OF VICTORIA. 71 



Nest. — Open, rounded, shallow, and very small ; made of 

 dry grasses and ornamented very often by bark-lamellse. 

 It is placed in a small horizontal fork, generally 6 to 10 

 feet from the ground. Diameter, 2 inches. 



Eggs. — Two, sometimes three, or rarely four. There is 

 much colour variation, but mostly dull green with reddish 

 and lilac spots that have brown in them to blend the 

 whole. Length, 0*75 inch ; breadth, 0*6 inch. 



BLUE WREN 



(Superb Warbler), 



Ulalurus cyaneus, Ellis. 



Md-lurus sl-d'neus. 

 Malakos,* soft ; oura, tail ; cyaneus, dark blue. 



Malurus cyaneus, Gould, "Birds of Australia," fob, vol. iii., 



pb 18. 



Geographical Distribution. — Areas 3, 4, 6. 



Key to the Species. — Adult male — In summer nearly blue ; throat 

 blue-black ; upper tail coverts black ; ear coverts and mantle 

 turquoise bhie ; tail longer than wing ; bill about equal in 

 height and breadth. 



Adult female — Sombre plumage ; chestnutty h\\\ and lores. 

 Young — Similar to female in the early phase. 



The genus Malurus is peculiar to the Australian continent, 

 and no less than sixteen species are distributed through its 

 various areas, of which seven are found in Victoria. 

 These can be roughly divided into two groups, the red- 

 backed and the black-backed, while two of the latter have 



* Mdlos, white, and oura, tail, seem to apply better, but as no species of this genus 

 has a tail other than blue or blue-black it presents a contradiction. 



