No. in THE JACKSONIAN OOLOGICAL COLLECTION, 
A. J. 
Data Campbell's No. of 
No. Book. Eggs. 
547A =«18t 3 ROCK WARBLER, 
Ovigma rubvicata, Latham. 
Set of 3 eggs, which were quite fresh, and were taken on the 4th of August, 1907, by W. Humphries, 
Frank D. and Sid. W. Jackson, from a nest which had been suspended from the flat roof of a dark cave, 
which faced a small cataract in Blue Gum gully, west of Chatswood, near Sydney. In company with 
J. W. Dawson I found this nest getting built on the 30th of June, 1907, so that really it took the birds 
over 36 days to complete it, and lay the complement of eggs. Blue Gum gully isa wild and rugged 
region, and with its large sandstone boulders everywhere, and its scrubby dells and precipitous cliffs, 
forms the true haunt of the Rock Warbler. The only time I can remember seeing this bird perch in a 
tree, was just before I took this nest and eggs, when to my surprise one of the birds ( ? ) flew up on to 
the branch of a Forest Oak (Casuarina) at a height of about 16 feet, and sat there for nearly a minute. 
I think it was done with the 
object of making a preliminary 
survey of the surroundings before 
returning to her nest again, for 
she seemed to know that her 
naturalistic admirers were in the 
vicinity, but was quiteunconscious 
of the raid which we had pre- 
arranged and planned for the 
capture of her comfortable little 
domicile and its contents. The 
nest was composed of soft bark 
and delicate rootlets, interwoven 
with masses of cobwebs, and 
decorated with several portions 
of a bright green fern-like moss ; 
it was well protected from storms, 
floods,and bush fires,and nothing 
less than a severe earthquake 
could have destroyed it. It was 
suspended from the edge of a 
very thin layer or stratum of sand- 
stone on the very flat roof of the 
cave, and well out of reach of the 
bush rat and predatory snake, 
etc., being nearly five feet up 
from the floor of the cave. It is 
wonderful the neat way in which FLASHLIGHT PHOTOGRAPH OF THE NEST OF THE ROCK WARBLER, 
these birds secure the top portion Showing it suspended from the roof of the cave. 
of the nest to the roof of the cave, (One sixth of the natural size.) 
pea Loc,, Blue Gum Gully, Chatswood, near Sydney, 
considering the work isoften done (See data No. 5471.) 
in a dark place, and apparently 
under great disadvantage, as the birds have no foothold while at the commencement of their work. 
The material used for this purpose consists principally of strong glutinous cobwebs, which sometimes 
are utilized in conjunction with another sticky substance, and resemble those which are used by Wasps 
(Vespide) in fastening their paper-like nests to verandah roofs, etc. Notwithstanding that the nests of 
the Rock Warbler are well hidden in the dark caves, etc., yet the Fan-tailed Cuckoo cunningly fossicks 
them out, and places her egg in same. The nest under notice is not such a large one as the former 
specimen (data No. 547), on account of it being devoid of a tail. It measures one foot long by five 
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