Vol. X. 

 1911 



1 Howe, Notes on the Mallee Emu-Wren. 337 



met with the species in the same class of country about 70 miles 

 further west, at Kow Plains, during October, 1909, but were 

 unable to secure specimens. In September, 1910, our party was 

 made up of Messrs. J. A. Ross, A. Mattingley, C. F. Cole, and 

 myself. We reached the Mallee on 4th September, but it was 

 not until the qth that we found the birds, as usual in the porcu- 

 pine, on a sand-ridge bordering the Kow Plains road, about 38 miles 

 from Ouyen. We saw them all through the spinifex. I saw 

 what I took to be a female fly from a porcupine bush, and as I 

 discharged my gun a male rose to join the female, which was 

 riddled with the shot ; the male, however, was perfect. 



Mr. Campbell says that this bird is much smaller than 5. mala- 

 chunis, and on measuring my specimen in the flesh I made the 

 dimensions (in inches) as follows : — Total length, exactly 5 inches ; 

 culmen, y\ ; wing, if ; tail, 2f ; tarsus, |. We were unable to 

 secure a specimen of the still undescribed female. Since leaving 

 the locality I have secured a set of three fresh eggs, taken on 

 i8th September, at Underbool, by Messrs. Geo. Dunn and F. 

 Estick. 



Description of Nest. — Oval in shape, with the entrance at 

 the side, the opening having the top built out and forming a 

 verandah ; outwardly composed of very fine shreds of bark, soft 

 and light-coloured grasses, and the down of thistles and flowering 

 shrubs, and decorated here and there with a few spiders' cocoons. 

 Interior lined with feathers and fur. The nest was placed in the 

 heart of a bunch of porcupine grass (Triodia). Dimensions : — 

 Length, 5 inches ; breadth, 3 inches ; opening, 2 inches long by 

 1^ inches wide ; interior, level with opening to bottom, i inch. 



Description of Eggs. ^Clutch three, oval in shape ; texture of 

 shell very fine ; surface slightly glossy ; colour white, with a 

 pinkish tinge, and moderately blotched or spotted all over with 

 reddish-brown or rufous. The markings are thickest about the 

 larger end, where they form a zone. Dimensions in inches : — 

 {a) .58 X .44, {b) .58 X .44, (c) .56 X .42. 



Annotations. 

 By a. J. Campbell, C.M.B.O.U., Melbourne. 



{Published in "Bulletin No. 2 " of the R.A.O.U ., 21/2/11.) 



Cracticus mentalis (Black-backed Butcher-Bird). — Through 

 the enterprise of Mr. H. L. White, New South Wales, and the 

 energy of Mr. Harry Barnard, Queensland, this New Guinea 

 species is now established as an Australian bird also. Mr. 

 Barnard observed several of these birds at Lockerbie, Cape York, 

 and discovered a pair breeding, 1/12/10. Mr. White describes 

 these eggs in the next article. 



In the " Catalogue of Birds " * (British Museum) C. spaldingi f 



* Vol. viii., p. 102. t " Proc. Linn. Soc. N.S.W.," vol. ii., p. 271 (1877). 



