396 , Mr. E. Gibson on the Ornithology of [Ibis, 



is somewliat like the bird— of a strong personality. Measure- 

 ments : 26 X 19 mm. 



102. Pseudoleistes virescens (Vieill.). Yellow - breasted 

 Marsli-bird. 



Iris red-brown ; bill and feet black. 



Mr. Hudson has so fully dealt with this abundant species 

 that my own. notes contain nothing novel, beyond some 

 additional nesting-notes. 



It begins to buikl here as early as the middle of August, 

 and makes no attempt to hide the fact from any intruder; 

 indeed, the birds absolutely draw attention by their loud 

 clamours and the consequent concurrence of others of the 

 same species. The work of construction goes on so leisurely 

 that the nests are only half-built by the middle of the month 

 and the first eggs not laid before the 25th of September. 

 From the middle of October to tlie end of November consti- 

 tutes the general epoch, an occasional clutch occurring in 

 the first week of December. 



I have found a few nests in dry swamps amidst the rushes 

 and weeds about a foot and a half from the ground, and an 

 occasional one in a thistle-bed. But it is essentially a wood- 

 builder. The selection of a Tala-tree is so exceptional as to 

 prove the rule that an Elder-bush is invariably preferred, 

 and the nest is therein situated at a height of about six feet 

 from the ground, the two extremes being two and ten feet. 

 I have on record an extraordinary aberrant case of a nest in 

 a tuft of grass in an open paddock, though quite close to the 

 woods, taken on the 3rd of December. The nest was rather 

 a special one in every way, and I may be pardoned for 

 describing it in extenso : — Cup shaped, rather compact and. 

 extremely solid, measuring outside 5^ in. across by 4 in. 

 deep, inside 3Mn. by 3 in. ; built of dry grass, stems, and 

 roots, with a base of extremely hard mud extending half- 

 way up, sparsely lined with dry rootlets, and a good many 

 green stems of a hard wire-like grass. Clutch of four eggs. 



The formula of nearly a score nests reads as follows : — 

 Built of dry grass and plant-stems and wool, followed by a 



