THE VICTORIAN NATURALIST. 137 



esteemed fellow-member, Mr. Joseph Gabriel, F.LS. ; also 

 another received from him in the possession of Mr. G. A. 

 Keartland. Both were taken from different nesting places by Mr. 

 W. H. Watson, in the Western District of Queensland, and who 

 has also kindly supplied the following information, under date 

 28th July, 1S95 • — " Jf h^ve forgotten the precise date of taking 

 the eggs of the Black Cockatoo, but I think that I got one 

 in the first week in May and the other in the first week of June. 

 Both nests were in holes in big gum trees overhanging the river, 

 and were so situated that a stone dropped from the nesting-places 

 would fall into deep water. I was in a boat on both occasions, 

 and the passengers who were with me also saw the Black 

 Cockatoos fly out of the hollow limbs. These birds are rather 

 scarce in Western Queensland, but as I was a keen collector of 

 eggs when a boy, I cannot help observing a bird that is leaving 

 its nest. At one time I used to manage Cultowa station, on the 

 Darling River, and where I saw dozens of the nests of this bird ; 

 generally they were in very big trees in the river bends. 

 Altogether I have climbed up to about twelve nests in New South 

 Wales and Queensland, and have only found one egg or one young 

 one in each. I once watched a nest on the Darling River, 

 and when the single egg had been hatched for some time I took 

 the young one, which was successfully reared by Mr. John Hearn. 

 He was a nice quiet bird, but when full-grown got accidentally 

 drowned." 



One egg is elongate-oval in form ; the other a slightly swollen 

 oval. They are white, the surface of the shells being rather rough, 

 minutely pitted, and lustreless. In one specimen are crack-like 

 fissures in the shell. Length — (A), 2.1 inch x 1.38 inch; (B), 

 1.97 inch X 1.47 inch. 



2. — Erythrodryas rosea. 

 Petroica rosea, Gould, Proc. Zool. Soc, p. 142 (1839). 

 Erythrodryas rosea, Gould, Proc. Zool. Soc, p. 112 (1842); 



Ramsay, Tab. List Aust. Bds., p. 7 (1888). 

 Petrceca rosea, Sharpe, Cat. Bds. Brit. Mus., vol. iv., p. 170 

 (1879). 



Although by no means a common species, the Rose-breasted 

 Robin is distributed throughout the tropical jungles in the 

 vicinity of Cardwell, in Queensland, the whole of the coastal 

 brushes of New South Wales, and the humid scrubs of Eastern 

 Victoria. During the winter months it frequents the contiguous 

 open forest lands, and retires again in the spring to its thickly 

 wooded retreats for the purposes of breeding. Near Sydney it 

 is usually seen in pairs during May, June, and July, and are so 

 familiar that I have frequently observed them in the suburban 

 gardens on the outskirts of Ashfield and Croydon. It has a 

 weak, piping little note, but when once heard it is sufficient to 

 distinguish it from that of any other Robin. The nest of this 



