Vol. VIII. 

 1Q09 



1 Jackson, In the Barron River Valley, N.Q. 270 



we have found a number of their nests and eggs. The natives 

 know the bird as " Men-in-gee." Again we retired very late, 

 dead beat. 



19th December. — Very bad with cramps in the legs, due, no 

 doubt, to kneeling so much on the damp ground while developing 

 photographic plates. 



The female Tooth-bill belonging to the new nest (No. 6) 

 behind the camp flew down to-day from it, and sat in a bushy 

 tree, where she stretched out her neck and peered down side- 

 ways at me for fully half an hour. During all this time she 

 remained perfectly motionless. I never saw a bird do such a 

 thing before in my experience ; it was almost incredible, and 

 shows how cautiously alert these birds are when they have a 

 nest. I fancied that there must be at least one egg in the nest 

 by now. Saw a young Tooth-bill, which was rather well 

 feathered, being fed by the parents as it sat on the limb of a tree. 



20th December. — Up early and had a morning dip in the 

 Barron. We visited the new nest (No. 6) of the Tooth-bill, 

 behind the camp, to-day, and to our delight found it to contain 

 one of the rare " brown eggs." When the bird flew from the 

 nest she immediately let herself fall straight down, just as if she 

 had been shot, and when within a few feet of the ground righted 

 herself and flew horizontally through the undergrowth. In my 

 opinion, authentic eggs of these birds will always be rare, and 

 when found should at least be accompanied by the nest intact. 

 This is one way of verifying the authenticity of the find. No 

 other known bird in Australia makes a nest like that of the 

 Tooth-billed Bower-Bird. The same applies to the eggs of the 

 latter, and, as I stated before, the eggs of the Spotted Cat-Bird 

 {^/unvdiis maculosus) are the nearest approach to them. 



Nothing special to note for yesterday; but to-day (22nd) was 

 most eventful, as we visited nest No. 6 of the Tooth-bill, behind 

 the camp, and won another pair of those rare " brown eggs," 

 which were quite fresh. ( Vide illustrations.) The bird did not 

 quit the nest until the native got within a few feet of her. That 

 they sit close I have now substantially proven. We cut down the 

 limb and vines containing the nest, and then, replacing the eggs, 

 photographed the lot hi situ. This pair of eggs, the darkest, 

 longest, and most pointed of the three sets we have taken, 

 measures in inches — {a) 1.68 x 1.09; {b) 1.67 x 1.09. The 

 " Now-ii " vine or creeper which covered the greater part of the 

 bean-tree {CastanospennicDi australe) from which we took the 

 latter nest and pair of eggs grows a long flat pod which is covered 

 with a golden silky fur. These pods when ripe contain from three 

 to four hard jet-black seeds, measuring an inch in diameter. The 

 leaves of the vine are very large, and are divided into three 

 sections. We then visited nest No. 4 belonging to the Tooth- 

 bills, which was in a crow's-foot elm on the bank of the riyer. 



