﻿Nest 
  and 
  Egijs 
  0/ 
  Gerygoue 
  magiiirostris. 
  373 
  

  

  XXXVI. 
  — 
  On 
  the 
  Nest 
  and 
  Eggs 
  of 
  Gerygone 
  maguirostris, 
  

   Gould. 
  By 
  Alfred 
  J. 
  North, 
  F.L.S. 
  

  

  '^ 
  Of 
  Gerygone 
  magnirostris 
  I 
  regret 
  to 
  say 
  but 
  little 
  infor- 
  

   mation 
  has 
  as 
  yet 
  been 
  received. 
  The 
  two 
  examples 
  in 
  

   my 
  collection 
  are 
  all 
  that 
  have 
  come 
  under 
  my 
  notice 
  ; 
  

   and 
  these 
  were 
  shot 
  by 
  Gilbert, 
  on 
  Greenhill 
  Island, 
  near 
  

   Port 
  Essington, 
  Avhile 
  hovering 
  over 
  the 
  blossoms 
  of 
  the 
  

   mangroves 
  and 
  engaged 
  in 
  capturing 
  the 
  smaller 
  kinds 
  of 
  

   insects, 
  during 
  which 
  occupation 
  they 
  gave 
  utterance 
  to 
  an 
  

   extremely 
  weak 
  twittering 
  song.'^ 
  

  

  Since 
  this 
  passage 
  was 
  written 
  by 
  Gould 
  (B. 
  Austral, 
  ii. 
  

   pi. 
  100),nearly 
  half 
  a 
  century 
  ago, 
  no 
  additional 
  information 
  

   has 
  been 
  recorded 
  respecting 
  the 
  Great-billed 
  Gerygone. 
  

   It 
  is 
  still 
  a 
  very 
  rare 
  bird 
  in 
  collections, 
  the 
  British 
  INIuseum 
  

   not 
  possessing 
  a 
  single 
  specimen 
  at 
  the 
  time 
  (1879) 
  when 
  

   Dr. 
  Sharpe 
  prepared 
  the 
  fourth 
  volume 
  of 
  the 
  Catalogue 
  of 
  

   Birds 
  (p. 
  222), 
  in 
  which 
  the 
  members 
  of 
  the 
  genus 
  Gerygone 
  

   are 
  included. 
  I 
  am 
  now 
  able 
  to 
  give 
  some 
  fresh 
  facts 
  

   about 
  it. 
  

  

  Mr. 
  J. 
  A. 
  Boyd, 
  of 
  the 
  Herbert 
  Biver, 
  North-eastern 
  

   Queensland, 
  who 
  has 
  devoted 
  a 
  large 
  amount 
  of 
  his 
  time 
  

   during 
  the 
  last 
  twenty 
  years 
  to 
  Australian 
  ornithology, 
  in- 
  

   forms 
  me 
  that 
  Gerygone 
  magnirostris 
  is 
  a 
  common 
  species 
  in 
  

   that 
  neighbourhood, 
  arriving 
  in 
  the 
  latter 
  part 
  of 
  September 
  

   for 
  the 
  purposes 
  of 
  breeding, 
  and 
  departing 
  again 
  about 
  the 
  

   end 
  of 
  February 
  or 
  the 
  middle 
  of 
  INIarch, 
  and 
  that 
  he 
  has 
  

   frequently 
  obtained 
  its 
  nest, 
  eggs, 
  and 
  young. 
  With 
  one 
  ex- 
  

   ception, 
  all 
  the 
  nests 
  of 
  this 
  species 
  found 
  by 
  Mr. 
  Boyd 
  were 
  

   built 
  in 
  low 
  trees 
  overhanging 
  a 
  river 
  or 
  the 
  bed 
  of 
  a 
  creek. 
  

   Early 
  on 
  the 
  morning 
  of 
  the 
  25th 
  of 
  November, 
  1892, 
  

   Mr. 
  Boyd 
  was 
  successful 
  in 
  capturing 
  a 
  female 
  sitting 
  on 
  

   her 
  own 
  two 
  eggs, 
  also 
  one 
  of 
  a 
  Bronze 
  Cuckoo. 
  The 
  nest 
  

   was 
  built 
  in 
  a 
  shaddock-tree 
  in 
  the 
  garden, 
  a 
  most 
  unusual 
  

   place, 
  this 
  being 
  the 
  first 
  occasion 
  on 
  which 
  he 
  has 
  ever 
  found 
  

   the 
  nest 
  not 
  overhanging 
  a 
  bank 
  or 
  stream. 
  Subsequently 
  

   Mr. 
  Boyd 
  obtained 
  a 
  nest 
  with 
  two 
  fresh 
  eggs 
  on 
  the 
  9th 
  

   of 
  December, 
  and 
  another 
  on 
  the 
  17th 
  with 
  three 
  fresh 
  eggs 
  

  

  