FOREIGN BIRDS FOR CAGE AND AVIARY. 



tercEting account of the nesting of this species in her 

 aviaries. Unhappily no young were reared to perfec- 

 tion. 



As regards feeding, I found that Gould's idea that 

 this species is very slightly, if at all, insectivorous was 

 quite erroneous. It wijl swallow cotkroac'hes one after 

 th; other with the greatest avidity, as well as any other 

 insects or smooth larva? which one may supply, and, 

 of course, spiders. Grapes are much relished, but 

 banana, ripe pear, apple or orange are also eaten freely. 

 Insectivorous food is taken in moderation, but the 

 yolk of egg is always first selected and the remainder 

 of the food only taken when the birds are hungry. 

 Australian C.at-Bird (.Elurcediis viridis). 



Above bright grass-green ; a whitish patch on side 

 of lower neck ; median and greater wing-coverts and 

 secondaries with yellowish-white tips; primaries 

 slightly bluish on outer webs; inner webs of all the 

 flights grey-brownish; tail feathers white-tipped, with 

 inner webs blackish; head and neck slightly yellow;er 

 than back ; the neck and mantle with faint bufty-whit« 

 shaft-lines; sides of head olivaceous, the ear-coverts 

 with a silvery gloss ; a whitish orbital ring ; cheeks, in- 

 fra-orbital re'gion and malar line slightly spotted with 

 black; throat grey, faintly olivaceous, and dotted with 

 white ; remainder of under-surface dull olivaceous, the 

 feathers sipott<xl with ,«hort white shift-streaks ; centre 

 of abdomen, vent and under tail-coverts yellowish and 

 epotless; under wing-covei-ts whitidi, baried with grey 

 and tinged with green, especially at edge of wing; 

 bill pale horn-colour ; feet whitish ; irides brownish- 

 red. Female slightly smaller and duller, and probably 

 with a shorter wing. Hab., New South Wales, extend- 

 ing to the Wide Bay district in Easttrn Au*traJia. 

 (Sharpe.) . . ,, 



Gould observes (" Handbook of Birds of Australia, 

 Vol. I., pp. 446-447) :— " So far as our kno\y- 

 ledge extends, this species is only found in 

 New South Wales, where it inhabits the 

 luxuriant forests that extend along the eastern 

 coast bctweer the mountain ranges and the sea ; thcsx 

 of Illawarra, the Hunter, the MacLeay, and the 

 Clarence, and the cedar brushes of the Liverpool range 

 being, among many others, ilocaJities in which it may 

 be found ; situation's suit.ible to the Rcgeni- and Sitin- 

 bird are equally adapted to the habits of the Cat-bird, 

 and I have not'infrequently seen them all three feeding 

 together on the same tr.^e. ' TliR wild fig, and the native 

 cherry, when in ecason. afford an a'oundant supiily. So 

 rarely does it take inse--ts that I do not recollect ever 

 finding anv remains in the stomachs of these specini'^ns 

 I dissected. In its disposition it is neither a shy nor 

 a wary bird, little caution being requirerl to approach it. 

 either while feeding or while perched upon the lofty 

 branches of the trees. It is ait. si.cih; times that its loixl. 

 harsh, and extraordinary note i« heard, a note which 

 differs so much from that of all other birds, that having 

 been once he.ird it cr,n never he mistaken. In com- 

 paring it to the nightly concerts of the domestic cat 

 I conceive that I am conveyins to my readers a u;ore 

 perfect idea of the note of" this species than could be 

 given by pages of description. The concert is performed 

 either by a pair or several individuals, and nothing more 

 is reauired than for the hearer to shut his eyes to the 

 neighbouring foliage to fancy himseiif surrounded by 

 London grimalkins of hou.setop c^-ebrity." 



In A. J. Campliell's "Nests and Eggs of Australian 

 Birds," pp. 197-198. v.e read :—" The fii-st ruthenti- 

 cated finds of Cat-birds' eggs were by Mr. Henry R. 

 Elvery, Richmond River (1881). and by my venerabie 

 friend Mr. Hermann Lau, South Queensland (1885). 



These finds were not reported at the time, and the 

 credit fell to Mr. W. J. Grime for a nest and egg which 

 he procured in the Tweed River district., and forwarded 

 to the Australian Museum. The following is Mr. 

 Grime's account, as given in the records of that insti- 

 tution :— " On the 4th October, 1890, I was out looking 

 for ne«ts, accompanied by a boy. I left him: foi- a little 

 while to go further in the scrub, and on my return iho 

 informed nie he had found a Cat-hiid's nest with two 

 eggs, one of which he showed me, the other one he 

 broke de.scen ling the tree. I went with him to the nest, 

 and foiuid the old birds veiy e.ivage. flying at us and 

 fluttering along the grcnind. The nest was built in a 

 three-pronged fork of a tree, about fom'tefn feet from 

 the gi-ound. The tree was only four inches in diameter, 

 and was in a jungle of light scrub, abont fifty yards 

 from the edge of open comntiy. I feUled the tree and 

 eecured the nest " Mr. Campbell quotes the following 

 from Jlr. Lau'^ mxnuscript : — " It was in Novembei', 

 1886, at. Cuiminghani's Gap, where I happily fcund a 

 nest five feet from the ground, betw-een the triple fork 

 of a young tree, and an exquisite nest it was. Half-way 

 up from the bottom consisted of di-j- fig-leaves, beaiuti- 

 fidly fastened with twining rootlets, and stronger ones 

 from the rim, and liQed with dry gi-ass and roots. 

 Finding only one egg m it, I waite<l tor two days more, 

 when there W'>re two. I concluded sU'ch to be the clutch. 

 Al':hough it is said that the Cat-bird makes a bower, 

 I never saw ono of its own. but several times have seen 

 it poking about the t>ower of the Satin-bird." " Breeding 

 months include from about the middle of Septemher to 

 Janu-nrv." 



" E[/gs. — Clutch, two to three ; shape inclined to oval; 

 texture of shell somewhat fine ; sui'face glossy, and of a 

 uniform rich or dark creamy colour. Dimensions in 

 inches of a full clutch : (1) 1.76 x 1.24, (2) 1.75 >. 1.23, 

 (3) 1.72 X 1.23 : of a pair, (1) 1.69 x 1.2, (2) 1.68 x 1.18." 

 Russ says : " In the year 1879 an example reached the 

 Zoological Gardens of London, and in the year 1895 

 Miss Hagenbeck brouglit one to the exhibition of the 

 ' Ornis ' Society in Berlin." 



Spotted Bower-bikd {Chlamydodera maciilata). 

 Above dark brown, each feather with a sub-terminal 

 spul. of tawny buff p.iJer externally; nape crossed by a 

 band of elongated rosy-lilac feathers, forming a broad, 

 fan-like nest ; hind-neck a uniform brown : night<s pals 

 brown edged with whity-brown, and with termmal 

 spots, ill-defined and whiter on the primaa'ies ; upper 

 tail-coverts with sub-terminal and terminal tawny buff 

 bars ; tail pale brown with paler edges and buff whitish 

 tips ; crown and sides of head with the tawny buff spots 

 much reduced, owing to the dark borders to the feathers, 

 a few of them on the cxown tipped with silvery whitish ; 

 cheeks with whitish spots; throat brown, with small 

 dusky bars, each feather tipped with pale butf ; these 

 become larger on the chest, which is of a general whity- 

 brown tint ; breast and abdomen creamy butf : sides 

 whitish, with duskv bars on 11 inks and thighs; under 

 tail-coverts pale buff, indistinctly baned ; flights ashy 

 brownish below, pale yellow along inner webs; bill 

 and feet dnskv-brown ; irides dark brown ; bare skin 

 at corner of rnoutb thick, fleshy, prominent, and of a 

 pink flesh colour. (Gould.) Fe rale without the lilacme 

 band of elongated feathers on the nape ; she is also a 

 trifle smaller.'and has ill-defined bars on the under parts. 

 Hab., " Eastern Australia from Rockingham Bay to the 

 Wide Bay district, and occui's also in the interior pro- 

 vince and Victoria," (Sha.rpe.) 



Ctonld observes ("Handbook." Vol. I., pp. 450, 451) 

 that " the bird is seldom seen by ordinary travellers, and 



