^°^- ^^'l Barnard, Field Notes from Cape York. 20 



Munia castaneithorax. Chcslnut-breasled Finch.— Only two pairs 

 seen. One jKur Iniilt a large, bulky nesl of grass in a large tussock 

 about 20 yards Iroin where 1 was camped, but deserted the nest as 

 soon as it wiis finished. 



Oriolus flavicinctus. Yellow Oriole. — Pleutilul both in forest and 

 scrub. Numbers of nests observed, and two eggs in all cases form 

 the full ckitch. 



Sphecotheres flaviventris. Yellow-bellied Fig-Bird. — Very plentiful 

 in forest country, and nested chiefly in Moreton Bay ash in company 

 with the 'rropidorhyiulius buceroides. 



Chibia bracteata. Drongo-Shrike. — Very common. Breed in com- 

 pany with the Sphecotheres flaviventris and Tropidorhynchus 

 buceroides. These birds are migratory, coming from New Guinea in 

 large numbers during October. 



Calornis metallica. Shining Starhng. — Very numerous, and are 

 migratory, coming from New Guinea in small flocks during October, 

 afterwards congregating in large numbers at a suitable tree, where 

 they breed, their large, bulky, and dome-shaped nests being bunched 

 together all over the branches. I have counted as many as 300 

 nests in one tree. 



Chlamydodera orientalis. Queensland Bower- Bird. —Nowhere plenti- 

 ful, but a few play-grounds were observed under low black tea-tree 

 bushes in forest country. 



Until my recent observations proved to the contrary, it was 

 believed that one species of Bower-Bird {Chlamydodera cerviniventris) 

 only inhabited the Cape York country. I have now proved that two 

 species are living in close proximity, but that C. orientalis is the more 

 generally distributed. A low range of hills, running generally east 

 to west, cuts off a strip of country, roughly about 10 miles long by 

 2 miles wide, at the northern extremity of Cape York Peninsula. 

 This strip is fringed by mangroves along the coast-line, the back land 

 being mostly low, and covered with white tea-tree {Melaleuca), 

 rising rather abruptly into the range. Here Chlamydodera cervini- 

 ventris makes its home, and I did not succeed in finding a single 

 specimen to the south of the range. C. orientalis is rarely found on 

 the strip as mentioned above, but is found in fair numbers to the 

 south of the range. I noted the bird upon many occasions, securing 

 both skins and eggs. I found C. orientalis in open forest country 

 only, while I saw C. cerviniventris only in the mangroves or tea- 

 trees bordering same. I found several old nests in tea-trees. As C 

 orientalis is common about Cooktown and Townsville, and the same 

 class of country extends on the west from near Cape York to these 

 places, it is reasonable to presume that the bird will be found through- 

 out the whole area. Whether C. cerviniventris is to be found to the 

 east of the range, which starts from Orford Bay, south of Somerset, 

 and cuts off a strip of country similar to that at the extreme north 

 of the peninsula, remains to be proved. The bower of C. orientalis 

 is composed of small sticks, forming a strongly built arch about 

 12 inches high inside, 15 inches outside, length of run about 2 feet, 

 inside of run raised about 3 inches above the ground with sticks 

 placed horizontally. For a space of about 2 feet right round the 

 bower all grass and leaves are cleared away. One end only of the 

 bower on the cleared ground is decorated by sea-shells, a few large 

 land-shells {Helix), and large berries coloured red or black. The 



