and Eggs from Cape York. 59 



9. Gerygone personata Gould. (Masked Gerygone ) 

 These little birds are very shy and difficult to secure in the 

 thick scrub where they make their home. One curious cir- 

 cumstance is tliat they always seem to buikl their hanging, 

 dome-shaped nests in close proximity to a wasps'-nest, from 

 within a few inches to four feet away, and it is difficult to 

 conjecture for what reason. The nests vary in size and are 

 generally suspended from the end of a thin branch or palm- 

 leaf. They have a porch at the entrance, sometimes going 

 straight in and occasionally upward, and more prominent in 

 some than in others. The nest is composed of fine fibres of 

 grass, and on the lower portion, Avhicli hangs loose below, are 

 often fastened the dried excreta of wood-boring caterpillars, 

 which add weight to it and prevent its being blown over or 

 against the nest. Small portions of the same material are 

 often placed on the exterior of the nest. It is lined with 

 fine brown-coloured down oft' the seeds of scrub-plants ; 

 a good deal of cobweb is worked in, which materially helps 

 to keep the lightly-built structure together, and cobweb is 

 also plentifully put on the outside. The nest measures in 

 depth 5 inches, exclusive of 3 inches of loose material 

 hanging under it. Inside chamber 2^ inches. Breadth : ex- 

 ternal 2^ inches, top of porch l^ inch ; internal 2 inches. The 

 eggs are three in number ; their ground-colour is white, and 

 they are thickly marked with reddish spots, varying in 

 intensity of colour, the markings being much more numerous 

 on the larger end and often confluent. A clutch taken on 

 the 3rd February, 1897, by Mr. Barnard at Somerset, 

 measure : A -80 X -51, B -82 x "48, C -82 X -46 inch. 



I have occasionally found the egg of the Little Bronze 

 Cuckoo [Chalcites niinutiUus Gould) in the nest of this bird, 

 but much more frequently in the nests of Gerygone magni- 

 rostris. Mr. Barnard found many nests of G. personata 

 containing one or two eggs partially dried ; one nest con- 

 tained three eggs too dry to blow, and three eggs placed on 

 top of them perfectly fresh. The eggs' drying he attributed 

 to the intense heat. 



