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Macgillivray, Ornithologists in North Queensland, [i^f Xprii 



Malurus amabilis (Leggeornis amahilis amabilis). — We found Lovely 

 Wren-Warblers frequenting the undergrowth of the scrub and also 

 the low heathy country behind the tea-tree swamps near the Claudie. 

 At our top camp a male and two blue females inspected us when at 

 breakfast. We found a deserted nest suspended from a small shrub 

 at about r8 inches from the ground. The cause of the desertion was 

 not far to seek ; it was near a tree named by us the " bird-lime tree." 

 The pods of this tree fall off in bunches and exude a tenacious material 

 like bird-lime. One of the.se pods near the nest had adhering to it 

 the tail feathers and many of the breast feathers of a female M. 

 amabilis, probably the owner of the nest. Only a day or two previously 

 we found one of these bunches with all the tail feathers of a Rufous 

 Fantail adhering to it. On the 26th January I found a nest of M. 

 amabilis in the heathy country at the sandalwood landing ; it was 

 pendent from a dead shrub at about 18 inches from the ground. 

 The female flushed from the nest, which contained three eggs. A 

 few pairs were noted on the Archer River. 



Malurus cruentatus (Malurus melanocephala cruentata). — -The Red- 

 backed Wren-Warbler inhabits the long, coarse grass of the open 

 forest. There was always a troop of these birds near the edge of 

 the scrub down below our camp. It was common also on the Archer 

 River. 



Artamus leucogaster (Artamus leucorhynchus leucopygialis). — 

 There were always several White-rumped Wood-Swallows flying 

 about Lloyd's Island and other islands along the coast on which there 

 was any scrub. At Haggerstone Island several old nests were found 

 in the tea-tree along the shore. Common on the Archer River in June. 



Artamus melanops hypoleucus. — The Black-faced Wood-Swallow 

 was common on the Archer River. 



Artamus minor (Micrartamus minor minor). — The Little Wood- 

 Swallow was common along the Archer River. 



Colluricincla superciliosa (C. harmonica superciliosa). — The White- 

 browed Shrike-Thrush was fairly common in the open forest. The 

 type of C. superciliosa was obtained at Cape Grenville, half-way 

 between Cape York and the Claudie River, and is so far the only speci- 

 men obtained that has a broad white eyebrow. All specimens, 

 however, obtained from different parts of the Cape York Peninsula 

 are alike, and Mr. Mathews groups them all under this sub-specific 

 title. Scattered parties of from two to five birds were common in 

 the forest country about the Archer in June. 



Colluricincla parvissima {Caleya megarhyncha griseata). — We often 

 watched Allied Rufous Shrike-Thrushes from our tent door, quietly 

 but very busily engaged in searching the leaves and branches of the 

 trees about our camp. They are also commonly met with in the 

 scrub. They nest both in the scrub and in the open. Our first nest 

 was in a scrub tree at a height of about 30 feet ; it contained a pair 

 of eggs. On the same day we' found a newly-finished nest out in the 

 open in a small clump of tea-tree. Several others were afterwards 

 found both in scrub and in open forest, usually low down, and con- 

 taining either two or three eggs. iThe nest is a cup-shaped structure, 

 usually placed low down in a small shrub or single-stemmed slender 

 bush. It is composed of fibres, leaves, and aerial rootlets, and lined 

 with fibres and rootlets. The nesting cavity is deep, to allow of the 



