A. J. 
Data Campbell’s No. of 
No. in 
No. Book. Eggs. 
492 350° 3 
493 35° 2 
494 350 2 
495 35° 2 
THE JACKSONIAN OOLOGICAL COLLECTION. 
BELL MINER OR BELL BIRD, 
Manorhina melanophrys, Latham. 
Beautiful set of 3 eggs, which are short specimens and were taken near Nymboida, 35 miles south- 
west of Grafton, N.S.W., by Frank and Sid. W. Jackson, on the 25th October, 1898. The nest was 
built near the ground, in fern fronds, and as usual was difficult to find. The three eggs are all very 
richly coloured specimens. It is delightful to enter the forest where the Bell Birds abound, and where 
their clear sweet bell-like dingle falls upon one’s ears with an entrancing cadence. There is often hardly 
another sound in these ever echoing nooks, and to listen to these birds is a great pleasure, more especi- 
ally to persons whose calling in life keeps them tied within the busy metropolitan area. The incessant 
notes resemble the distant dingle of many small sheep bells, the silvery sounds of which go 
straight to the bird-lovers heart, sending the blood rushing through his veins, and crowning his memory 
with stately trees, drooping ferns, and mossy dells ; while all the magnificent beauty of the Australian 
forest and scrub passes along in fanciful procession before him. On an early summer's morn, as a light 
breeze gently fans the valleys, and the golden tints from the rising sun strike the topmost branches of 
the trees, and before the pulsating and noisy buzz or rattle of the locust (Cicada) has begun, then, above 
all times, you will hear the exquisite notes of these birds to perfection. They are very local and 
gregarious in their habits, always keeping together in the same locality, which may cover an area of less 
than a quarter of a mile square, for years ; and probably no more of their “ dingley-dells ” will be met 
with for many miles. They appear to show a decided preference for country where the timbers of the 
forest and scrub meet, and intermix, and form a sort of jungle. The nests are often placed in ferns 
only a few feet from the ground, and are at times very difficult to find, yet on the other hand they 
sometimes build as high as twenty five feet. During my visits to Tyringham and Nymboida, south- 
west of Grafton, N.S.W., in 1896 and 1898, I found many of them, and was successful in taking sixteen 
handsome sets of their eggs. These birds are plentiful in the thick jungle-like bush opposite “ Ashleigh,” 
at Ourimbah, near Gosford, N.S.W., and several old nests came under my notice there early in 1904, 
while busily engaged hunting for various natural history specimens ; and had it been breeding season 
with them I would probably have found their eggs also. The following season (1905) my friend 
Launcelot Harrison, who is another enthusiastic oologist and field observer, found a nest, containing 
eggs, at the latter locality. In the near future these and other of our natiye birds will be a thing of the 
past at Ourimbah, as well as other places, if the “ juvenile pea-rifle bird-killing crusade” is still allowed 
by the Government authorities to so openly carry on its wanton and ruthless destruction ; then, when 
it is too late, we will be struck with remorse at the wickedness that has been wrought by our neglect in 
trying to save from destruction this and other forms of our unique and aristocratic avifauna. To'shoot a 
few birds for scientific purposes is right enough, cést une autre chose; but I am sorry to relate that 
there are many of us who have no limitations, and go through life with eyes too dull to watch, much 
less protect, the birds and their airy existences, which a ruthless love of destruction in some people 
has driven into shy retirement. Specimen A. measures = 0°88 x 0°66. 
Set of 2 eggs, which are long specimens, and were taken by A. and P. Boon near Tyringham, 55 
miles south-west of Grafton, N.S.W., on the tst of October, 1900. Specimen A. measures in inches 
= 0°96 x 0°63. 
Set of 2 eggs, very pale specimens, being nearly white, and were taken by C. French, jnr., at 
Sandringham, Victoria, on the 4th of July, 1897. Long pointed types. Specimen A. measures in 
inches = 0°88 x o’61. 
Set of 2 eggs, which are of a rich flesh colour, and are short and somewhat rounded specimens, 
and were taken by a timber getter in Gippsland, Victoria, during August of 1893. Specimen A. 
measures in inches = 0°82 x 0°63. 
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