242 Jackson, In the Barron River Valley, N.Q. [isf Tune 



empty. Still, it looked new, and I considered it not 

 unlikely to be the nest of the Tooth-billed Bower-Bird. 

 The outside was composed of sticks and leaves, and the cup 

 part was deep, well defined, and lined with fine roots, the inside 

 measurement amounting to 4}^ inches. Marking the spot, 

 hoping for a subsequent visit, I resumed my inward journey, the 

 growth getting thicker and thicker, and not 25 yards from the 

 nest I found another play-ground ; this made me still more 

 hopeful that I had really lighted on the nest of the Tooth-bill, 

 so I went back for another inspection. This time, after much 

 twisting and stretching, I made out the unwelcome fact that 

 there were spider-webs clinging to the inside, which at once 

 classed it as either an old or an abandoned nest. Still the 

 puzzle faced me, where do these queer birds build 1 Apparently 

 they shun perching habits, preferring the solitude of their leaf- 

 strewn floor to an arboreal existence ; consequently it was more 

 difficult to conduct observations, as the density of the under- 

 growth, compared with the higher levels of the greenery, made 

 it extremely hard to keep an eye on the birds when once they 

 moved their position. However, I consoled myself with the com- 

 fortable reflection that " to him who waits and works all things 

 come." Naturally, while looking for one thing ardently, I found 

 others of less absorbing interest. Amongst these were the nests 

 of the Ashy-fronted Fly-Robin {Hetcroinyias cinei'eifrons), the 

 Large-billed Scrub-Wren {^Sericornis magnirosh'is), the Coach- 

 whip- Bird {Psophodes lateralis), and others. As far as I could 

 see, the exasperating lawyer vines partly justified their existence 

 by offering the birds tempting building accommodation ; in 

 fact, most of the nests discovered were so located. As for my 

 friends the Tooth-bills, I could hear their cries all day long as 

 they sat in state each in its lonely play-ground. The peculiar 

 'V/^z/ff/^ " which I have described as their finishing note is not 

 unlike the sound made by a carpenter's long trying-plane when 

 used in a short, sharp stroke. On this particular day I was also 

 able to approximate some of the notes (though a bit discordant) 

 to those of the Striped Honey-eater {Plectrorhynchus lanceolatus). 

 Amongst many points of general interest, I chanced upon the 

 vine on which the larva of the giant atlas-moth {Attacus 

 atlas) feieds. These are indeed " giant moths," the females 

 measuring nearly a foot across the wings, and they have often 

 been captured in the neighbourhood of Atherton, Tinaroo, and 

 Cairns. I could not help thinking what some of my lepidoptera- 

 loving friends would have given to be in the locality. Later in 

 the day I was brought more closely into touch with another 

 interesting denizen of the scrub, the Black-headed Log-runner 

 {Orthonyx spaldingt). These are large compared with the 

 southern species, known as the Spine-tailed Log-runner 

 {O. spinicauda). As their name implies, their habit is running 



