Vol. XXVIII. 

 igii 



] DoDD, A Collecting Trip to Herberion District, N.O. 139 



" bulldog," with black abdomen, and a " jumper," both of the 

 genus Myrmecia. That wretched little pest, the Brown House- 

 Ant, so common in Queensland, which infests our gardens and 

 houses, and is such a protector and undoubtedly farmer of 

 scales and aphides, was happily absent — at least, wherever we 

 were — but, like the sparrow, it is bound to spread. 



Birds. — My son is interested in these, but I gave him little 

 time to observe or collect same. He obtained less than a 

 dozen skins, and found a few clutches of eggs, most of which 

 he did not interfere with. Nests found included Satin Bower- 

 bird, Ptilonorhynchus violaceiis, containing one egg (height from 

 ground, 8 feet), a Scrub Thrush [Collyriocichla, sp.), the Ashy- 

 fronted Robin, Heteromyias cinereijrons, Yellow-rumped Robin, 

 Eopsaltria magnirostris, and a few others. The last-named nests 

 out in the forest, and never by any chance builds in or very 

 close to the scrub. Forest birds do not build in the scrub, nor 

 do the scrub birds build in the forest, therefore when one reads 

 of a Yellow-rumped Robin and a Rifle-bird, Ptilorhis victories, 

 nesting in the same tree, strangely at the same time, and 

 within 6 feet of each other, he smiles — very broadly, too ! 

 The Yellow-rumped Robin is a dear little bird, and its. notes 

 are wonderfully like some of those of the Ashy-fronted. We 

 found it up to 4,000 feet. It is the only yellow-rumped species 

 in the north, but attempts were made (happily upset by North 

 and Mathews) to pass off a variety as a new species. Not only 

 that, but the habitat of the bird was said to be only high 

 country of 3,000 to 5,000 feet — strange, indeed, when we reflect 

 that the highest points in North Queensland, with the ex- 

 ception of the scrub-clad and rarely ascended mountains, 

 Bellenden-Ker and Bartle-Frere, fall short of the greater height 

 by nearly 1,000 feet ! This Robin, like some other birds, at 

 times varies a little in colour and size ; so do the eggs, which 

 may be found in clutches of two, three, and four. We have 

 seen the bird on a forest patch two miles from Kuranda, at about 

 1,100 feet, and, out in the open forest, five miles from Kuranda, 

 at about 1,300 feet, it is not rare. 



The Tooth-billed Bower-birds', Scenopceetes dentirostris, play- 

 grounds received much attention from us, for we were very 

 interested in the alleged snail-shell cracking (on stones) pro- 

 pensities of the birds, as reported by an individual who paid 

 a hurried visit in igo8 to this fearful Queensland. Of course, 

 we failed to discover any evidence in support of his statements, 

 and knew full well that we should not. It is quite likely this 

 bird often builds fairly high, perhaps 30 to 50 feet, but Mr. 

 Sharp found the first nest and eggs * ever discovered, at only 

 17 feet, and he informed me that he never found any so high 

 * Victorian Naturalist, February, 1909, xxv., p. 160. 



