^'^'"i^/"'] Campbell and Barnard, Birds of N. Queensland. '\n 



Chlamydera orlentalls. Queensland Bower-Bird. 



Rogeysornis nuchalis nitchalis. 



Only one bird made its presence known. It used to frequent a 

 thick tree in the street near the post-office, Cardwell, where it some- 

 times mimicked cries of the Whistling-Eagle. 



For illustration of play-bower see Emu, vol. viii., pi. xxxix. 



Ptiloris victoriae, Victoria Rifle-Bird. 



Ptiloris pavadisea victorice. 



The Victoria Rifle-Bird holds its own in fastnesses of the moun- 

 tains, while one or two were heard or seen in lower localities, but 

 always in dense scrub. A goodly percentage of the glorious fuU- 

 plumaged males was observed. 



Gould, who was a keen observer of species, wrote : — " This Rifle- 

 Bird is smaller in all its admeasurements than P. paradisea, and may 

 be distinguished by the purple of the breast presenting the appearance 

 of a broad pectoral band, bounded above by the scale-like feathers 

 of the throat, and below by the abdominal band of deep oil-green, 

 and by the broad and much more lengthened flank feathers, which 

 show very conspicuously." Yet Mathews states the two birds are 

 only sub-specifically different. The questions, then, are, what con- 

 stitutes a species and what a sub-species ? The Check-list Committee 

 of the R.A.O.U. would do well to settle these questions before 

 attempting to wade into the technicalities of nomenclature. 



For a perfect picture of a nest of this Rifle-Bird, see Emu, vol. 

 viii., pi. XXXV. 



Corvus coronoides. Crow. 

 Covvus cecilcs qiieenslandica. 



Crows were not numerous. A few were noted on the table-land. 



Strepera graculina. Pied Bell-Magpie. 



Strepeni gyacnlina robinsoni. 



The Pied Bell-Magpie appeared to be confined to the ranges, where 

 it was feeding upon native figs and other wild fruits. Ramsay 

 probably made an error in recording 5. anaphonensis fcuneicatidata^ 

 for this region. 



Cracticus rufescens. Black (or Brown") Butcher-Bird. 



Melloria qnoyi rufescens. 



Although we were in the region of the Brown birds, those that 

 came under our observation were invariably black, except in one 

 instance. It is remarkable that there is a central belt of Brown birds 

 in the Cairns and Tully River district, while on either side — at Cape 

 York to the north and at Mackay to the south — the birds are always 

 black. 



The Black Butcher-Bird is a melodious songster. Its notes are 

 rich and flute-like. One of its songs has three distinct notes inter- 

 posed with softer ones. When sufficiently far enough away from 

 the singer so as to lose the softer sounds, the three dominant notes 

 remind you of the trivial round. "Three blind mice." 



Several handsome sets of eggs were secured. 



For nests in siHt. of the Black Butcher-Bird, see Emu, vol. iv., 

 pis. vii. and viii. 



Cracticus picatus. Pied Butcher-Bird. 



Cracticus nigvogulavis inketmani. 



Ttys Butcher-Bird was noted on the table-land. Broadbent does 



