OF SOUTHERN AUSTRALIA. 215 



is a bulky one. Figured above is a nest in polygonum growing 

 in a swamp, photographed from a buggy. 



Eggs. — Four or five to a clutch ; greenish appearance, with 

 blackish-brown or brown spots and blotches. Length, 1.5 

 inches ; breadth, 1 inch. 



RAVEN, 



Coroiie australis, Gld. 



Ko-rone ds-tra'lis. 



Korone, a raven ; australis, southern. 



CoRONE AUSTRALIS, mounted specimens States' Museums. 



Geographical Distribution. — The whole of Australia and Tasmania. 



Key to the Species. — Plumage imiform blue-black, base of feathers 

 dusky brown or black, not snow-white; first primary longer than 

 ordinary secondaries, but shorter than the innermost secondaries ; 

 hallux very strong. 



Mr. Price Fletcher, in his Queensland travels, writes : — "• The 

 Raven is undoubtedly the most commonly seen bird in nearly 

 all Australia, excepting in the towns and suburbs. No home- 

 stead exists in the country which is not visited by Crowds ; 

 indeed, hardly a traveller can camp for the night but his tent 

 and fire are discovered by this keen-sighted bird. In fact, he 

 may well be said to be the bird most knowing and most gifted 

 with reasoning powers we have in the colonies, and we have 

 some of great intellectual abiUty." 



It is not so prominent a bird in south-west Australia, and 

 appears there to be represented by the Crow. In size, "the 

 largest Raven is the greatest of the Passerine order." 

 According to leading anatomists, it is probably the most highly 

 developed of birds. 



Mr. L. D. Cameron's letter to me, dated 10th April, 1898, 



