CKNTKOI'l'S. 39 



Mr. (]. A. Keartland recurcls :—■• rmil I saw Ct-iitnif<:is pliasliiiins in West Kimberley, 

 Xoi Ill-western Australia, I wondered why they were often called "Swamp Pheasants," but 

 there they were runnin-,' over the burnt ^'ruund, or amongst the tussocks in a dry swamp, 

 scratching up their food like domestic fowls, .jr darting after passing insects. When disturbed they 

 escaped by runnini,' if possible, but should a dog approach them they flew into the branches of 

 the large trees, and ran along the limbs, or jumped from branch to branch. 1 often located them 

 by listening for their peculiar note, which somewhat resembles that of the iJoob.jok Owl. The 

 local natives call it the •' Mook ISook." 



The nest is a large globular stiucture with an entrance at either side for ingress and exit, 

 in the northern coastal rivers of New South Wales it is frequently formed in a tussock of Blady- 

 grass, the tops of which are drawn together, and is lined at the bottom with a thick pad of dried 

 Eucalyptus leaves. Usually it is built in a tuft of grass, but sometimes in a low bush. Both 

 in the Bloomfield and Herbert Kiver Districts, m Xorth-eastern Oueensland, the lower leaves 

 of the Screw Palm i I'diidanu-. ci,/ii,ilini> j is one of the commonest nesting sites for this species. 



The eggs vary tnjin three to five in number for a sitting, and in form from a rounded to an 

 elongated oval, and are of a dull white, the shell beiiiL; line grained, smooth and slightly lustrous. 

 Three eggs of a set of hve taken by Mr. J. A. I !oyd at Kipple Creek, Herbert Iviver, (Queensland, 

 measure: -Length (A) 1-53 x 1-3 inches: (U) i-j<, x ,-i- inches; (C) i-4S x 1-2 inches. 

 An unusually ekjngated set o( lour, taken by Afr. George Savidge at Copmanhurst, measures:— 

 (A) fjS X i-is inches; (B) i-h x rii inches; (C) 1-5 x 1-05 inches ; (0)1-52 x 1-05 inches. 



Young birds, when a few days old, are .]ueer lo(jking creatures, and are covered all over 

 with spine-like white hairs. 



November to the end of March constitutes the usual breeding season in Eastern Australia. 

 Mr. Boyd informs me that he found tiiree nests on the 24th February, 1S97, two of which 

 contained two eggs and the other one egg, all being fresh, and that a nest with three fresh eggs 

 was taken near Tr)wnsville in May, iSyS. Odd nests may be found throughout the remainder 

 of the year. Mr. Frank Hislop informs me that at Wyalla, on the Bloomheld River, North- 

 eastern (Queensland, he placed three incubated eggs of this species in his collecting box, and 

 that on his arri\al home some hours later all the eggs were hatched. 



