Data 
No. 
No, in 
A J. 
Campbell's No. of 
Book. 
Eggs. 
THE JACKSONIAN OOLOGICAL COLLECTION. 
cobwebs matted together ; also, large quantities of a dried narrow marine phanerogamous plant, which 
is known as Sea Grass or Wrack (Zostera mavina), and may frequently be found growing in most of the 
shallow saline waters. It was suspended from a small ledge of rock, on the sloping roof of the cave, 
and to which it had been very securely fastened with glutinous cobwebs, etc. I had great difficulty in 
taking the accompanying photograph of it, on account of it being built in rather a dark place, and the 
wind caused the nest to move for a considerable time before I finally succeeded in making my exposure, 
| which was naturally a very long one, and I was obliged to use large white sheets in order to reflect 
sufficient light into the cave, 1 have found these nests built in quite a number of different positions, 
‘and one at Port Hacking during September of 1903, was suspended from the roof of a hollow 
rock, and at high tide the water was only three inches from the bottom or tail end of it. I have 
known the nests also to be built in caves only a few yards from the ocean, on the rocky headlands near 
Sydney. It was during August, of season 1905, that I had the pleasure of inspecting one of them 
at Manly, near Sydney, which the birds had built in a most extraordinary position, and it was actually 
suspended from the ridge pole of a camp, where it dangled down over the bunks. The camp 
party would not allow any person to molest their welcome little visitors, and they went on building, laid 
a sitting of eggs, and ultimately reared their young; the continual traffic in and out of the camp, and 
| the general noise and bustle of the camp party did not in any way deter them from building in the 
| strange spot they had selected. As a rule these birds are very shy and solitary little creatures, usually 
frequenting rocky gullies and inaccessible ravines and places away from all habitation. I have only 
once noticed one perch in a tree, and they appear to be quite terrestrial in their habits, and may 
frequently be seen hopping over the ground and large moss-covered rocks in search of food. Their 
"ordinary note, which is a shrill and rapid little chirp, is not unlike that of the Spine-tailed Log Runner 
(Orthonyx) of the northern scrubs, and also that of the White-fronted Scrub Wren (Servicornis), and is often 
kept up for a considerable time while the birds are engaged feeding ; and when calling to one another 
from distant parts of the gullies, they give a sharp loud note resembling ‘‘ dee-dee, dee-dee, dee-dee,” 
and at other times they utter “ tid-ed-ee, tid-ed-ee, tid-ed-ee, tid-ed-ee.”” This species is also known as 
the “Cataract Bird,” and I think this appellation is more appropriate, as the birds are frequently found 
about the small waterfalls in the ravines, and on several occasions I have found their nests in caves in 
proximity to these tumbling waters. I noticed that they sometimes take nearly six weeks from the time 
they start to build the nest, until the eggs are laid in it. In localities where the gullies are well shaded 
with scrub, these birds often decorate the nests with green Moss (M]eteovium), which makes them 
closely resemble those of the Large-billed Scrub Wren (Sericornis), and strange to say the albino eggs of 
the latter species (see data No. 379) resemble in every respect those of the Rock Warbler. All these 
Scrub Wrens build dome-shaped nests, with a small opening on the side, and most of which are suspended 
from the extremities of long branches of trees and vines in the scrubs, the eggs being chocolate coloured, 
and sometimes they are very dark. The Rock Warbler, nevertheless, deposits snow white eggs. Why? 
The Cuckoo which places its egg in the nest of the Rock Warbler is the same species as that which 
lays in the nests of the Scrub Wrens, so the eggs of the latter being dark coloured, and more difficult to 
see in the covered in nest, have not by any means been instrumental in deterring the Cuckoos from 
laying in them. The Rock Warbler is a stationary species, and remains with “ us” in New South Wales 
throughout the whole year. It is plentiful within a radius of sixty miles of Sydney, and has been 
observed as far west as Jenolan Caves, and south to the Victorian border, and its northern limit is 
supposed to extend as far as the southern portions of Queensland, but I have never seen it north of 
Newcastle, N.S.W. ‘The Port Jackson district is the stronghold of this interesting species. Specimen 
A. of the set of eggs under notice measures = o'81 x 0°62. 
FAN-TAILED CUCKOO, 
Cacomantis flabelliformis, Latham. 
This Cuckoo’s egg was taken from the nest with the above set of 3 Rock Warbler’s eggs. It is 
interesting here to note that this egg is only one point longer, and three points narrower, than specimen 
A. of those of the foster parents. It measures = 0°82 x 0°59. 
102 
