14 Proceedings of the Royal Physiccd Society. 



10 to 30 feet from the ground. Dimensions over all — 

 diameter 7 or 8 inches by 5 inches in depth. 



Eggs. — Clutch 2-3 ; shape well proportioned ; shell moder- 

 ately fine in texture; gloss just perceptible upon surface; 

 colour varies from dark cream to dirty yellow, irregularly 

 blotched and spotted with umber, reddish-brown, and a few 

 purplish-grey markings. In some specimens the blotches 

 are very bold, with the markings under the surface of the 

 shell of a bluish-black shade. Occasionally there is a type 

 with a lighter or paler coloured ground and smaller- sized 

 markings. Dimensions in inches of a typical clutch: — 

 (1) 1-76 X 1-19; (2) 1-74 X 1-17. 



Except for their larger size, the eggs in colour and char- 

 acter much resemble those of the Oriole {Mimeta viridis). 



Observations. — The Satin Bower-Bird — the male especially 

 beautiful by reason of his lustrous blue-black coat and lovely 

 violet eyes — is an inhabitant of the forests, more particularly 

 of the coastal region, of Eastern Australia, from Northern 

 Queensland down to the Cape Otway forest, Victoria. 



At seasons Satin-Birds are very destructive in the gardens 

 and orchards, eating clover, especially the flowers, English 

 grass, cabbages down to the very root, and fruit. Mr W. B. 

 Bailey, Pimpama Nurseries, South Queensland, informed me 

 of an instance in which he had about three acres of mandarin 

 oranges stripped in a week. The birds are also fond of sweet 

 potato tubers. I noticed at Mr Bailey's residence a very 

 handsome male bird which he had in captivity. It was in 

 its youthful coat of mottled green when he first obtained it. 

 It is interesting to learn that this bird did not don its full 

 livery of blue-black till the fourth year. The bird was an 

 excellent mimic, could talk, and imitate well the mewing 

 of a cat. 



It is somewhat remarkable that, notwithstanding the Satin- 

 Birds are plentiful locally, the eggs are exceedingly rare in 

 collections. On the 23rd November 1883 my young friend, 

 Mr Lindsay Clark, found, near the Bass Eiver, Western Port, 

 a nest of the Satin-Bird containing a rare prize — a pair of 

 fresh eggs. Mr Clark described the nest as being placed 

 about 12 feet from the ground, in a scrubby bush, loosely 



