143 On the Nest and Eggs of the Coach-whvp Bird, ^c. 



The present nest and eggs were obtained by me near the 

 banks of the Yarra Yarra, near Heidelberg^ on one of those 

 points of land or ''^bends^^ of the river still left in their original 

 statCj and where the underwood and tangle are extremely 

 dense. Being on a visit in the neighbourhood on the opposite 

 side of the river late in the previous summer, my attention 

 was attracted by the remarkable note of this bird, but as the 

 breeding season was then past^ I merely noted its haunt. 

 Findings however, on reference to Goukrs work, that its nidi- 

 fication was unknown, and relying on a general fact I had 

 often observed, namely, that the same pair (apparently) of 

 birds will, if undisturbed^ return for several years to the same 

 locaility for breeding, I revisited the spot about the com- 

 mencement of the next summer, and^ after a short search, 

 was rewarded by the discovery of the nest, on which the 

 female bird was sitting so closely as almost to allovv^ herself 

 to be captured ; thus removing all doubt as to the identity 

 of the nest and eggs. The nest was in the most tangled part 

 of the thicket, and placed in the forked branches of a shrub, 

 about four feet from the ground — it is cupshaped, about five 

 inches outside diameter^ the exterior of dry slender twigs, and 

 the interior lined with thin fibres and a few pieces of horse- 

 hair, the latter evidently owing to the accidental vicinity of 

 some farms ; the whole structure is neither very solidly nor 

 elaborately built. It contained two eggs — length, exactly one 

 inch ; extreme width, three quarters of an inch. In shape they 

 are not much pointed at the thinner end, and the greatest 

 girth is at about the middle. Their ground-colour is pale 

 greenish blue, with streaks and dots of various sizes scattered 

 pretty equally over the whole surface ; these markings are of 

 a brownish black colour, and of two kinds, the one being very 

 distinct and sharp, the other somewhat less numerous, more 

 greyish, and much fainter, having the appearance of being 

 imder the shell. From the fact of the bird sitting so closely, 

 I conclude that no more than two eggs are generally laid, 

 though the present ones had not yet been perceptibly in- 

 cubated. 



I regret to say I have kept no precise memorandum as to 

 the date of finding the nest, but believe it to have been about 

 the end of October. 



2nd. Epthianura Albifrons. White-fronted Epthianura. 

 This bird, which at the first cursory glance recals the 

 familiar English black and white Water- Wagtail, both by its 



