THE VICTORIAN NATURALIST. 19 



caterpillars, eggs and young of other birds, &c, &c, which con- 

 stitute their food. Rifle Birds, Ptilorhis Victories, were fairly 

 plentiful in the scrubs, especially near the coast, and they were 

 by no means shy birds. We had great difficulty in finding their 

 nests, but one was discovered by the blacks when clearing a place 

 for their camp, with two beautifully marked eggs in. The nests 

 are very loosely put together, and hence are built in some situa- 

 tion that holds them secure, either in a thick bunch of creepers, 

 a Pandanus Palm or a Fan Palm, the latter seemingly being the 

 favourite. When I left another nest was being built in a 

 Cordyline, only about seven feet from the ground. The hen 

 bird when sitting is not easily disturbed. Their harsh single 

 note was often heard. They seem to be very local. I saw 

 two of them trying to drive a Quoy's Butcher Bird away 

 from the neighbourhood of their nest, and then they uttered 

 a different note to their usual one. In building they seem 

 to have a weakness for the cast skins of snakes, as in two 

 instances I saw pieces of snake skin worked into their nest, one 

 piece being about three feet long, most of which was hanging 

 loose. I had heard of this habit before in the Cardwell district. 

 I noticed two species of Graucalus, the beautiful Swainson's 

 Graucalus, Graucalus Swainsonii, and the Varied Graucalus, 

 Graucalus mentalis, but was only successful in finding the eggs 

 of the Varied Graucalus, both at Duaringa, Townsville, and 

 Bloomfield. A pair of the Swainson's Graucalus had a nest in 

 the neighbourhood, but it contained young ones. Sulphur-crested 

 Cockatoos, Cacatua galerita, were very numerous, both in the 

 scrub and open country. King Parrots, Aprosmictus scapulatiis, 

 were occasionally seen; they nested in holes in gum trees that 

 grew in the patches of open country on the higher parts of the 

 mountains. Blue Mountain Parrots, Trichoglossus Nova'-Hol- 

 landice, were very numerous, their shrill call being heard at all 

 times of the day, as they fed on the honey-laden blossoms, both 

 in the scrub and open forest country. About two dozen roosted 

 on a eucalyptus sapling about five yards from the house, and I 

 noticed just before dark that they all roosted in pairs, one close 

 alongside the other. In the open country we secured a nest with 

 two eggs in. The Scaly-breasted Lorikeet, Trichoglossus chloro- 

 lepidopus, and a very small Parrakeet, were occasionally seen, 

 but I was unable to obtain a specimen of the latter. On two 

 occasions only did I see the Channel-bill Cuckoo, Scyt.hrojys 

 Nov«>-Hollandi(f ; these birds lay their eggs in the nests of Crows, 

 Magpies, and Sparrowhawks; but the Pheasant Coucals, Centropus 

 phasianus, were numerous, and their curious deep note was often 

 heard. One of their nests, with young in, was destroyed by a 

 bush fire not far from the house ; it was built in the long grass, 

 they also build in the thick heads of the Pandanus Palm, laying 



