THK VICTOIUAN NATURALIST. 1 1 T" 



DISCOVERY OF THE NEST AND EGGS OF THE 

 RUFOUS SCRUB-BIRD. 



By Sid. \Vm. Jackson, New South Wales. 

 (Read before the Field N^aturalists' Club of Victoria, V2th Dec, 1898.) 



During my trip to the cedar scrubs of the Clarence River 

 district in October this season (1898), I paid particular attention 

 to the habits of the Rufous Scrub-birds, Atrichia rufescens, 

 Ramsay, and followed and watched them patiently for days. I 

 was very anxious to discover the nest and eggs of this species, 

 knowing that they were still unknown to science, and that the 

 discovery of them would be solving one of Nature's secrets. 



I heard the birds very frequently, although difficult to see, but 

 this did not prevent me from still following them, for I felt 

 certain the birds bred in this dense scrub, which was many miles 

 in length, being very wild and the undergrowth very dense in 

 most parts, and thus rendering it utterly impossible to penetrate 

 in many places. 



I heard and saw the Atrichia mostly in these dense parts, and 

 low down among the ferns and lawyer vines. I did a lot of 

 hunting before I had any luck among them, and began to think 

 they had all finished breeding. 



On Thursday morning, 20th October, I left my camp just 

 after breakfast, accompanied by my brother, Mr. Frank Jackson, 

 and Messrs. L. Vesper and Jno. M'Enerny, who formed my 

 nesting party during the trip. We had not been walking long 

 till we heard the noisy notes of the Spined-tailed Orthonyx in 

 all parts of the scrub, when all at once we flushed an Orthonyx 

 from its nest, which was situated at the foot of a Prickly Fig 

 Tree (sometimes called Yellow Cedar) ; immediately after it 

 followed an Atrichia, which flew from a tall clump of wire grass 

 growing only three feet from the nest of the Orthonyx. A 

 rush was made for the tuft of grass, and we found in it two 

 fresh eggs, which were laid in a dome-shaped nest, the latter 

 being built about 6 inches above the ground. After removing 

 the eggs from the nest and taking a photograph of same, we lay 

 down among the ferns and undergrowth for about three and a 

 half hours, awaiting the return of the Atrichia, but without result, 

 and I had my gun pointed at the nest all the time. Great joy 

 prevailed at our camp after our very rare find. We heard an 

 Atrichia at the same spot two days after the nest was removed, 

 but were unable to shoot it, as the scrub was so dense. 



These birds are extremely shy, and it requires a lot of careful 

 hunting to get a glimpse of one. The nest of the Orthonyx, 

 which was built only three feet from the Atrichia's, contained 

 two fresh eggs, and the latter species picked a good and very 

 keen watchman to build near when it chose the Orthonyx, as 

 this bird is very quick at leaving its nest at the least noise, 



