FOEEIGN BIRDS FOE CAGE AND AVIAEY. 



teresting account of the nesting of this species in her 

 aviaries. Unhappily no young were reared to perfec- 

 tion. 



As regards feeding, I found that Gould's idea that 

 this species is very slightly, if at all, insectivorous was 

 quite erroneous. It will 'swallow cockroaches one after 

 trt3 other with the greatest avidity, as well as any other 

 insects or smooth larvae which one may supply, and, 

 of course, spiders. Grapes are much relished, but 

 banana, ripe pear, apple or orange are also eaten freely. 

 Insectivorous food is taken in moderation, but the 

 yolk of egg is always first selected and the remainder 

 of the food only taken when the birds are hungry. 



AUSTRALIAN CAT-BIRD (JElurcedus vlridis). 



Above bright grass-green ; a whitish patch on side 

 of lower neck; median and greater wing-coverts and 

 secondaries with yellowish- white tips; primaries 

 slightly bluish on outer webs ; inner webs of all the 

 flights grey-brownish ; tail feathers white-tipped, with 

 inner webs blackish; head and neck slightly yellower 

 than back ; the neck and mantle with faint bony-white 

 shaft-lines; sides of head olivaceous, the ear-coverts 

 with a silvery gloss ; a whitish orbital ring ; cheeks, in- 

 fra-orbital region and malar line slightly spotted with 

 black; throe* grey, faintly olivaceous, and dotted with 

 white ; remainder of under-surf ace dull olivaceous, the 

 feathers spotted with short white shaft-streaks ; centre 

 of abdomen, vent and xvnder tail-coverts yellowish and 

 spot/less; under wing-coverts whitish, baned with grey 

 and tinged with green, especially at edge of wing; 

 bill pale horn-colour ; feet whitish ; irides brownish- 

 red. Female slightly smaller and duller, and probably 

 with a shorter wing. Hab., New South Wales, extend- 

 ing to the Wide Bay district in Eastern Australia. 

 {Sharpe.) 



Gould observes (" Handbook of Birds of Australia," 

 Vol. I., pp. 446-447) : " So far as our know- 

 ledge extends, this species is only found in 

 New South "Wales, where it inhabits the 

 luxuriant forests that extend along the eastern 

 coast betwee.i the mountain ranges and the sea ; thcss 

 of Illawarra, the Hunter, the MacLeay, and the 

 Clarence, and the cedar brushes of the Liverpool range 

 being, among many others, localities in Avhich it imsy 

 be found; situations suitable to the Regent- and S.itin- 

 bird are equally adapted to the habits of the Cat-bird, 

 and I have not infrequently see-n them all three feeding 

 together on the same tiv-e. * The wild fig, and the native 

 cherry, when in. season, afford an aJb-urndanit supply. So 

 rarely does it take insects that I do not recollect ever 

 finding any remains in the stomachs of tin :.-; sp^-ini'-ns 

 I dissected. In its disposition it is neither a shy nor 

 a, wary bird, little caution being required to approach it. 

 either while feeding or while perched upon the lofty 

 branches of the tree. It is alt si.;h. times that its loud, 

 harsh, and extraordinary note is heard, a note which 

 differs eo much from, that of all other birds, that having 

 been once heard it cm never be mistaken. In com- 

 paring it to the nightly concerts of the domestic cat 

 I conceive that I am conveying to my readers a more 

 perfect idea of the note of this species than could be 

 given by pages of description. The concert is performed 

 either by a pair or several individuals, and nothing more 

 is required than for the hearer to shut his eyes to the 

 neighbouring foliage to fancy himself surrounded by 

 London grimalkins of housetop celebrity." 



In A. J. Campbell's "Nests and Eggs of Australian 

 Birds," pp. 197-198. we read : " The first authenti- 

 cated finds of Cat-birds' eggs were by Mr. Henry E. 

 Elvery, Richmond Eiver (1881), and by my venerable 

 friend Mr. Hermann Lau, South Queensland (1886). 



These finds Avere not reported at the time, and the 

 credit fell to Mr. W. J. Grime for a nest and egg which 

 he procured in the Tweed River district, and forwarded 

 to the Australian Museum. The following is Mr. 

 Grime's account, as given in the records of that insti- 

 tution : " On the 4th October, 1890, I was out looking 

 for nests, accompanied by a boy. I left him! for a little 

 while to go further in the s--crub, and on my return ihe 

 informed me he had found a Cat-bird's nest with two 

 eggs, one of which he showed me, the other one he 

 broke descending the tree. I went with him to the nest, 

 and found the old birds very savage, flying at us .and 

 fluttering along the ground. The nest was built in a 

 three-pronged fork of a tree, about fourteen feet from 

 the ground. The tree was only four inches in diameter, 

 and was in a jungle of light scrub, about fifty yards 

 from the edge of open country. I felled the tree and 

 secured the nest " Mr. Campbell quotes the following 

 from Mr. Lau's manuscript: "It was in November, 

 1886, at Cunningham's Gap, where I happily fcund a 

 nest five feet from the ground, between the triple fork 

 of a young tree, and an exquisite nest it was. Half -way 

 up from the bottom consisted of dry fig-leaves, beauti- 

 fully fastened with twining rootlete, and stronger ones 

 from the rim, and lined with dry grass and roots. 

 Finding only one egg in it, I waited for two days more, 

 Avhen there wore two. I concluded such to be the clutch. 

 Akhough it is said that the Cat-bird makes a bower, 

 I never saw one of its own, but several times have seen 

 it poking about the bower of the Satin-bird." " Breeding 

 months include from about the middle of September to 

 January." 



" Eggs. Clutch, two to three ; shape inclined to oval ; 

 texture of shell somewhat fine ; surface glossy, and of a 

 uniform rich or dark creamy colour. Dimensions in 

 inches of a full clutch : (1) 1.76 x 1.24, (2) 1.75 x 1.23. 

 (3) 1.72 x 1.23 ; of a pair, (1) 1.69 x 1.2, (2) 1.68 x 1.18." 



Russ *ays : " In the year 187S an example reached the 

 Zoological Gardens of London, and in the year 1895 

 Miss Hagenbeck brought one to the exhibition of the 

 ' Ornis ' Society in Berlin." 



SPOTTED BOWER-BIRD (Chlamydochra maculata). 



Above dark brown, each feather with a sub-terminal 

 spot of tawny buff puller externally ; nape crossed by a 

 band of elongated rosy -lilac feathers, forming a broad, 

 fan-like crest ; hind-neck a uniform brown: nights pale 

 brown edged with whity-brown, and with terminal 

 spots, ill-defined and whiter o>n the primaries ; upper 

 tail-coverts with sub-terminal and terminal tawny buff 

 bars ; tail pale brown with paler edges and buff whitish 

 tips ; crown and sides of head with the tawny buff spots 

 much reduced, owing to the dark borders to the feathers, 

 a few of them on the crown tipped with silvery whitish ; 

 cheeks with whitish spots; throat brown, Avith small 

 dusky liars, each feather tipped with pale butf ; these 

 .become larger on the chest, which is of a general whity- 

 brown tint; breast and abdomen creamy buff; sides 

 whitish, with dusky bars on Hanks and thighs; under 

 tail-coverts pale buff, indistinctly barred ; flights ashy 

 brownish below, pale yellow along inner webs; bill 

 and feet dusky-brown ; irides dark brown ; bare skin 

 at corner of mouth thick, fleshy, prominent, and of a 

 pink flesh colour. (Gould.) Ferr.ale without the hlacme 

 band of elongated feathers on the nape ; she is also a 

 trifle smaller, and has ill-defined bars on the under parts. 

 Hab., " Eastern Australia from Rockingham Bay to the 

 Wide Bav district, and occurs also in the interior pro- 

 vince and Victoria." (Sharpe.) 



Gould observes ("Handbook," Vol. I., pp. 450, 451) 

 that " the bird is seldom seen by ordinary travellers, and 



