254 Jackson, In the Barron River Valley, N.Q. [isfTune 



now that they are at last going up into the trees. I obtained 

 specimens of Spotted Cat- Birds' eggs and Ashy-fronted Fly- 

 Robins', and in doing so managed to tear my hands and face 

 badly with the lawyer vines. To know what lawyer vine scrub 

 is you have to see it and work in it ; it is beyond description, 

 and taxed my endurance to its limit. But there was no use in 

 " kicking against the pricks." Returning at about 6.20 p.m., 

 when close to camp I passed a Tooth-bill's play-ground with 

 its solitary occupant going through his usual rehearsal. It is 

 always the same — whenever I pass that play-ground the bird is 

 always there, always alone, and always singing. Does he or 

 she never sleep, or feed, or turn attention to the primrose paths 

 of courtship .'' Up to the present I have located seventy-six of 

 these play-grounds, but the same conditions applied unvaryingly 

 to each, and in every case they were occupied by only one bird. 



The following are the readings of my aneroid of heights 

 above sea level, taken at my Tinaroo camp and at five railway 

 stations between Cairns and Atherton, namely : — Cairns, 5 feet ; 

 Kuranda, 1,074 feet ; Mareeba, 1,319 feet ; Tinaroo Camp, 2,249 

 feet ; Tolga, 2,451 feet ; Atherton, 2,459 feet, 



5th November. — A wet day in the scrub — a miserable ex- 

 perience, when inactivity is to a certain extent forced upon one 

 under cheerless circumstances. Still it is hard to keep one's 

 enthusiasm down, and I managed to put in some work, in spite 

 of old Pluvius, by finding several nests, amongst which were two 

 of the Ashy-fronted Fly-Robin and two of the Black-headed 

 Log-runner ; the former yielded me one egg each, the latter 

 were evidently just ready for laying in. Near a large clump of 

 young large-leaved stinging-trees I discovered a nest and egg of 

 the Pheasant-tailed Pigeon {^Macropygia pliasianelld). One learns 

 to treat these trees with marked respect. Cases of the actual 

 death of stock through contact with these pests have been 

 known in this district in several instances. With extreme 

 caution I measured some of these leaves, which were in many 

 cases no less than 17 inches long by 14 wide. The Lesser Pittas 

 were busy in the scrub this day ; so were the Black-headed Log- 

 runners. I found an interesting nest of the latter species, of 

 which I furnish an illustration, as its location was rather unusual ; 

 it was built on the top of a stump, about 6 feet from the ground ; 

 in fact, when I flushed the bird she nearly flew into my face. It 

 is notable that last year's nest was close by, behind it, and 

 similarly built on the top of a stump, the only difference being 

 that it was 10 feet from the ground instead of 6, These nests 

 must be splendidly built, for the one under notice was quite 

 warm and dry inside, in spite of the torrents of rain that had 

 fallen during the day. Spotted Cat-Birds were now building 

 freely ; I found several nests the same day, one of which was 

 unique in the fact that it was only at a height of 2 feet 7 inches 



