44 From Magazines, &c. i^, j"'i 



tliiixl ; those in the third fly to a fourth tree, and so on until the 



whole flock lias gone." 



* * * 



Nests and Eggs of Varied Honey-eater {Ptilotis versicolor). — 

 In The ]'ictorian Naturalist for March (vol. xxi., p. iby) Mr. A. J. 

 North, Ornithologist, Australian Museum, has described a nest 

 and two eggs of the Varied Honey-eater collected on Franklin 

 Island, off the north-eastern coast of Queensland. The specimens, 

 together with the parent birds, were taken by Mr. A. F. Smith, 

 ibth October, iqo4. 



The nest is an open cup-shaped structure, rather scantily formed 

 of fibrous rootlets, held together with plant down intermingled with 

 webs and egg-bags of spiders, the inside being sparingly lined with 

 pale brown fibre, and at the bottom with a small quantity of silky 

 white plant down. It was built in a shrub at a height of 7 feet 

 from the ground, and is firmly attached by the rim on one side 

 to a thin leafy branch, two leaves also being worked on to the 

 outer portion of the o])posite side, where Mr. Smith informed Mr. 

 North it was fastened to two upright twigs. The eggs are similar 

 in colour to those of Ptilotis sonora. 



Mr. North concludes with the remark that " similar eggs taken 

 by Mr. E. M. Cornwall, of Cairns, have recently been described as 

 the eggs of Ptilotis fasciogidaris."* RegarcHng this assertion, Mr. 

 Cornwall writes : — " With reference to the eggs of P. fasciogularis, 

 I am quite satisfied that my identification is complete, but evidently 

 I made a mistake in jumping to the conclusion that the bird, nest, 

 and eggs taken by Mr. A. F. Smith on the Franklin Islands were 

 the same species. I do not think there is anything remarkable in 

 the fact that the eggs of both species are similar, for the birds are 

 about the same size and very closely allied." 



* * * 



Bird-Lore. — The last number of this magazine to hand (Jan.- 

 Feb., 1905, vol. viii., No. i, pjx 45-120) has for a principal feature a 

 record of what is being done in tiie way of bird protection in North 

 America. " The History of the Audubon Movement " tells what 

 the Audubon Societies and the American O.U. have been doing in this 

 direction, and the results make an Australian ornithologist jealous. 

 Not only do the first-named societies publish a magazine of their 

 own, " to advance the work already so well under way, give stability 

 and permanence to that work, and broaden the sphere of effort in 

 such directions as may with reason suggest themselves," but in- 

 dividual members and affiliated bodies spare no effort in the cause. 

 With a membership of about 30,000, of course much may be done. 

 Massachusetts claims the honour of having started the present 

 system of State Audubon Societies. From humble beginnings in 

 1884-5 the Biological Survey, in connection with the U.S.A. Depart- 

 ment of Agriculture, has grown. From Massachusetts the move- 

 ment of bird-protection s]:)read throughout the States. Maps are 



*Emit, vul. iv. , p. 137. 



