INSESSORES. 255 



black ; under mandible pale blue, except at the tip, which is 

 black. 



Sp. 146. MYTAGRA NITIDA, Gould. 



Shining Flycatcher. 



Todus rubecula, Lath. Ind. Orn. Supp., p. xxii, female. 

 Red-hreasted Tody, Lat. Gen. Syn. Supp., vol. ii. p. 147. 

 Platyrhynchus rubecula, Vieill., 2nde edit, du Nouv. Diet. d^Hist. Nat. 



torn, xxvii. p. 16. 

 Myiagra rubeculoides, Vig. and Horsf. in Linn. Trans., vol. xv. p. 253, 



female. 



nitida, Gould in Proc. of Zool. Soc., part v. p. 142. 



Satin Sparrow of the Colonists of Tasmania. 



Myiagra nitida, Gould, Birds of Australia, fol., vol. ii. pi. 91. 



The Myiagra nitida appears in Tasmania about the end of 

 September, commences breeding soon after its arrival, rears a 

 somewhat numerous progeny during the months of summer, 

 and departs again in February. In performing these migra- 

 tions it necessarily passes directly over the colonies of South 

 Australia and New South Wales, yet it seldom occurs in col- 

 lections from those countries. It is a most lively, showy, and 

 active bird, darting about from branch to branch and sallying " 

 forth in the aii- in pursuit of its insect prey with a singular, 

 quick, oscillating or trembling motion of the tail. 



I experienced but little difficulty in obtaining several of its 

 nests and eggs among the gullies and forest land on the north 

 side of Mount Wellington, particularly those immediately in 

 the rear of New Town, near the residence of the Rev. Thomas 

 J. Ewing, who frequently accompanied and aided me in my 

 search. The nest is usually placed at the extreme tip of a 

 dead branch, at a height varying from twenty to forty feet 

 from the ground. Some nests are formed of a minute species 

 of light green moss ; others are constructed of fine threads of 

 stringy bark ; all are rendered very warm by a dense lining 

 of soft hair of the opossum, the fiocculent fibres of the tree 



