96



0?i the Regent Bird.



When wasp-grubs were put out, the Mesias (October, 1903) had

to be removed to save them from themselves.


The breeding Regent did not fall into active moult until

the middle of September, on her young one being temporarily

taken away from her, and then (a unique experience with a

Regent) the moult came on so rapidly as to incapacitate her

from flying. The system of a bird while she is actually nesting

is not infrequently so engrossed that the breeding energy seems

to sustain the old feathers beyond the normal duration, the moult

following on the removal or abating of the exciting cause. In

this instance, as perhaps usually, only the female was affected,

the male moulting from mid-July to November.


I ought to add, for the information of those who do not

possess Campbell’s Nests and Eggs of Australian Birds, in which

both nest and eggs are figured, that the nest is—“ Flat, slightly

concave; loosely constructed of coarse twigs or dead branchlets,

lined on top with fine brownish twigs and long yellowish wire¬

like stems of a climbing plant, the latter being chiefly placed

round the side ; usually situated in dense scrub, at a height of

from twelve to twenty-five feet from the ground.” Eggs two in

number, sometimes three ; one is thus described :—“ A beautiful,

well-shaped specimen, with texture of shell fine and surface

slightly glossy ; colour, light yellowish-stone, with a faint greenish

tin^e, marked with blotches and spots of sienna or olive-brown,

but chiefly with remarkable hair-like markings of the same

colour, as if a person had painted on the shell fanciful shapes

and figures with a fine brush. Intermingled are a few dull

greyish streaks. All the markings are fairly distributed, being

more abundant round the upper quarter.” Another “ has mark¬

ings like a net-work all over, and finer or more hair-like in

character.” Mr. Campbell states that ‘‘The eggs of the Regent

Bird resemble, in a remarkable degree, those of the Spotted

Bower Bird (Chlamydcra maculata'), with the slight difference

that the ground-colour of the eggs of the former is usually

more yellowish in tone.”


(To be continued).



