Oo. 
374 
375 
376 
377 
378 
No. in 
A. J. 
fase Campbell's No. of 
Book. Eggs. 
201 2 
198 = 3 
198 2 
198 3 
198 3 
45! I 
198 4 
THE JACKSONIAN OOLOGICAL COLLECTION. 
SPOTTED-THROATED SCRUB WREN, 
Sericornis osculans, Gould. 
(In Drawer C., pages 21 and 22, will be found a splendid series of eggs of the Yellow-throated Scrub Wren.) 
Set of 2 eggs, taken from a nest in a scrub near Murtoa, on the 2nd of October, 1899. Taken by 
John Laird. Specimen A. measures in inches = 0°82 x 0°58. Specimen B. measures = 0°82 x 0°59. 
LARGE-BILLED SCRUB WREN, 
Sericornis magnirostris, Gould. 
The eggs of this species are subject to great variation, both in the ground colour and general markings. 
This clutch is of the normal form, and is of a purplish buff. Taken in the scrubs at Booyong, near 
Lismore, N.S.W., on the 28th of October, 1899, by Sid. W. Jackson. The eggs are lightly zoned at 
the larger ends. One egg of the clutch measures in inches = 0°80 x 0°54. 
Pair of eggs, taken at Booyong Scrubs, Richmond River district, N.S.W., on the 21st October, 
1899, by Sid. W. Jackson. Specimen A. is a dark egg of the normal variety, and measures = 0°77 x 
060. Specimen B. is of a light buffy-white ground, and quite unlike Specimen A., and measures = 
0°76 X 0'57. This is an instance of two varieties being found in the one nest. 
This is a magnificent clutch of 3 eggs, and the ground colour is of a pale buffy-white, and each 
specimen has a large distinct zone or ring of dark purplish-brown at the rounded or larger end. They 
are real exceptions to the rule, and other Australian collectors who have examined them inform me 
that they have not seen a set similarly marked, and the clutch has been inspected by many, including 
Dudley Le Souéf and A. J. Campbell of Melbourne. They are rather swollen ovals in shape, and were 
taken by A. Boon and Sid. W. Jackson in Vinegar Hill Scrub, near Tyringham, south-west of Grafton, 
N.S.W., on the 23rd of October, 1898. An egg of this set measures in inches = 0°75 x 0°58. 
This is another remarkable set, the ground colour being white, covered with delicate cobweb-like 
streaks, such as we find on the eggs of the Babbler (Pomatorhinus temporalis), but of course not nearly 
so well marked ; they are also faintly zoned with light brown. The following egg of the Fan-tailed 
Cuckoo was found in the nest with these three eggs. They were taken at Geo. Dietz’s cedar scrub, 
Don Dorrigo, New South Wales, by Frank and Sid. W. Jackson, on the r2th of October, 1898. An 
egg of the clutch measures = 0°77 x 0°56. 
FAN-TAILED CUCKOO, 
Cacomantis flabelliformis, Latham. 
One egg, data same as latter set, and taken with the above 3 eggs. This Cuckoo chiefly 
confines itself to the scrubs. 
LARGE-BILLED SCRUB WREN, 
Sericornis magnirostris, Gould. 
This is an albino clutch, comprising the unusual complement of 5 eggs, one of which unfortunately 
got broken. This is the only pure white set of this species that I have ever taken. It is an established 
fact that most birds which deposit their eggs in dark places (as this and other members of the Serzcornts 
family do), usually lay white eggs, such as Parrots, Rock Warblers, Pardalotes, Bee Eaters, Kingfishers, 
etc., but the Sevicornis is one of the exceptions to the rule, and to find that the birds sometimes lay snow 
white eggs in their dark dome-shaped pensile nests, instead of the dark chocolate-coloured form, goes 
to prove that nature is trying to correct matters, and that w//e is more suited under the circumstances. 
These birds frequently lay in the nests of the Yellow-throated Scrub Wren, but we have found them 
building their own nests in the Richmond and Clarence River districts of N.S.W. Further south, in 
the Bellinger River scrubs, and in those at Ourimbah, near Gosford, N.S.W., I have found the eggs 
deposited in nests of the Yellow-throated species. This set of 4 was taken by P. Boon, A. Boon, 
and Sid. W. Jackson, ina scrub near Cloud’s Creek, south-west of Grafton, N.S.W., on the 24th of 
October, 1898. Albino clutches of the eggs of this bird have been taken at Ourimbah by J. Ramsay 
65 
