Vol. XIII. 



1914 



j Macgillivray, Nofes on Some N. Queensland Birds. i<< 



The soft parts of this Owl are as follows : — Cere greenish, bill horn 

 colour, feet yellow. 



Strix delicatula. Delicate Owl. — Frequently met with on the Gulf 

 rivers and creels s, and also on one occasion at Cape York. 



Trichoglossus septentrionalis. Northern Blue-bellied Lorikeet. — 

 The only pair of " Blue Mountains " noted in the Gulf flew past the 

 Brook Hotel, 20 miles from Burketown. At Cape York they were 

 very numerous in all the open pockets, feeding on the blossoming 

 eucalypts and other trees, and nesting freely in the spring in the 

 hollows of tea-tree, Moreton Bay ash, or bloodwood, usually at a 

 height of about 50 feet. Nesting operations commenced in August and 

 continued until January A single nest was, however, found in 

 April. The invariable clutch was two. Thirty nests were examined 

 by Mr. M'Lennan containing either young in all stages or eggs. 



Ptilosclera versicolor. Varied Lorikeet. — Noted at Sedan, in flocks, 

 feeding on the flowering box, in February, 1910, and later in the 

 flowering tea-tree along the river at Byromine. Later again, in March, 

 April, May, and June, they were noted through to the Leichhardt. 

 where they were very numerous on the river-flats, which are covered 

 with bloodwood, wattles similar to the Victorian black wattle, silver 

 box, and bauhinia. They are probably spring breeders, as no nests 

 were found in these months. 



Cyclopsitta maccoyi. Blue-faced Lorilet. — When camped a few 

 miles from the Jardine River, on the Cape York Peninsula, a pair of 

 small Lorikeets was noted feeding high up in a flowering bloodwood 

 near the camp. One was shot, but fell into some tea-tree brush and 

 could not be found. Mr. M'Lennan is sure that they were of this 

 species. 



Microglossus aterrimus. Pa!m-Cockatoo. — This fine Cockatoo is a 

 common object in the .scrubs and open pockets on the upper end of 

 the Cape York Peninsula. In the 191 1 season Mr. M'Lennan in- 

 spected numerous nesting-hollows, seventeen of which contained either 

 the single egg laid by the Cockatoo or a young bird. A large hollow 

 is required by the bird, consequently a big tree or dead stump is 

 usually chosen to nest in. The hollows were at an average height 

 of 35 feet from the ground, and were of an average depth of 4 feet, 

 with an internal diameter at the nest and at the mouth of the hollow 

 of from 10 inches to 2 feet. Usually, however, the entrance is smaller 

 than the bottom of the hollow. The egg is always placed on a bed of 

 splintered twigs ; these are carried to the nest in long pieces, and 

 there splintered by the bird. This bedding may be several feet 

 in thickness in some hollows and only a few inches in others. Tt 

 serves to keep the nest clean, the excreta, which is very oily, and the 

 scaling of the feathers filtering through. 



The eggs vary a good deal in size and shape, the largest specimen 

 measuring 2} inches x it'g inches, an average of ten being if inches 

 X i/e inches. A rounded specimen measured if inches x i^ inches ; 

 this was also the smallest. 



Nests were found containing eggs and young birds as early as the 

 6th and 8th of August respectively, and the last on the 22nd of 

 January ; August, September, October, and November being the 

 principal nesting months, so that most of the young are reared before 

 the commencement of the wet season. One nest visited on the 8th 

 August, 191 1, contained a newly hatched young bird. This was 



