396 Mr. D. Le Souef on new or little-known 



instance I found the nest on the top of a stump 18 inches 

 from the ground. If a nest was found with one egg and the 

 egg were taken, the bird always laid a second next day, but 

 if the first egg was left it always disappeared." 



At the first nest Mr. Barnard found he had to remain in 

 hiding for over an hour before the bird returned, but owing 

 to the weather being so warm there was no fear of the eggs 

 getting cold during that time. The female of the Victoria 

 Rifle-bird sits very closely to her nest, and the trunk of the 

 tree on which she is nesting often has to be struck several 

 times before she will fly off. 



The nests and eggs of the three Australian Rifle-birds are 

 now known, as Mr. A. J. Campbell described that of the 

 Ptilorhis paradisea taken in the Clarence River district, 

 before the Field Naturalists' Club of Victoria last month ; 

 and the e^^ of the Ptilorhis victuri(B was first found by Mr. 

 H. G. Barnard and myself on the Barnard Islands in 1890, 

 and was also described by the same gentleman. It seems 

 strange that the natives of Cape York, where these birds are 

 plentiful, should have told Macgillivray that they laid white 

 eggs in hollows in trees; it is possible that the fact of the 

 birds leaving their nest on the slightest alarm may account 

 for it, but it is more likely still that they mistook the bird. 



The nest is very loosely constructed of green twigs with 

 the leaves on, large dead leaves, and vine-tendrils. Its 

 external depth is 5 inches, internal 2| inches ; external 

 diameter 9 inches, internal 4j inches. The eggs are 

 heautifully marked, and are very similar to those of the other 

 two Rifle-birds. There are two types, one having a much 

 darker ground-colour than the other ; both are slightly 

 lustrous. 



Type A. — The ground-colour is ochraceous buff, richly 

 marked with stripes starting from the larger end close 

 to the apex, where they coalesce, towards the smaller, and 

 tapering off' to a point. The markings are of various lengths 

 and breadths, some being large and going three parts down 

 the egg, and others again being only elongated dots. They 

 vary in colour, but are principally various shades of rich 



