Vol. VI 

 1909 



'^■"1 Jackson, In the Barron River Valley, N.Q. 255 



from the ground, whereas the bird as a rule builds at least 9 

 to 12 feet up. 



Absolutely torrential rains held me indoors on the 6th, but on 

 the following day, which was dull and threatening, I made up 

 my mind to chance the rain and endure the drenching shower- 

 baths from the water-laden undergrowth, and started off early 

 for my day's work. One of the first birds which I sighted was 

 a fine male Pied Flycatcher (Arses kaupi), and shortly after- 

 wards got the excitement of the day, flushing a male Victoria 

 Rifle-Bird from a tangle of dead leaves and vines clinging to a 

 sapling about 25 feet from the ground. It was a most promis- 

 ing clump, just the place for a Rifle-Bird's nest. But it was 

 only a false alarm. I then made for the place where I had 

 already located a pair of these birds ; it was now nearly 

 6.30 a.m., and I found the female off her nest enjoying a 

 sylvan breakfast. When first I saw her she was drinking the 

 drops of rain from the ends of the hanging foliage, whilst the 

 gorgeously plumed male sat motionless on an adjacent limb. I 

 watched them for over half an hour, and then the crucial 

 moment came when the female prepared for flight (as I hoped) 

 back to her nest ; after preening and pluming herself with her 

 long, curved bill, she shook her plumage together and was off 

 like a flash,with me on her trail as fast as I could go, falling over 

 logs and vines ; but in that tripping tangle I had no chance, and 

 I lost her very soon, for these Rifle-Birds, with their swift 

 flight, are extremely difficult to follow in dense country like that. 

 No man could do it. I found two Log-runners' nests not far 

 away — one beautifully placed on the crown of a bird-nest fern 

 {Asplenhun nidus), making a splendid subject for the camera 

 a little later, when I took an egg from it. It was on the side of 

 a tree about 5 feet from the ground, while the second one was 

 cradled in lawyer vines about 1 1 feet up. Another egg of the 

 Ashy-fronted Fly-Robin rewarded me not far away from the 

 spot. These birds nearly all place their nests on upright lawyer 

 vines. I also came across some more Cat-Birds' nests, in 

 some instances carrying young birds. The Northern Blue- 

 bellied Lorikeets {Trichoglossiis septentrionalis') made the scrub 

 re-echo with their noisy, screeching cries, as they fed on the 

 blossoms of the scrub chestnut or bean-tree ( Castanospertmini 

 australe). The peculiar notes of the Allied Fruit-Pigeon 

 {Megaloprepia assiinilis) could be heard throughout the scrub, 

 also the loud, ringing crack of the Coachwhip-Bird. In the 

 afternoon I regained my camp-mate, Mr. Frizelle, who had been 

 away for a few days. Together we visited a patch of lawyer 

 vines of exceptional thickness, and here discovered over a dozen 

 old nests and new of the Black-headed Log-runner, all located 

 at heights varying from 2 to 10 feet. A new discovery was 

 also made in the shape of quite a colony of Shining Calornis 



