^"'iTs'^' 1 ^Iacgillivray, Ornithologists in North Queensland. 211 



Ptiloris alberti (Craspedophora magnifica alberti). — On my second 

 day on the Claudie, when ]\Ir. M'Lennan and I were on our way down 

 the river in a dinghy, a female Albert Rifle-Bird flew across in front 

 of us. closely followed by a fine male. On our way back we tied up 

 the boat and entered the scrub. We soon found a ragged-looking 

 nest 20 feet up in a fork of a thin tree. A female Rifle-Bird flew 

 from it, and the nest was found to contain a pair of eggs. Later, a 

 male perched near us, and was so intent on probing and examining 

 the broken end of a dry limb that he took no notice of our presence. 

 Soon after, Mr. M'Lennan, by imitating the loud, insistent whistle of 

 the male, succeeded in calling up three females, and for an instant 

 a beautiful male, with rustling plumage ; they were, however, shy 

 birds even here, where they had not been molested, and soon vanished 

 into the recesses of the scrub. Such was my introduction to this 

 species on the Claudie. 



On the 7th November another nest was found 10 feet up in a small 

 scrub tree. It was constructed of broad leaves and twigs wound 

 round with a parasitic climbing plant pulled in its green condition. 

 The lining was of fine midribs of leaves and fibres. Young birds were 

 found in a nest on 9th November. One nest was found neatly placed 

 on the top of a stump formed by a small tree having broken off a,t 

 3 feet from the ground ; the stump had sprouted, the sprouts forming 

 a canopy of leaves over the nest. \ fully-fledged young bird flew 

 from this nest, but was captured and conveyed to our camp. He 

 escaped into a tree near by, where he was found and fed by the 

 parent birds on the following day. The recently-hatched young are 

 fed upon insects, grasshoppers and beetle remains being found in 

 one that accidentally fell from a nest and was killed. 



In Mr. M'Lennan's opinion, the note of this species on the Claudie 

 differs remarkably from its note as heard at Cape York. The Cape 

 York bird, for the greater part of the year, gives voice to two loud, 

 sharp whistles. During the breeding season there are three loud, 

 clear whistles and a long-drawn, diminishing note, whereas with the 

 Claudie bird the note is the same throughout the year, and strikingly 

 different from that of the Cape York bii'd. 



Phonygama gouldi (Phony gammits keraudvenii gouldii). — The ]\Ianu- 

 codc — for no better or more euphonious vernacular name could be 

 given it — is fairly common in the scrubs of the Claudie River. It 

 keeps, however, to the roof of the scrub, and is not easily detected. 

 With its double crest and shining black plumage it is a handsome 

 bird. The irides are orange, bill yellow, gape black, mouth and 

 throat blue-black, feet and legs black, and soles of feet greyish. 



Corvus Cecil ae queenslandicus. — On the 24th November, whilst Mr. 

 Kershaw was skinning a wallabv at our top camp, a Crow's voice 

 was heard — a harsh, short " Ahr, ahr." Two flew over, and one 

 perched on a tree ; we failed to get it for a specimen. Mr. M'Lennan 

 had previously obtained specimens, and several since, both on the 

 Claudie and on the Gulf side of the peninsula. All these have white 

 irides, unlike the Crows of southern parts, whose irides are hazel. 

 We saw more of these birds at the sandalwood landing, and over the 

 beach opposite Lloyd's Island. Mr. M'Lennan found them to be 

 quite numerous on the Archer River. 



Strepera graculina (Strepera graculina robi)isoni). — On several 

 occasions on the Pascoe Mr. M'Lennan caught sight of a pied Bell- 



