THE VICTORIAN NATURALIST. 67 



The birds were shy, and when they have a nest will not go near it 

 all day if anyone is about. They are very inquisitive ; when near 

 iruit trees on which they feed, if a person sat still they would 

 come within 2 feet of him. When going to fruit trees they fly one 

 after the other.) 

 PoMATORHiNus RUBECULus, Red-breasted Babbler. 



This bird is only found in Northern Australia. They generally 

 keep in small flocks of about a dozen birds, and build their 

 large, bulky nests in colonies, and I have seen eight in one small 

 casuarina tree. When the nesting season is over I have several 

 times during wet weather or at night disturbed as many as five 

 birds in one of the old nests. They may possibly have beeri 

 the parents and fully-fledged young ones gone there for shelter. 

 Mr. Olive found several of their nests. The one on 25th Sep- 

 tember was built on a eucalyptus tree, near the end of a branch, 

 about 10 feet from the ground; it was dome-shaped, and built 

 of sticks and lined with grass, and measured — external depth, i 

 foot ; internal, 4 inches ; external diameter, i foot 9 inches ; 

 internal, 7 inches. The Entomyzas nearly always build their grass 

 nests in the deserted nests of these birds, making the entrance 

 larger.. The eggs are greyish-brown, with irregular shadings, 

 with reddish-brown veins or lines, often crossing one another, but 

 their numbers vary much in different eggs. They measure — {a} 

 I.I X .73, (6) I.I X .71 inch. 



Cracticus picatus, Pied Butcher-bird. 



Northern Australia is the habitat of this bird, and although it is 

 so similar in plumage to the C^-acticus nigrigularis, its note and 

 habits are different. The country in which the two birds are found 

 overlaps. A nest was found on 22nd October, built in a 

 eucalyptus tree, about 25 feet from the ground ; it is open, and 

 composed oi twigs and neatly lined with grass, and measures — 

 external depth, 10 inches; internal, 2^ inches; external 

 diameter, 9 inches ; internal, 4 inches. The full clutch of eggs 

 is four, but only three were found in this nest. They are of a 

 light greyish-green colour, with brown markings of various 

 shades, more plentiful at the larger end, and sometimes forming 

 an irregular zone. The markings beneath the surface have 

 a purplish hue. They measure — {a) 1.24 x .87, (6) 1.25 x .86, 

 (c) 1.27 x .89 inch. 



(These birds are very shy, and leave the neighbourhood of 

 their nest when it is being robbed. They are generally in pairs, 

 and seem nowhere very plentiful.) 



Ptilotis fasciogularis, Fasciated Honey-eater. 



This little bird extends right across the northern portion of 

 Austraha. They are noted for building a dome-shaped nest, 

 whereas all the other honey-eaters in Australia, as far as is known^ 



