THE VICTORIAN NATURALIST. 33 



made, but heavy rain came on, and we were soon soaked 

 through and the scrub dripping. Near the foot of the range, but 

 still about 800 ft. above sea level, we found several nests of the 

 Ashy-fronted Flycatcher, Heteromyas cinereijrons. The bird 

 itself was shy, and on only one occasion did we see one leave 

 her nest, when she was promptly secured. The nests were pretty 

 structures, and all those found were built in young Lawyer Palms, 

 either on or near the crown ; only one fresh egg was found in 

 each nest. The birds seemed to choose the thickest patches of 

 undergrowth to build in, and when disturbed darted away among 

 the low bushes, and we did not see one fly into the trees above ; 

 they are. in consequence difficult to catch sight of. I have 

 watched a pair hunting about for their insect food on the ground 

 among the dead leaves, and at first thought they were robins of 

 some kind. The habits of the bird, its nest and eggs all agree 

 far more closely with robins than with flycatchers, and I do not 

 know why they should have been called by the latter name. As 

 we got higher up the range the Tooth-billed Bower Bird was 

 heard, and we soon found some of their play-grounds. These 

 birds are very good at mimicking, and it was interesting listening 

 to them imitating the various notes of other birds, even to the 

 Coachwhip. The beautiful clear note of the Brown Thrush, 

 Collyriocincla brunnea, was often heard, and also that of Quoy's 

 Crow-Shrike. The Rufous Crow-Shrike, Cracticus rvfescens, is 

 found in the open country, and has a different note. We found 

 a Tallegalla's mound which contained twelve eggs. Leechesw ere 

 numerous and troublesome; we got one curious striped earth- 

 worm at the height of 2,000 ft. In a creek we crossed over 

 the natives saw a large eel, but lost it under a thick fringe of 

 roots of a tree ; after an interesting but wet ramble we got back 

 to the camp to lunch, which consisted of Tallegalla's eggs. The 

 blacks do not mind how big the chickens may be inside the egg, 

 it is all eaten. After drying our clothes by the fire we started off 

 back to Wyalla, which we reached at sundown. 



Next day, 25th November, I started on my return, and bidding 

 adieu to my kind host, Mr. G. Hislop, and his family, went to the 

 Bloomfield River over night, starting a little after daylight in a 

 cutter for Cooktown, a distance ot 30 miles. We had a favour- 

 able breeze and reached that town about three o'clock. The 

 next day was spent in looking through Mr. E. A. C. Olive's varied 

 and well-prepared specimens of birds' skins, butterflies, beetles, 

 &c, and fastened up to the wall of his room was the stuffed skin 

 of a Carpet Snake, Morelia variegata, which he had lately shot ; 

 its length when alive was 16 ft. The reason he killed it 

 instead of catching it alive was because the reptile when found 

 was high up a tree, alongside a large hornets' nest, and the black 

 boy who did the climbing objected to being in close quarters to 



