INSESSORES. 303 



subject as one worthy of their attention. The chief difference 

 of the bird I have named M. victories is the diminished length 

 of its outer tail-feathers, and their much stronger and broader 

 markings. 



Whether the bird be or be not distinct from M. superba, 

 the following highly interesting notes kindly sent to me by 

 the late Dr. Ludwig Becker have reference to it : — 



" Bullan-Bullan is the name which the aborigines of the 

 Yarra tribe give to this bird. The word has some similarity 

 to the gurgling tone which the bird at times is heard to emit. 

 The favourite place chosen by the Bullan-Bullan for building 

 its nest is the dense scrub on the slopes of deep gullies, or 

 in thickly grown small scrubs, lying between the bends of 

 rivers, but still in the vicinity of mountains. Here the bird 

 selects young trees standing close together ; between the 

 saplings, one or tw^o feet from the ground, it makes fast its 

 nest. Sometimes it may be found also upon the trunk of a 

 tree, hollowed out by some bush-fire ; or it selects a fern tree, 

 of not too great a height, for the same purpose. The nest 

 proper is ten inches in diameter, and is five inches high. 

 It is closely woven together from fine but strong roots, and 

 the inside is lined with the softer feathers of the bird. Round 

 this nest the bird builds a rough covering, composed of sticks 

 and pieces of wood, grass, moss, and leaves, in such a manner 

 that it projects over the genuine nest, affording the sitting bird 

 a shelter from above. An opening in the side serves as an 

 entrance, through which the female enters backwards, with 

 her tail laid over her back, and, with watchful eye and ear, 

 keeps her head in the direction of the opening. She lays only 

 one egg, of a purplish-grey tint, with numerous spots and 

 blotches of purplish brown, especially at the larger end, as 

 seen in the egg of the common Gvow [{Corvus cor one); the 

 colour resembles in fact so closely that of the feathers with 

 which the nest is lined, that it is not easy to detect the egg. 

 It is two and a half inches long by one inch and five-eighths 

 broad. 



