378 Mr. E. P. Ramsay on Rhipidura rufifrons. 



breeding, but was never fortunate enough to secure their eggs. 

 In their habits they closely resemble R. albiscapa, and in 

 spreading their tail show the bright rufous rump and upper 

 tail-coverts very conspicuously. They are pleasing and 

 fearless little birds, hopping about you as if they were too 

 common even for a naturalist to molest. I have frequently 

 watched them for hours, and find that they seldom travel far 

 when once having taken up their abode in any favourite part 

 of the scrub, and may be found weeks afterwards, if undis- 

 turbed, near the same spot. I noticed this fact with respect 

 to the habits of many of the Australian Flycatchers of this 

 genus, and also with Ophryzone kaupi, the habits of which I 

 had, during the summer of 1873-74, numerous opportunities 

 of studying in Northern Queensland. 



My esteemed friend and old schoolfellow, Ralph Hargrave, 

 Esq., has been fortunate enough lately to add to his fine col- 

 lection many beautiful and rare eggs of Australian birds, 

 among them those of the "Cat-bird'^ {Ailurcedus smithi), 

 the Satin Bower-bird [Ptilonorhynchus holosericeus) , and 

 those of the present species {Rhipidura 7'ufifrons), which he 

 has kindly lent me for description. 



The nest, Mr. Hargrave remarks, resembles that of R. mo- 

 tacilloides ; it is smaller, and a more debcate structure, inter- 

 mediate in size between the nest of that species and that of R. 

 albiscapa ; it was placed on a small forked twig in a shady part 

 of a dense scrub at Stanwell, near Bulli, in the lUawarra dis- 

 trict ; it was composed of fine shreds of bark and grasses, in- 

 termixed with a quantity of cobweb. The bottom of the nest 

 was produced a little below the twig uj)on which it was placed, 

 rounded below, but not elongated into a tail, which is always 

 a noticeable feature in the nest of R. albiscapa. 



The eggs are of a pale cream-colour, zoned at the larger 

 end with spots and dots of light umber, and a few bluish grey 

 dots, which appear beneath the surface of the shell ; in fact 

 they resemble miniature eggs of R. motacilloides , although 

 quite distinct from the eggs of that species. 



Length *7 inch, breadth '55 inch. 



