THE VICTORIAN NATURALIST. 91 



laterally on each side, base convex, nearly semilunar ; meso- 

 thorax produced antero-laterally ; metathorax deep brown, sides 

 rotundate, base truncate ; legs chestnut, anterior femora sub- 

 ovate, with a pale band anteriorly, second and third pair 

 margined with deep chestnut ; abdomen elongate, elliptical, 

 lateral margins deep chestnut, sutures pale, last two segments 

 yellow throughout. The body and legs are clothed with long 

 hairs. Length, 7 mm. 



This species is the largest of the genus ; it is very strong, and 

 swift in its movements. I have found it only on the Black Swan. 



Ornithobius fuscus, found on Black Swan, Chenopis atrata. 



Female chestnut, with centre of head and thorax and centre 

 and sutures of abdomen pale ; head large and cordate ; clypeus 

 obtuse, with six hairs growing from each side ; antenna large 

 and filiform, pale ; temples nearly semilunar and chestnut, 

 darker towards the margins ; centre of the head pale and broadly 

 channelled, base concave ; prothorax nearly quadrate, rotundate 

 anteriorly and posteriorly, deep chestnut laterally, and channelled; 

 metathorax broad and rotundate laterally, chestnut antero- 

 laterally, pale posteriorly and in the centre ; legs pale, with 

 anterior femora and tibia chestnut ; abdomen clavate, each 

 segment chestnut with a pale centre, with one or two hairs 

 growing laterally at each segment ; sutures pale. Length, 

 4.50 mm. 



Found (generally on the wing primaries) on the Black Swan. 

 I have also met with it on the Australian Spoonbill and on the 

 White Swan ; but this latter must have been a stray, since the 

 Black and White Swans were together, and it has not been re- 

 ported from this bird from other countries. 



DESCRIPTIONS OF SOME AUSTRALIAN BIRDS' EGGS. 



By D. Le Souef, C.M.Z.S., &c. 



Calyptorhynchus macrorhynchus, Great-billed Black Cockatoo 

 (Cat. Birds Brit. Mus., vol. xx., p. no). 



This bird nests in the hollow limbs of the eucalyptus trees in 

 the neighborhood of Port Darwin, Northern Territory, and is, I 

 think, the only Australian cockatoo that has not had its eggs so 

 far described. 



The eggs were laid on the decomposed wood at the bottom of 

 the hollow, and there was only one egg in each of the three nests 

 found, so it is probable that that is the usual number, as with the 

 Kanksian Cockatoo, and all three were found in July, which 

 therefore appears to be their breeding month. The eggs are 



