82 Jackson, Notes on Tooth-hilled Bower-Bird of N.Q. [,,, oct. 



size, it is easier for the bird to carry ; hence its prevalence 

 among the " middens " of this scrub aristocrat. Sometimes 

 there is a stone on which the Tooth-bill cracks his shells {vide Emu, 

 June, 1909, Plate XXIII.), but not infrequently he makes the 

 limb of the tree or stick on which he perches serve his purpose. 

 The habits of H. macgillivrayi .make it a fairly easy victim. It is a 

 tree-climber, and sometimes may be found in the moist heart of the 

 fern growths, such as the big Asplermim nidus, in the trees. This 

 fact was amply proved by Mr. Frizelle and myself when breaking 

 our way through the dense foliage in search of the Tooth- 

 bills' nests. During dull or wet weather, therefore, the bird can 

 make an easy capture of his favourite prey, as they then move 

 about — though as a rule these molluscs do most of their travelling 

 by night. On the other hand, I have recorded instances of finding 

 them on the move during the day. In company with Mr. E. J. 

 Banfield, in the beautiful scrub fringing Mount Cootahl, on Dunk 

 Island, Rockingham Bay, I found one at a height of 20 feet from 

 the ground on a large parasitical scrub fig-tree {Ficus, sp.) ; and 

 on several occasions, in the very rich scrub country then being 

 cleared and burnt off for settlement at Atherton, I have found 

 as many as 20 dead and charred in the heart of a large half-burnt 

 fern growth which had originally been growing in a tree at a height 

 of 60 feet or more from the ground. It is likely that, whilst many 

 other species hibernate in the ground, these molluscs choose the 

 moist recesses of these fern-clumps for that purpose ; anyhow, 

 their habit costs them dear, for I have several times found them 

 dented on both sides as if they had been dropped from the bill 

 of their feathered enemies, who carefully fossick them out from 

 their hiding-places. 



Scrub Fruit and Berries. — These also " contribute to the feast " 

 for our scrub epicures, and of one, known as the scrub apple 

 {Elceodendron, sp.), they are particularly fond. But the tit-bit 

 of their vegetarian diet is a berry on which, without exception, 

 the birds seemed to feed consistently. These belong to a tree 

 known as Nepheliuni, and are carried in a shamrock-shaped or 

 trilobed pod containing three seeds, one to each of the divisions. 

 The seeds are coffee-coloured when dry, but black when 

 freshly found and damp from the pod, and they are covered with 

 a red skin {vide Emu, June, 1909, p. 258). This skin is, at first 

 bursting of the ripened pod, of a yellow colour, which changes to 

 red a little later, and it is when they reach that stage that the 

 Tooth-bill considers them ripe enough for his meal. The seeds 

 are oval in shape, with an average measurement of 0.37 x 0.25 

 inch. 



In the special number of TJie Emu published in June, 190c). 

 I mentioned the " singing-stick " (very often a vine or branch), 

 close to each play-ground, u})on which the Tooth-bill perched 

 himself and delivered his choice selections of mimicry of the 

 sounds and bird-notes of the scrub. On the ground under 

 these sticks I mostly found these seeds in great nvmibers, 



