Vol. VIII 

 1909 



■] Jackson, In the Barron River Valley, N.Q. 269 



25th November. — Nothing of special interest to note. 



26th November. — I visited the scrub on the hill near Maund's 

 Road, a few miles from Atherton. Everything was damp after 

 the recent heavy shower, and birds were plentiful. Found nest 

 of the Lesser Pitta {Pitta simillimd), which contained three 

 eggs. Found more play-grounds of the Tooth-bill, but they 

 were mostly in an untidy and very neglected state. 



27th November. — In the morning I was packing up my 

 camera and paraphernalia for my start again to-morrow for the 

 Evelyn scrubs, on the Herberton Range. At noon I went off 

 on foot and visited the scrubs between Atherton and Tolga, 

 where I found the nests and eggs of the White-headed Fruit- 

 Pigeon {Cohnnba leucoinela), Coachwhip-Bird, Ashy-fronted Fly- 

 Robin, &c. Later on, when going through the partly cleared 

 land on Halloran's Hill, I noticed numbers of dead, ring-barked 

 scrub trees, known locally as Johnstone River hardwoods, and 

 in these, high up amongst their dead and leafless tops, I both 

 heard and observed quite a number of Tooth-bills. They were 

 all busy rendering various cries in conjunction with their own 

 loud and sudden characteristic " chuckr This procedure was 

 something quite novel for me, and I came to the conclusion 

 that these birds were collecting the small dead twigs from the 

 tops of these tall trees for the purpose of nest construction. 

 They frequently flew from the trees into the scrub about a quarter 

 of a mile away. This was the first time I had ever seen these 

 birds out of the scrub proper. I presume that this would prove 

 to be their habit after they had all won mates and started upon 

 the important responsibility of nesting. Their play-grounds in 

 the adjacent scrub revealed to me sufficient proof that it was 

 now the height of their breeding season, as nearly all those 

 examined were untidy and unoccupied. 



When in this scrub I found a nest-mound of the Brush- 

 Turkey {Catheturiis latliami), and, after a warm bit of work 

 in digging it out, found no eggs. 



To-day (28th November) I again met Inspector Malone, of 

 the Cairns Police, who was on an official visit to Atherton. Mr. 

 Malone kindly gave Sergeant Lawrence, of the local police 

 station, permission (through the letter which I held from the 

 Commissioner of Police of Queensland) to despatch a constable 

 to inspect any bird shot, necessary for identification or in the 

 interests of research, during my absence. 



HERBERTON. 



At 7.30 a.m. on 29th November I was on my way to the 

 Evelyn scrub, for the special purpose of taking a photograph 

 of one of the huge bowers of the Golden Bower-Bird. ( Vide 

 illustration.) After a 12-mile drive through fragrant forests of 

 lemon-scented eucalypts, and passing a number of aborigines 

 on the way, I safely arrived at Evelyn three hours later. Here 



