A.J. 
Data Campbell’s N 
No. Book. Eggs. 
194 
195 
196 
197 
No. in 
528 
575 
462 
0. of 
4 
THE JACKSONIAN OOLOGICAL COLLECTION. 
WARBLING GRASS PARRAKEET, 
Melopsittacus undulatus, Shaw. 
Taken from the hollow limb of a tree, by J. W. Mellor, at Fulham, South Australia, on 11th 
November, 1896. Set of 4 eggs. These are the smallest eggs laid by any Australian parrot. Specimen 
A. measures = 0°70 x 0°56. 
PURPLE-CROWNED LORIKEET, 
Glossopsittacus porphyvocephalus, Dietrichsen. 
This pair of eggs was taken by W. White, at Dingo Creek, Flinder’s Range, South Australia, on 
24th September, 1894. 
RED-SHOULDERED GRASS PARRAKEET, 
Neophema pulchella, Shaw. 
Taken by Frank T. A. Jackson and W. McEnerny, at Lavadia, near South Grafton, Clarence 
River, N.S.W., on 15th August, 1897. Set of 2 eggs. Nest was very difficult to get at, and was placed 
at an altitude of 60 feet in an Iron-bark Eucalypt (Eucalyptus siderophloia). 
SWAMP COUCAL, 
Centropus phasianus, Latham. 
Taken by C. Woodlands, on the banks of the Nicholson River, Gulf of Carpentaria district, North- 
west Queensland, on roth October, 1898. Set of 4 eggs. These eggs are much larger than those I 
have taken in the Clarence River district of New South Wales; an average specimen in this set 
measures in inches 1°59 x 1°26, while an average Clarence River specimen in the following set measures 
1'45 X 111. I once found the eggs of this bird laid in an old nest of the Babbler (/omatorhinus 
temporalis), which had been made flat by the Coucals pulling the top sticks and twigs away. The nest 
in question was built in a low tree near the Grafton Racecourse. The nests of the Coucal take a lot 
of hunting to find, as they are often so well hidden in the large patches of long grass reeds and weeds, 
etc., and necessitate much walking about and exploration before you have the luck to drop across one. 
The nest simply consists of the grass trampled down into a platform shape, about 5 or 6 inches above 
the ground, and is usually lined with the leaves of the Blood-wood Eucalypt (Eucalyptus corymbosa), 
when procurable ; then again other leaves are used, such as those of the Swamp Mahogany (Eucalyptus 
vobusta.) The top portions of the grass are drawn over, and the bird sits in its bower-like nest with 
its head out one side and the long tail the other. The young on leaving the shell are covered with 
white down, and remain in the nest sometimes for over two weeks. They frequent damp localities, 
which are overgrown with long grasses, etc., where they capture their food, which consists chiefly of 
grasshoppers, caterpillars, coleoptera, and other obnoxious insects, and the amount of these things they 
consume is amazing. Specimens dissected by me have been full of these pests, so the Coucal can 
safely be placed on the list of our insectivorous birds, and as one of the most useful. It is a poor flier, 
and, like the Lyre Bird, it has to ascend by a succession of hops up some small tree or leaning stump 
in order to fly, from the top of which it renders its peculiar bark-like note, and then clumsily flies 
down in a slanting direction to the desired spot. On the ground it is at home, and can run fast, and 
gets through the lung grass and weeds with great rapidity. During November 1903 I was much 
surprised to see this bird in the grass and reed beds behind Long Reef Point, north of Manly, near 
Sydney ; it is indeed rare to see it so far south, and during the season 1905 a nest containing 4 eggs 
was found in the latter locality, but was not taken, and the birds were given the opportunity of rearing 
their four young ones. This is the only Cuckoo in Australia which builds its own nest, and rears and 
attends to its young. I found it very common in the Richmond River district in 1899. 
Taken 6 miles up the Clarence River, above Grafton, N.S.W., on 19th November, 1894, by Frank 
and Sid. W. Jackson. Nest was built near the river bank, in long Blady grass (/mferata arundinacea), 
and contained 3 eggs. I found the nest by noticing the bird leave a tall clump of grass, and this I 
was enabled to do, as I was perched high up ina River Oak tree (Casuarina Cunninghamiana) at the 
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