 216 (1905). 



Adult male— CeweraZ colour above smoky-grey, with numerous transverse bars 0/ greyish-white, 



lohich are broader and more regular on the tail-feathers; upper wing-coverts like the back; quills 



