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THE AUSTRALIAN MUSEUM MAGAZINE. 



other babblers in habit except that it 

 spends most of its time on the ground. 



Mr. Robert Grant procured specimens 

 for the Trustees of the Australian 

 Museum on Buckiinguy Station in wes- 

 tern N.S. Wales. He says: "Although 

 resembling the other species in habits, 

 they ai'e remarkably active on the 

 ground and difficult to procure. They 

 run with great rapidity, and manage as 

 a rule to keep a bush or other object 

 between themselves and anyone follow- 

 ing." 



They are usually met with in flocks 

 numbering from six to twenty, fre- 

 (luenting the level timbered country; 

 they are rather shy, and not so garrulous 

 as the other Babblers. Their nests and 

 nesting habits are much the same as 

 those previously described. The usual 

 clutch of eggs is four (sometimes five), 

 varying in shape from oval or elongate- 

 oval to swollen oval; the ground colour 

 varies from a light purplish brown to 

 olixle-grey ; some eggs ai'e marked or 

 veined with hair-like lines of blackish 

 brown, others indistinctly mottled with 

 a darker shade of the ground-colour, 

 mostly at the larger end. They are 



most useful, as their food consists of in- 

 sects, and they destroy large numbers 

 of grasshoppers. Breeding sea.son, July 

 to December. Outside measurements of 

 nest: 12 inches by 8 inches. Measure- 

 ment of egg: 25 mm. by 17 mm. 



RED-BREASTED BABBLER. 



(Pomatostomus rubeculus.) 



This species of Babbler closely re- 

 sembles (it is, in fact, the northern 

 form of) the Grey-crowned Babbler, 

 differing only in its smaller size and the 

 reddish coloration of its breast. It is 

 very sociable in its habits, being gene- 

 rally met with in flocks numbering from 

 six to twelve. The nests and the nest- 

 ing habits do not differ from those of 

 allied species. Three is the usual 

 clutch of eggs, which are oval in shape, 

 the ground-colour varying from a purp- 

 lish grey to brownish or buff-grey, 

 marked or veined all over with hair- 

 like lines of dark brown. The food 

 consists of insects of all kinds. Breed- 

 ing season. May to December. 



It ranges over Western and North- 

 western Australia, Northern Territory, 

 Queensland, and Central Australia. 



The Extension Lectures were inaugu- 

 rated on • April 11th by Mr. A . R . 

 McCulloch, lecturing on "Lord Howe 

 Island, a Naturalsists' Paradise," under 

 the auspices of the Railway and Tram- 

 way Institute, Mr, Eraser, C.M.G., be- 

 ing in the chair. Dr. T. Storie Dixson, 

 in his opening remarks, explained the 

 scheme, and the policy of the museum 

 in its endeavour to reach every citizen 

 of the State. 



On July 3rd, Dr. Anderson, under 

 this scheme, lectured at Goulburn, his 

 subject being "Life in Past Ages." This 

 was under the auspices of the Goulburn 

 Mechanics' Institute. 



Mr. T. Hodge Smith, on July 19th, 

 will lecture at the Newtown School of 

 Arts, his topic being "The Geological 

 History of the Sydney District." 



On May 27th fifty members of the 1st 

 Dulwich Hill Company of Girl Guides, 

 under the leadership of Lieutenant Nellie 

 Carmichael, paid a visit to the Museum, 

 seeking information on Australian ani- 

 mals, particularly birds. Mr. J. R. King- 

 horn gave the party a lecture on birds 

 and reptiles, and subsecjuently conducted 

 them round tlie galleries. 



