MORGAN — The Weights of Some Australian Birds. 



95 



.weight Weight per cent, per cent. 



of eggs. of clutch of clutch of heavi- 



to body est egg 



; weight to body 



Acanthogenys rufogularis cygnus 

 ( Spiney-cheeked Honey-eater) .. 



Zonaeginthus bellus (Fire-tailed 

 Finch) 



Ditto. 



1.5.8 

 2.5.1 



1.0.9 

 2.1.0 

 3.1.0 

 4.0.9 

 5.0.9 

 1.1.4 

 2.1.2 

 3.1.2 

 4.1.2 

 5.1.4 

 6.1.4 

 7.1.4 



10. 



4.7 



wei^t 



23.27 12.6 



33.3 



9.2 65.3 



7.0 



9.9 



I found during my investigations that birds lose weight 

 fairly rapidly after death, but in varying degree. I should think 

 the temperature of the air would hnve some influence on this 

 loss, and also the manner in which the bird had been killed ; 

 birds with large, open wounds would lose weight more rapidly 

 than those dead from other causes. This cause probably 

 accounts for the small weight of the Little Crake, noted above, 

 the bird having been caught by a dog, and considerably mauled 

 the day before it was weighed. A New-holland Honey-eater 

 lost one gr. in weight between 7 p.m. and 9 a.m. the next morn- 

 ing, whereas a second bird lost only 0.1 gramme in the same 

 period : a rufous-breasted Thickhead lost no weight ; a Blue 

 Wren lost 0.3 gramme; a Bee-eater lost 1 gramme; a Scrub 

 Wren lost 0.2 gramme in 14 hours after death. The great rela- 

 tive weight of the clutch of the Fire-tailed Finch is very remark- 

 able, especially as this bird lays an egg on each day until the 

 clutch is complete; four of this clutch of seven are known to 

 have been so laid. This means that the female loses nearly 10 

 per cent, of her body w Mght on each day. for seven days in suc- 

 cession — a really terrifif strain upon her economy. 



