THE VICTORIAN NATURALIST. 87 



Hyjwtcenidia jjhilippinensis, Linn., in the crops of the settlers, 

 but the birds are not at all numerous in the district. 



A pair of Sacred Kingfishers, Halcyon sanctus, Vig. and Hors., 

 nests every year in the hollow of an old gum-tree at the foot of 

 our garden, and their gorgeous plumage is seen flashing in the 

 sunlight as they perch on a fence rail to meditate after a meal. 



There are many species of honey-eaters in the Olinda district, 

 the commonest probably being the Yellow-faced Honey-eater, 

 Ptilotis chrysops, Lath., whose beautiful golden caskets of moss 

 and rootlets are suspended from slender branchlets of hazels and 

 and wattles overhanging the stream. The Rufous Thickhead, 

 Pachycephala rufiventris, Lath., and the White-throated Thick- 

 head, P. gutturalis, Lath., are also exceedingly plentiful. The 

 first-named bird has a strange habit of working a single dead 

 gum-leaf into the outer wall of its nest, and by this means one 

 can tell to which of the two species a nest belongs without seeing 

 either the bird or its eggs. In other respects the nests of both 

 species are almost identical, but the eggs of the White-throated 

 Thickhead vary to a remarkable degree, and are exceedingly 

 beautiful. This fact has proved unfortunate for the bird, as the 

 ruthless collector is always tempted to collect a series of its 

 lovely eggs. 



The birds of the moist and shady groves along the higher 

 reaches of the creek must be passed over with a few words, as 

 they have been fully described in a former paper. The Mountain 

 Thrush, Geocichla lunulata. Lath., builds a charming nest, 

 decorated with living, green moss, in the fragrant musks, and the 

 curious Coachwhip-bird lays its two sky-blue eggs, flecked with 

 sepia, in a cradle of rootlets placed in the heart of a clump of 

 Wire-grass, Ehrharta juncea, Spreng., among the tree ferns, or in 

 the hazel thickets by the water's edge. 



The Grey Shrike-Thrush, CoUyriocincla harmonica, Lath., that 

 soft grey songster, whose liquid notes ripple through the dawn so 

 beautifully, builds its deep cup-shaped nest in the crown of an old 

 tree stump near the creek, and is one of our most cherished bird 

 friends at Olinda. 



Sometimes we make excursions further afield, and I will con- 

 clude this paper with a brief account of a trip to Lyre-bird Gully, 

 at the head waters of the Olinda Creek, which my companions and 

 myself made last September. 



The object of the outing was to obtain a series of photographs 

 of a pair of Lyre-birds, Menura victories, Gould, and their off- 

 spring, which, through the kindness of Mr. Joseph Gabriel and 

 Mr. Fred. Dodd, of Olinda, who acted as guide, we were enabled 

 to study in their native haunts. 



After a rough journey from the Olinda township, over a steep 

 and rocky mountain track, we at length fought our way to the 



