^"'ij'og"'] Jackson, In the Barron River Valley, N.Q. 243 



more than flying, and they get over the ground, fallen timber, 

 and rocks at an astonishing rate and with unwavering ease, and 

 all the while keep up a croaking, frog-like note, difficult to 

 translate into words, but often approximating to " CJioiv-cJiilla, 

 cJiow-choiv, choui-chilla, chozv-choiu^' which is oft repeated and 

 audible at a considerable distance. The two nests I found were 

 very interesting, being of dome-shaped design, built of sticks, 

 and placed a {&\v feet from the ground above the roots of 

 the red cedars. This is a locality much affected by the birds, 

 judging from the signs of scratching, and appeared thoroughly 

 well worked as an habitual feeding ground. 



Any person wishing to explore these scrubs needs to be a 

 good bushman, possessed of a good bump of locality ; in fact, if 

 he does not possess these homely but useful qualifications he 

 must be ready to spend the night in a maze of undergrowth 

 with resignation, and then very likely in the morning find that 

 he has been close to the homeward' track all the time, or even 

 near his actual camp. I have never yet been actually lost, 

 although once or twice, as a certain humorous song puts it, I 

 have been "very near it!" In the locality to which I 

 have just referred I came across some more feathered friends ; 

 amongst which were the Pied Flycatcher {Arses kmipi). Ashy- 

 fronted Fly-Robin, Bower Shrike-Thrush, Shining Calornis 

 {Calornis metallica), and others. 



The next • day (5th October) I took a locality nearer 

 camp, and explored the scrub near the township of Atherton 

 and on the road to Tolga. The Tooth-billed Bower-Birds were 

 not so plentiful here as on the higher levels, and I only found 

 three play-grounds, one of which measured 10 feet by 4 at its 

 widest, the leaves used for the decoration being of the same 

 species as before described {Litsea dealbata), and in every 

 case had been freshly plucked. The occupant of each play- 

 ground was, as before, in absolute loneliness, and entertaining 

 itself and its unknown listener with continuous mimicry, varied 

 with its characteristic throaty call. It was not a pleasant day, 

 for that devastating biped, man, was at work close by and 

 taking advantage of the dry, hot weather to burn off the fallen 

 scrub ; hence an insidious pall of eye-smarting smoke permeated 

 the scrub, to the intense discomfort of man and bird. It seems 

 a pity that human progress appears to be inseparable from the 

 destruction of Nature's greatest beauties. The Tooth-bills failed 

 to disclose any fresh habits or characteristics likely to enlighten 

 me on points in doubt. This day I did not see a single bird 

 anywhere save in its own private studio, nor did I notice more 

 than one at a time, and that one invariably upon the ground. I 

 sat and watched them for hours, but they hung closely to their 

 especial domain, and evidently did so in obedience to a strong 

 instinct, either natural or local. The question was how should I 

 arrive at the solution of this tantalizing puzzle ? Certainly not 



