^°i9i^^] H. L. WHITE, New \csts and Egys. 165 



With a series of eggs before me, I note very little individual 

 difference in the colour of the clutch, while those of the south- 

 ern bird vary to a remarkable extent. 



Number of eggs to clutch usually three, four occasionally. 

 Ground-colour invariably a dirty white, or pale brown, with a 

 few darker smudges or blotches about the larger end. They are 

 remarkable eggs, presenting the appearance of having been long 

 exposed to sun and weather, though most of my clutches were 

 fresh when taken ; nothing in my series of eggs of the more 

 southern bird approaches them in colour. 



Previously my most northern record was the Percy Islands, 

 S.E. of Mackay, North Queensland, where sets of a very bright 

 brick-red were obtained ; Coen is 700 miles further north. 



Strepera gracuUna robinsoui (Mathews). 



Type Eggs. — Clutch, 3 ; lengthened oval in form, ground- 

 colour dirty white, and possessing very pale yellowish tinge, 

 sparingly marked with small spots and blotches of dull olive and 

 slaty grey, which form an irregular cap at the larger end of 

 each egg. Surface of shell finely granulated, dull, without gloss, 

 and having a bleached appearance. Measurements in inches — 

 A, 1.70 X 1.12; B, 1.68 x 1.17; C, 1.67 x 1.11. Nest placed 77 

 feet from the ground in a paperbark (Melaleuca) tree. Collected 

 by Mr. W\ McLennan at Coen, Cape York Peninsula, North 

 Queensland, 12th October, 1921. 



Co-Type Eggs. — Clutch, 3 ; swollen oval in shape, ground- 

 colour dirty white, and possessing a very pale greenish tinge. 

 Spotted and blotched with comparatively small markings of dull 

 olive and slaty grey, the latter being the most numerous, and 

 the general markings becoming confluent at the larger end. 

 Surface of shell finely granulated, and almost without gloss. 

 A, 1.57 X 1.15; B, 1.57 x i.U; C, 1.53 x 1.13. 



Nest placed 55 feet from the ground in a paperbark tree. 

 Collected by Mr. W. McLennan at Coen, Cape York Peninsula, 

 North Queensland, 23rd October, 1921. 



A clutch containing four eggs, taken at Coen, 12th October, 

 1921. The specimens are rounded ovals in shape, and darker 

 than the two foregoing sets, being brownish in general colouring. 

 Dimensions— A, 1.43 x 1.12 ; B, 1.39 x 1.O8; C, 1.42 x 1.07; 

 D, 1.49 X 1.09. 



In his notes on the taking of the last clutch of eggs, Mr. 

 McLennan states: — "Struck a big nest of the vicious little Yel- 

 low Hornets in the top of the tree, and got badly stung about 

 the head, hands and back. The Strcpera's nest contained four 

 eggs ; had to use the rod and scoop from a strong limb 9 feet 

 from the nest to secure the eggs. The hornets were giving me 

 g>-p all the time. Measured distance of nest from ground, 50 

 feet." 



