184 Nest of the Masked Owl. [,sf Jan. 



Nest of the Masked Owl. 



The nest-hole of the Masked Owl (Strix novce-JLollandiie), con- 

 tained one fledgling, and fortunately (or perhaps unfortunately) 

 nearly three-quarters of the empty shell, just sufficient to 

 determine breadth, colour, surface, &c., exactly, and the length 

 by approximation and analogy. Particulars are as follow : — 



Date, 20th December, 1902. Site, &c., an old redgum {E. 

 rostratd) ; entrance to nest about 45 feet up ; hole 8 inches 

 across by 18 inches long. Under the lower rim of the hole, 

 about 6 inches down, was a picked-out platform, worn smooth 

 where the young rested when waiting for food, thus doing away 

 with the need of the parents entering each time. Floor of the 

 nest about 4 feet down, in which were found bones and feathers 

 of parrots. In one corner were the three-quarter shell and some 

 of the remaining fragments. 



Colour of Egg — Beautiful pearly white, with here and there 

 some heaping-up of the lime salts of the shell. Slight lustre 

 and smooth fairly even surface and fine texture. Shape — 

 Rounded, but a little less so than that of Owls' eggs generally. 



Dimensions — Breadth, i inch 5 lines, or almost 1% inches. 

 Length (ascertained approximately by drawing in the missing 

 portion in a carefully measured copy of the existing portion on 

 paper), nearly 2 inches. 



Only one parent bird flew from the nest, and a search failed 

 to discover the other in the vicinity. — (Dr.) Ernest A. 

 D'Ombrain. Casterton, Victoria, 23/12/02. 



Editorial Note. 



Until there be published a " Check List " of Australian birds, 

 which the Aust. O.U.* has in view in the near future, members 

 and contributors are invited to use as far as possible, the 

 nomenclature in the Australasian Science Association's List 

 (1898). This will greatly aid the editors when revising the 

 MSS. Moreover, it is obvious that if authors use their own 

 favourite or local names, some little confusion may ensue, not to 

 mention the discount in value of important notes by the use 

 of obsolete names. 



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A WIDOW of an ornithologist has a case of mounted Australian 

 Quails to dispose of It consists of 12 birds of various species 

 besides a pair of Snipe, and can be had for less than half its 

 intrinsic value — a rare chance for collectors or others. — Apply 

 to the editor of this Journal. 



