156 Le SoUEF, Birds' -eggs from Northern Australia. [isfjan 



POLIOLIMNAS CINEREUS (White-browed Crake). 



Cat. B. Brit. Mus., vol. xxiii., p. 130; Gould's Handbook, vol. ii., 

 p. 343, sp. 576. 



These somewhat noisy birds are plentiful in parts of northern 

 Australia, their nests being generally made of rushes or coarse 

 herbage, lined with grass, and situated among swampy vegeta- 

 tion. The general clutch of eggs is four, but five are occasionally 

 found. One clutch was taken in February, one in March, and 

 four in May. They are greyish-white in colour, thickly freckled 

 over with reddish-brown markings, slightly more plentiful at the 

 larger end. A clutch of five measures — (i) 1,06 x .85 ; (2) 1.14 

 X .87; (3) 1.07 X .85 ; (4) 1. 18 X .87; (5) 1. 16 X .86 inches. 



PORPHYRIO MELANONOTUS (Bald-Coot). 



Cat. B. Brit. Mus., vol. xxiii., p. 205; Gould's Handbook, vol. ii., 

 p. 321, sp. 563. 



Many clutches of the eggs of this bird were found. The dates 

 were in February, March, April, May, June, and July ; but the 

 nesting of these birds, as with other waterfowl in Australia, 

 largely depends on a wet season. None of the nests contained 

 more than four eggs, although they sometimes lay up to seven. 

 The nests were built on the broken down reeds in swamps. The 

 eggs are stone colour, boldly marked with blotches of reddish- 

 brown, which are generally more or less longitudinal, from the 

 larger to the smaller end, and a clutch of four measures — (i) 

 2.02 X 1.42; (2) 2.02 X 1.42; (3) 2.0 X 1.41 ; (4) 2.02 X 1.38 

 inches. 



Antigone autralasiana (Crane or Native Companion). 



Cat. B. Brit. Mus., vol. xxiii., p. 265 ; (Jould's Handbook, vol. ii., 

 p. 290, sp. 543. 



The nests of these birds were found on raised knolls in shallow 

 swamps, and were composed of coarse grass, sticks, and leaves, 

 but sometimes hardly any nest is made. The shell of the eggs 

 is much pitted, and dirty-white in colour, sparsely blotched with 

 reddish or purplish-brown, most plentiful on the larger end ; but 

 several of them have no markings. The shells often have small 

 limy nodules on their surface. The eggs measure — A, d) 3.64 

 X 2.44, (2) 3.51 X 2.30; B, (i) 3.62 X 2.46, (2) 3.52 X 2.38 inches. 

 The dates were — four clutches in March and one in June. 



EUPODOTIS AUSTRALIS (Bustard or Wild Turkey). 



Cat. B. Brit. Mus., vol. xxiii., p. 328; Gould's Handbook, vol. ii., p. 

 208, sp. 495. 



It is seldom that these birds lay more than one egg ; two are 

 only occasionally found. They, as a rule, lay on the bare 

 ground, without any nest, out on the plain. The shell is smooth 

 in texture, but occasionally with limy nodules, and in colour 

 olive, faintly marked longitudinally with olive-brown. Some 



