178 Stray Feathers. [, 



Emu 

 St Jan. 



vies in excellence with the naturally moss-bedecked and lichen- 

 covered boughs of the tree in which it is placed, and perhaps not 

 very far away is found growing the somewhat rare tree-orchid 

 {Sarcochilus parviflorus), emitting a delicate fragrance from its 

 small flowers. (See illustration.) The Rose-breasted Robin, here- 

 abouts at least, is the chief foster-parent of the Square-tailed 

 Cuckoo {C. variolosiis), whose &^^, a little larger but with mark- 

 ings remarkably similar to those of the Robin's, has been several 

 times taken from this beautiful, cosy nest, with two eggs only of 

 the foster-parent. From observations it appears that the 

 Cuckoo's (t^^ is deposited after or previous to the first of the 

 Robin's, and the owner of the nest then lays only one other Qg^ 

 to bring the clutch to the full number of three. Further, it was 

 noticed in one favourable instance that the Cuckoo's (ig^^ was the 

 first to hatch, when the two eggs of the Robin, though advanced 

 in incubation, were immediately thrown out. Further, it seems 

 that one pair of birds is doomed for some time at least to be 

 the foster-parents for a certain pair of Cuckoos, which undoubt- 

 edly watch the nest after their &^^ is deposited, for should the 

 contents be taken they deposit a second egg in the second nest 

 the Robins usually build. It has yet to be discovered whether it 

 is parent or foster-parent which turns out the rightful eggs when 

 the little stranger is hatched. — A. G. Campbell, Melbourne. 



From Magazines, &c. 



In the Proceedings of the Linnemi Society of New South 

 Wales, part i. (1902), p. 75, Mr. A. J. North, C.M.Z.S., points out 

 that the synonymy of Eopsaltria georgiana and E.gularis, both of 

 Ouoy and Gaimard, has become transposed. He states : — " In 

 his ' Handbook ' (vol. i., p. 294) Gould erroneously placed 

 Muscicapa georgiana, Quoy and Gaimard, as a synonym of his 

 Eopsaltria griseogularis, and also erred in placing Mnscicapa 

 giilaris, Quoy and Gaimard, as a synonym of Eopsaltria 

 leucogaster, Gould. Dr. Gadow (Cat. Birds Brit. Mus., vol. viii., 

 p. 178) has similarly confused the synonymy of the two species, 

 and he erroneously describes Eopsaltria giilaris under the name 

 of Eopsaltria georgiana, and the latter species under the name 

 of the former." 



Mr. North has thus verified the nomenclature of these species 

 as given in Dr. E. P. Ramsay's " Tabular List of Australian 

 Birds," p. 7 (1888). 



* * * 



Our venerable field naturalist and collector, Mr. Kendall 

 Broadbent, has contributed to The Ibis (July) " Field Notes on 

 the Birds of Bellenden-Ker." Bellenden-Ker is the highest 

 mountain (5,500 iQQ.\.) in Queensland. Mr. Broadbent has 



