IQA Macgillivrav, Ornilhologists in North Queensland. [,^1 April 



gizzards are hair-lined. The call is a plaintive trilling one, which 

 bears a close resemblance to that of the Yellow-billed Kingfasher 

 {Syma flavirosiris). 



Chalcococcyx russata (Neochalcites viissaius). Rufous-throated 

 Bronzc-Cuck(x). — The common Bronze-Cuckoo of the Cape York 

 Peninsula, and easily distinguished from other Bronze-Cuckoos by the 

 vermilion ring of bare skin round the eye. The note is very like 

 that of C. plagosus. The stomachs of specimens obtained contained 

 either beetles alone or beetles and bugs. Only one nest containing 

 an egg of this Cuckoo was found — that of Gerygone personata, in a 

 small tree on the bank of a creek in the scrub. This Cuckoo was 

 occasionally noted on the Archer River. 



Eudynamis cyanocephala {E. orienfalis flindersi). — This Cuckoo 

 (the Koel or Flinders Cuckoo) was heard nearly every night, and 

 occasionally by day, but, as it finds its food high in the roof of the 

 jungle, where it is almost impossible to see it from below, it is seldom 

 seen. At times during the day the birds can be very noisy when 

 disputing possession of a feeding ground with other birds. They 

 feed mostly upon wild fruits. 



Scythrops novae-hollandiae (5. novcehollandicB novcshollandice). — The 

 Channclbill was also more often heard than seen, its loud screaming 

 call attracting our attention as it flew overhead. The call somewhat 

 resembles that of Leach's Kingfisher, and is sometimes heard at night. 



Centropus phasianus (Polophilus phasianinus phasianinus). — The 

 Pheasant-Coucal was seen frequently, and was more often heard. 

 It usually frequents lightly-timbered grassy flats, or the outside edges 

 of the scrub, where the grass is long and rank. When disturbed it 

 seeks refuge in the grass, through which it can make its way rapidly. 

 One day, when approaching one in a small tree on a grassy flat, it 

 dropped from the tree straight down, as though it had been shot, and 

 disappeared. 



Pitta simillima (Coloburis versicolor simillima). — When at our camp 

 during the dry weather we did not hear anything of the Lesser Pitta. 

 We first heard it calling on Haggerstone Island, and towards evening 

 saw one feeding on the shore near some mangroves. On our return 

 to the Claudie the wet season had started, and we could hear them 

 calling every night, and often during the day, especially towards 

 evening. By imitating the call and keeping quiet, we found it quite 

 an easy matter to bring the bird within view in the scrub. On the 

 31st December one was noted carrying material for nest-building, 

 but it was not till the 17th January that we found our first nest ; 

 this was placed on the ground, in the angle formed by the buttresses 

 of a big fig-tree growing in thick scrub over the river. The nest was 

 a dome-shaped structure composed of sticks and skeleton leaves, 

 with a platform leading up to the entrance. It contained three eggs. 

 Sometimes the nests are placed well above the ground. One was 

 well hidden in a niche about 9 feet up on a big fig-tree. The call is 

 a three-note whistle and a sharp " Keow," repeated at intervals. 



Pitta mackloti {Erythropitta mackloti yorki). — The Blue-breasted 

 Pitta was not seen nor heard until after our return from the Barrier 

 Reef trip. -On the 23rd December we first heard its melancholy call, 

 and later on the same day we saw one. The call became more 

 frequent every day until by the 28th it was constantly heard from 



