THE VICTORIAN NATURALIST. 23 



science. The Black-fronted Flycatcher, Monarcha trivirgata, 

 was fairly plentiful, with its more sombre colouring of dark grey 

 and black, and several of their pretty cup-shaped nests were 

 found, generally built on the topmost branches of a small shrub, 

 about four feet from the ground. They fasten empty spider- 

 cocoons on the outside of the nest, the white looking very pretty 

 against the green moss of which the outside of the nests is often 

 composed ; we always found their nests near a watercourse. The 

 nest of the Yellow- tinted Flycatcher, Micrceca Jiavigaster, was 

 found in the open country by Mr. Frank Hislop, but it was so 

 small and so similar in colour to the branch on which it was built, 

 that it was very difficult to detect; it was only noticed by seeing 

 the bird flying off it. It had one egg in, partially incubated. 

 This egg is new to science, which is not to be wondered at, 

 seeing how hard the small nest is to see ; it is probably one of 

 the smallest of Australian birds' nests. There was only room for 

 one egg in the nest. The Shining Flycatcher, Piezorhynchus 

 nitidus, was seen occasionally, and its nest and eggs procured at 

 Ingham by Mr. P. Cochrane, who kindly sent them to me. 

 Several other varieties of Flycatchers were observed in the open 

 country, and their nests were more often found on a dead 

 branch of a tree than on a green one. Near the top of 

 the ranges we secured a Spalding's Orthonyx, Orthonyx Spal- 

 dingii, and were fortunate in finding its nest and one white 

 egg. The nest had the appearance at first of a Lyre Bird's, 

 being built on the ground, but the structure was composed out- 

 wardly of leaves, with a thick lining of moss, and situated at the 

 foot of a small tree. The photograph taken gives a good idea of 

 its position. In the thick scrub, well up the mountains, we on 

 two or three occasions heard the call of the Coach-whip Bird, 

 Psophodes crepitans, but the note uttered is slightly different from 

 our Victorian one ; one nest was secured with two fresh eggs in. 

 Several White-vented Wood Swallows, Artamus albiventris, were 

 seen, and one pair had their nest in a slight hollow of a dead 

 bough well up in a gum tree, and four eggs were laid. Four 

 birds were often seen about the nest, but I presume it only be- 

 longed to two of them. Once when high up on a spur of Mount 

 Finlayson we came across the playing place of the Tooth-billed 

 Bower Bird, Scenopoeus dentirostris ; it was a clear space on the 

 ground in the scrub, and plentifully adorned with coloured leaves, 

 land shells, &c. I was unable to take a photograph of it. There 

 were no sticks stuck in the ground as with the other species. 

 We saw two of the birds. The Red-backed Superb Warblers, 

 Malurus cruentatus, were very plentiful, and were often seen in 

 small flocks of five or six, generally keeping in the high grass, 

 and on one occasion I saw a few Blue and Black Superb 

 Warblers, Malurus cyanochlamys, in the edge of a thick patch 



