238 LiTTLEjOHNs, LAWRENCE, Fern-tree Gully Observations [21^"" 1 



The picture reproduced was obtained without trouble. The nest 

 contained newly-hatched young, and the parent bird took little 

 notice when disturbed, as shown, or even placed by hand in a 

 suitable position. Several other species, including the Jackass, 

 Pilot-Bird, Flame-breasted Robin, Mistletoe-Bird, Rufous and 

 Yellow Whistlers, Buff-rumped and Striated Tits, Blue Wren, 

 White -shafted and Rufous Fantails, and Pardalotes, we have found 

 quite as trustful after a little coaxing. Unfortunately, we have 

 not been able to make a record of every case. 



Description of Nest and Eggs of Melithreptus atri- 

 capillus mallee, Mathews. 



{Austral Avian Record, vol. i., ]). 192, 191J.) 

 By F. E. Howe, C.M.Z.S., R.A.O.U. 

 Nest made of grasses and lined with horsehair and fine grass, and 

 decorated externally with a few spider cocoons. Dimensions in 

 inches, 2| across by if depth, egg cavity if x i| in depth, and 

 placed in the topmost branch of a mallee tree. 



Eggs. — ^Two eggs taken from the above nest by Master Roy 

 Ribbons at Carina, north-west Victoria, on 13th October, 1916, 

 are now in my collection. In shape they are nearly oval, and the 

 texture is fine and with a slight gloss. Colour beautiful salmon- 

 pink, but deeper at the larger end, where they are boldly blotched 

 and spotted with rich red-brown. In both specimens purplish- 

 brown markings appear as if beneath the surface. Dimensions 

 in inches : — {a) .75 x .56, (6) .74 x .56. 



A set of three fresh eggs taken at Kiata, Victoria, by Mr. William 

 Blutcher on i6th October, 1916, are much smaller than the type 

 set. The colour, too, is much paler, and they are more like the 

 eggs taken in southern Victoria. Dimensions in inches : — {a) 

 .66 X .55, {b) .65 X .53, (c) .68 X .55. This clutch is now in the 

 collection of Mr. Erasmus F. Wilson, R.A.O.U. 



Camera Craft Notes. 



A Wood-Swallow Colony. — Of many pleasant rambles in quest 

 of photographs in the Greensborough district, none has been 

 more enjoyable than those spent at a little spot on the Plenty 

 River known to us as the " Wood-Swallow Paddock." Inter- 

 sected by dry watercourses, and in parts thickly grown with 

 native and introduced shrubs, the paddock apparently possesses 

 a great attraction for a colony of twenty or more pairs of White- 

 browed Wood-Swallows {Artamus superciliosus), which nest there 

 annually. The Sordid {A. sordidus) and the Masked {A. personal us) 

 are also present, but not in any great numbers. Small prickly 

 acacias appear to be most favoured as nesting sites, but the 



