THE VICTORIAN NATURALIST. 63 



the eggs out of the nest one by one, and as they fell some thirty 

 feet I caught them uninjured in my hat. The nest Mr. Olive 

 sent was built in a bunch of mistletoe growing on a eucalyptus 

 tree 20 feet from the ground, and is composed of twigs and 

 tendrils ; it is very thin and can easily be seen through from below. 

 It is a shallow, open structure, and measures — external depth, 2^ 

 inches; internal, i^ inches; external diameter, 5 inches ; inter- 

 nal, 31^ inches. He found it on 5th December, and the eggs were 

 fresh, and he shot the male off the nest, and on opening its stomach 

 found it contained fruit only. The ground colour of the eggs is 

 brownish-green, with irregular markings of a dark reddish-brown, 

 slightly more numerous at the larger end, and a few beneath 

 the surface of the shell, being of a purplish hue ; they measure — - 

 (a) 1.30 X .80, {b) 1.24 X .81, (c) 1. 1 8 X .81 inch. The eggs of 

 these birds vary very considerably, and the five clutches in my col- 

 lection run from very light green ground colour with small freckled 

 markings to a brown ground colour with large dark reddish- 

 brown markings, and the intermediate shades ; the eggs vary in 

 size and shape, some being more elongate than others. 



(These birds are scarce, and travel in flocks while feeding but 

 only in pairs when near their nest, and get greatly excited if that 

 structure is interfered with.) 

 Grallina picata, Magpie Lark. 



The Magpie Lark is universally distributed over Australia, 

 wherever water is found. In the Royal Park, Melbourne, which 

 is surrounded more or less by suburbs, a flock of about thirty of 

 these birds is to be found nearly all the year round, but only 

 two pairs nest regularly, and nearly always in the same tree, 

 and that they have done for many years past ; but the young 

 they rear always seek fresh scenes. The nesting season in 

 Northern Australia depends a good deal on the season, but 

 if favourable November seems to be the principal month. 

 The nest is an open structure, composed outwardly of mud, 

 with a little grass well mixed in, and lined inside with grass 

 seed-stalks. It weighs i lb. 7 ozs,, and measures — external 

 depth, 4j4 inches; internal, 2^ inches; external diameter, 

 5)^ inches; internal, 4 inches. The eggs vary considerably in 

 colour, markings, and size, but the commonest type have the 

 ground colour white, with dark brown, irregular markings, forming 

 a zone at the larger end. A few markings appear beneath 

 the surface of the shell, they being of a purplish colour. 

 A clutch Mr. Olive sent of the above type measure — (a) 1.13 x 

 .81, (6) I.I I X .80, (c) 1. 16 x .82 inch. Another clutch is much 

 smaller, and they have the ground colour light brownish pink, 

 with light chocolate markings, mostly on the larger end, and 

 forming a zone, also purplish markings as if beneath the surface 

 of the shell, They measure — (a) .96 x .81, (b) .99 x .79, (c) .98 



