AlVl'lLIN^,. 



pointed out to me, was built near the top of a Spotted (iuiu, but ilitf dead branch from wliich his 

 Alioriginal had scooped the eggs from the nest had snapped off with its own weight during a 

 storm a few days afterwards. These nests were from sixty to eighty feet from the ground. 

 Beneath the trees in which are situated nests of this species, are numerous ejected castings of 

 fur and bones, similar to those found under trees where Owls are breeding. 



The accompanying figures are reproduced from photographs kindly taken by Mr. George 

 Savidge, at Copmanhurst, on the 17th September, 191 1. The nest, which contained four eggs, 

 was built in a Broad-leaved Apple-tree (An^ophova snhvchtliua ), about forty feet from the ground, 

 and was procured by Mr. W. Grififiths. Mr. Savidge informs me the structure was oval in 

 shape, outwardly formed of sticks and twigs, the egg cavity being slightly cupped and lined with 



green (ium leaves, 

 lixternally it mea- 

 sured eighteen inches 

 in length, thirteen 

 inches in width and 

 six inches in depth. 



The eggs are usu- 

 ally three, sometimes 

 tciui in number for a 

 sitting, and vary from 

 oval to rounded oval 

 in form, the shell 

 being close-grained, 

 smooth and almost 

 lustreless. They are 

 of a dull white ground 

 colour, which is more 

 nr less obscured with 

 diflerent shades of 

 reddish-chocolate or 

 c h o c o I a t e - b r o \\ n ; 

 frecjuently many of 

 the markings overlie 

 one another, and 

 assumearich reddish- 

 black hue. In some 

 specimens the mark- 

 ings consist of large confluent blotches and patches of reddish-chocolate, which form a large 

 cap completely covering one end, while the remainder of the shell, with the exception of a few 

 dots, is entirely devoid of markings ; in other specimens it may be boldly blotched, revealing 

 here and there the light ground colour. Sometimes one egg of a set has the ground colour 

 entirely obscured with smears and blotches of chocolate-brown, or has the markings almost 

 entirely confined to the smaller end of the shell. A set of three taken by Mr. John Ramsay, on 

 the Mary River, Queensland, in November, 1877, measures: — Length (.V) i-b x 1-25 inches ; 

 (B) 1-72 X 1-25 inches; (C) r58 x i'27 inches. A set of three taken by Mr. George 

 Savidge, at Copmanhurst, Upper Clarence District, New South Wales, on the 28th July, 

 1897, measures: — Length (A) 1-67 x 1-23 inches; (B) i*68 x [-27 inches; (C) i'63 x 

 1-28 inches. Another set taken by Mr. Savidge in the same locality, on the dth .-\ugust. 



NEST .\NIJ E(iG,S OF THE 1!L.\CK .si 



1897 



measures : 



-Length (.\) 1-64 x 1-26 inches: (I!) i-r)3 x 1-25 inches: (C) 1-7 



