20 THE VICTORIAN NATURALIST. 



white eggs. This bird, as is well known, is the only Cuckoo in 

 Australia which builds its own nest ; it looks a bulky bird when 

 lazily flying from one bush to another, but it is nearly all feathers, 

 and is in reality not large. The monotonous call of the Brush 

 Cuckoo, Cuculus insperatus, was often heard during the day, and 

 also throughout the night, keeping company with the Long-tailed 

 Nightjar, Caprimulgus macrurus, as the latter uttered its curious 

 note, somewhat like the sound of chopping, hence its local name 

 of the " Chop-chop " Bird. I searched a good deal for the single 

 egg of this bird, which it lays on the bare ground, generally in 

 the shade of a clump of small timber, but was only successful in 

 finding young ones, it evidently being rather late for eggs. Much 

 of the open country also had been burnt, and the fire would 

 probably have destroyed any eggs it passed over, except where 

 the ground was very bare. One of the most numerous birds in 

 the scrub was the Lewin's Honeyeater, Ptilotis Lewinii, and when 

 sitting quietly near any stream they would come to within a few 

 feet of one, take a dip in the clear water, and then hurry off 

 again. Only one nest was found, and that a few days before I 

 left; it had two fresh eggs in. In the open country a good many 

 Dusky Honeyeaters, Glyciphila modesta, were seen, and several 

 of their dome-shaped pendent nests were found in Melaleuca 

 saplings, generally about eight feet from the ground. A nest and 

 two eggs of the little Obscure Honeyeater, Myr omelet obscura, 

 was also found in the open country, placed high up in an Iron- 

 wood tree, and very difficult to detect among the bright green 

 leaves. When in the scrub for the first time, many curious 

 notes attract one's attention, but none perhaps is more unlike 

 a bird's call than that of the Cat Bird, Ailuredus mactdosus, 

 but I cannot say that I could detect the faintest resemblance 

 in their cry to any sound made by a cat. When the bird 

 utters its call it straightens its body and throws its head 

 back, giving it a very grotesque appearance. Their nests are 

 generally built at the top of a small thin tree in the scrub, 

 and are not often more than fifteen feet from the ground ; one 

 nest we found was only about two feet from the ground, but that 

 was exceptionally low. They lay two cream-coloured eggs, 

 destitute of any markings. They are not shy birds, and on one 

 occasion I saw one speared by a native in some thick scrub. 

 Honeyeaters and other small birds often try to drive them away 

 from the neighbourhood of their nests, so they evidently are not 

 above robbing their neighbours occasionally of eggs and young. 

 The bright-coloured Dragoon Bird, or Pitta, Pitta strepitans, is 

 another bird which has a curious cry, and several pairs of them 

 were noted in the scrub. The nest and eggs of this bird were 

 taken shortly after I left, being built on the ground alongside the 

 butt of a tree. Another numerous scrub bird is the Rusty- 



