24.8 Whitlock, Birds Breeding in Dumpier Archipelago, r^^^^^'",., 



the female in several instances running down to the adjacent mud- 

 flat in a manner suggestive of a nesting bird. Unfortunately, the 

 birds had selected a nesting-site where bandicoots abounded, and 

 I think the latter in every case devoured the eggs. 



Geopelia humeralis. Barred-shouldered Dove. — Found on Barrow 

 Island and the neighbouring Double Island. These " ^Mangrove 

 Doves " were very common near my camp, and frequented both the 

 mangroves and the large snake-wood bushes. A pair or two were 

 nesting in a thicket of Brachychiton trees more in the interior of the 

 island, and other pairs on a small islet clothed in part with man- 

 groves, on the eastern side of the anchorage. The nests were poor 

 structures of twigs and grasses, generally placed at a height of 3 or 

 4 feet from the ground. The eggs were two in number. One nest 

 contained three eggs, but the third egg obviously belonged to another 

 clutch. Incubation lasts three weeks. This Dove was the earliest 

 land-bird to commence calling at daybreak. They often roosted 

 just above my tent. 



Anthus australis. " Barrow Island " Pipit. — This species was 

 sparingly distributed over all those parts of Barrow Island I visited. 

 It appears to be a lighter-coloured form of the mainland species, the 

 dark centres to the feathers being ill-defined and paler. It is 

 probably identical with a variety recently described by Mr. G. M. 

 Mathews from the Montebello Group. I found two nests, each 

 containing three eggs. They were both constructed outwardly of 

 grasses and lined with a little wallaby fur. One was in a cavity of 

 the rocky flooring of an islet ; the other in a patch of heath-like 

 plants growing just above high-tide line. 



Ptilotis sonora. Singing Honey-eater. — Common wherever suitable 

 cover existed on Barrow Island and Double Island, but absent from 

 the smaller islands of the Archipelago. At the time of my visit it was 

 breeding in a half-hearted manner, and I don't think I noted more 

 than seven nests. They were in a variety of situations, usually 

 without any attempt at concealment. I took eggs from a nest in 

 the mangroves, and saw another, containing a single egg, attached 

 to the leaves of a Hibiscus plant. The strong winds eventually 

 capsized this nest. When a nest was abandoned it was invariably 

 pulled to pieces and the material used in the construction of a new 

 nest. 



Tseniopygia castanotis. Chestnut-eared Finch. — I was surprised to 

 meet with this Finch, which I had hitherto considered inseparable 

 from fresh water. It was very uncommon, however, and I met only 

 two small parties. I knew two were nesting near my camp, but 

 for a long time they baffled me. At length I found the nest accidentally 

 by observing the female fly from a bunch of seaweed attached to the 

 extremity of a long mangrove branch. My boatman had actually 

 fastened a mooring-rope to this limb without seeing the nest. The 

 nest was merely an accidental cavity in the seaweed left by high 

 tides ; it was profusely lined with Doves' feathers, and contained 

 five eggs, almost hatched. 



Malurus edouardi. Barrow Island Pied-Wren. — To obtain informa- 

 tion respecting the nesting habits of this Wren was one of the objects 

 of my visit to Barrow Island. I had discovered its haunts during 



