256 Jackson, In the Barron River Valley, N.Q. [ist^june 



{Calornis inetallicd) ; the dome-shaped, suspended nests were 

 numerous, though inaccessible, being hung at the ends of the 

 branches of a very tall kauri pine {inde illustration). These 

 cunning and' noisy little architects seem to know well how to 

 baffle the predatory longings of the oologist. I was much 

 interested in recognizing a familiar note in the scrub chorus 

 to-day, that of the Caterpillar-eater {Edoliisoma tenuirostre) ; 

 it seemed quite homelike, and made me feel like being near 

 Sydney again. Not far from the camp we came across a pair 

 of Tooth-bills ; they were perched on a limb about 20 feet high, 

 and they were evidently conducting a primitive courtship, 

 from time to time rubbing their bills together. We watched 

 them for some time until they both wheeled and flew straight 

 into the thickest of the scrub behind our camp, and if all goes well 

 we will find their nest there before very long. The completely 

 novel sight of Tooth-bills evidently paired, and perched aloft 

 instead of doing solitary sentry duty in a bower, inclined me to 

 the idea that the whole lot of them would soon be nest-building. 

 This is an important link. I saw another fine specimen of the 

 Pied Flycatcher, and found a nest of the Ashy-fronted Fly- 

 Robin containing two eggs — a rare occurrence. We also found 

 a Spotted Cat-Bird's nest at the top of a large-leaved stinging- 

 tree. It might have been a case of the fox and the grapes, but 

 with much care, and at the cost of only a few light stings, we 

 managed to secure the eggs. Another risk to which the scrub 

 exposes one is that of being struck by falling limbs, which are 

 continuously breaking away from the trees. There have been 

 several cases recorded here lately in which this has not only 

 occurred but has done so with fatal results ; in fact, from, several 

 causes the scrub is a place in which one has to be very careful. 

 It can be safely stated that the Ashy-fronted Fly-Robin is one 

 of the commonest birds of this locality ; its slow, plaintive 

 notes are quite part of the usual sounds of the scrub. The day's 

 finds in the way of Tooth-bills' play-grounds now brought my 

 total up to 105, I heard one of the birds imitating the twitter- 

 ing call of a young bird being fed ; this was the first time that I 

 heard this piece of mimicry, and it was perfectly rendered. We 

 made a rather gruesome discovery during the day. Hanging 

 from a tree we found a bag containing the skull and bones of 

 an aboriginal man, and near it was an oval wooden shield with a 

 broken spear sticking into it. It appeared on later inquiry that 

 these relics had been " planted " by some of the blacks who 

 were gathering for a corroboree to be shortly held at the 

 " Did-an-garr " or " bora " previously described. This place is (or 

 used to be) located a few miles from our camp, and, as referred 

 to already, consisted of a small cleared space in the dense scrub, 

 with several native gunyahs, or, as the local aboriginal name 

 has it, " Tuati-guns " ; they are wonderfully neatly built, and 



