igO Macgillivray, Ornithologists in North Queensland: [i^fXprii 



which proved to be a breeding bird. This was on the 24th December. 

 It was, however, more often noted on the Pascoe and Archer Rivers 

 by Mr. M'Lennan. 



Eurystomus pacificus (Eurystomns orientalis pacificus). — We noted 

 the Australian Roller on our way up, at Brisbane, at Townsville, and 

 on many occasions at the Claudie. 



Alcyone pulchra (Alcyone azurea mixta).— There were always a few 

 Purple Kingfishers along the banks of the Claudie and along the 

 small creeks that run into it through the scrub. On the 15th January, 

 whilst Mr. M'Lennan and I were examining a nesting-burrow in a 

 bank of the Claudie, the parent bird arrived to feed her young with 

 a small fish in her bill, and sat on a twig within two yards of the boat. 



On the Archer River Mr. M'Lennan noted this bird as " fairly 

 plentiful along the river. "- 



Alcyone pusilla (Micralcyone piisilla pusilla). Little Kingfisher. — 

 We first noted this little gem on a small creek running into the Claudie 

 through thick scrub, and afterwards on the Claudie itself, at the 

 sandalwood landing, and lower down, where the river is lined with 

 mangroves. We afterwards found some of their holes drilled into 

 dead mangroves or tea-tree stumps in the swamps. To find these 

 required prolonged searching under most trying conditions — wading 

 in tea-tree swamps, where progress was difficult owing to the depth 

 of the water, the uneven character of the inuddy and oozy bottom, 

 and the number of submerged logs and branches, our view all round 

 being obscured by clumps of Nipa palm, tall-growing grass, or young 

 tea-tree. The tracks of crocodiles on every sand-bank also did not 

 tend to give one a very comfortable feeling, let alone the constant 

 attention one got from hordes of mosquitoes and March-flies (gad-flies) 

 of every size and colour. On the Archer River Mr. M'Lennan found 

 this species to be numerous in the mangroves. 



Syma flavirostris (Syma torotoro flavirosfris). — The note of the 

 Yellow-billed Kingfisher is a melancholy ascending and trilling 

 whistle frequently repeated, something like that of the Bronze-Cuckoo 

 (C. plagosus) of southern parts, and at first to us indistinguishable 

 from that of the Chestnut-breasted Cuckoo {Cacomantis castanei- 

 ventris),' though, when they became more familiar, we were able to 

 distinguish them. They are usually to be found inside the edge of 

 the scrub, only occasionally in the open. On the 17th January we 

 flushed one from a hole in a termites' nest 15 feet up on the trunk of 

 a scrub tree with a bole about 12 inches in diameter. When Mr. 

 M'Lennan was at the nest the bird flew at him with a scream, and then 

 perched on a near horizontal twig, where in her anger she made a 

 pretty picture, with all the feathers of her head raised and her neck 

 and body feathers ruffled up. This nest, however, only contained 

 one old, stained egg. Another nest just inside the edge of the scrub 

 was, as usual, in a termites' mound, about 12 feet up in a tree ; it 

 contained three eggs, the usual complement. These birds feed upon 

 lizards, beetles, butterflies, and other insects. Mr. M'Lennan heard 

 only one on the Archer River. 



No. 88, (J. — Total length, 198 mm. ; wing, /j mm. ; culmen, 35 mm. ; 

 tarsus, 14 mm. ; middle toe and claw, 14 mm. Bill and legs yellow ; 

 claws pale brown ; testes slightly enlarged ; stomach contents, remains 

 of beetles and butterflies. 



