ig8 Jackson, Second Trip to Macpher^ov Range, O. [„t Ap.ii 



that month the young birds arc out of the nests and getting the 

 parents' attention ; hence the silence. The adult male keeps 

 silent when he is with or near the female and young. 



The food consists of beetles, including various species of the 

 weevil family {CurculionidcB), also smaller insects and grubs 

 collected from damp and rotten wood and rubbish. I also found 

 in the bird portions of fairly large longicorn beetles and pieces of 

 the bright green elytra or wing cover of a species known as 

 Rhiphidocerits aiistralasice, which belongs to the family Prionidce. 

 One of their chief foods is the numerous small crustaceans {Talitrus 

 australis) that hop about like enormous fleas when anything is 

 moved from the ground in these damp jungles. They form food 

 for many ground-birds in such places. Scrub-snails' eggs and 

 small, tender-shelled snails such as Vitrina, have also come under 

 my notice as being on their " menu." The palate is yellowish, 

 and closely covered with minute spines of the same colour, all 

 pointing towards the throat. 



Nest of Rufous Scrub-Bird. 



It was not until the 27th October that, after much hunting, 

 we succeeded in finding a nest containing an egg. Over the 

 moss-covered rocks in a small stream known as Tom's Creek, and 

 with a steep, fern-clad bank on the east side, a small brown bird 

 moved rapidly, dodging in and out much after the manner of a 

 Rock- Warbler {Origma rnhricata), and uttered a little ticking 

 note, " Tit-tit-tit-tit," with from one to six seconds or more 

 between each "Tit." The note exactly resembled that of the 

 female Scrub-Bird, as described in The Emu for April, 1920. The 

 bird ran over a large rock and down into a cave through which 

 the cool water of the creek was running rather rapidly. Then she 

 got on top of the east bank, and after much exertion we chased 

 her back into the creek among the rocks again. She came 

 towards me, oyer the large rocks and vegetation, all the time 

 uttering her feeble " ticking" note every few seconds. She was 

 now much agitated. She was seldom seen as she moved about, 

 and was often hidden from us, her presence being known only 

 by her note. This rocky locality seemed more suitable for Rock- 

 Warblers than for a Rufous Scrub-Bird. Then suddenly she 

 made one rather long and peculiar plaintive call, hard to describe, 

 and full of fear and distress. She then became silent, and we had 

 great difficulty in locating her. At last we saw her, and she ran 

 into a fairly large root-hole on the steep western bank of the creek. 

 We rushed to the place, and, covering the hole with hats and 

 coats, made her a prisoner. After carefully cutting down all 

 growth surrounding the spot, we set to work to dig out the hole, 

 and at last the bird was found at the end of the hole, over 3 feet 

 in from the entrance. It was a female Atrichornis, and, although 

 alive, was panting heavily ; it died in my hand a few moments 

 later. This rare specimen (the second female skin extant) has 



