The Insectivorous Birds of N.S. W. 15 



51. PiEzOBHYsrcHus gotjldi, Gray. Gould's " Flycatcher," " Black-fronted 



Flycatcher." 



MonarcJia trivirgata, Gould, Birds of Austr., fol. ed., Vol. n, pi. 96 (1848). 



Piezorhynchus gouldii, North, Nests and Eggs, Austr. Birds, p. 90 (1889). 



A rarer species allied to the above, and frequenting the same situations. 

 The nest of this Flycatcher is usually built between the stems of the lawyer 

 vine, Calamus australis, and is outwardly composed of shreds of bark fibre, 

 gi'asses, and dried skeletons of leaves, ornamented and held together with 

 spiders' webs and egg bags, the inside being neatly lined with fine, black hair- 

 like roots. The eggs are two in number for a sitting ; pure white, with dots 

 and spots of bright reddish-brown, thickly distributed over the surface of 

 the shell ; length, 0'8 x - 58 inch. This bird is more frequently met with in 

 the tropical brushes of north eastern Queensland. 



52. G-erygoke albigttlaris, Gould. " White-throated Gerygone," " Native 



Canary." 

 Gerygone albogularis, Gould, Birds of Austr., fol. ed., Yol. n, pi. 97 (1818). 

 Gerygone albigularis, North, Nests and Eggs of Austr. Birds, p. 97 (1889). 



This migratory and well-known species arrives in New South "Wales 

 during the month of September, and takes its departure again about the 

 end of March or April. Erom its yellow breast and sweet and pleasing 

 notes, it is known in many parts of the Colony as the "Native Canary." 

 When not engaged in the duties of incubation, this little bird may be fre- 

 quently seen in the neighbourhood of Sydney, diligently searching in the 

 leafy recesses of the Turpentine tree (Syncarpia laurifolia), or gum saplings, 

 for minute insects, which constitute its sole food. The nest of this species, 

 which is suspended from the leafy twig of a bushy tree, is oblong-oval in 

 shape, with a narrow entrance in the side, which is almost concealed by a 

 small protecting hood ; and the bottom of the nest terminates in a small 

 beard or tail several inches in length. It is outwardly constructed of strips 

 of bark, grasses, and cobwebs matted up and interwoven together ; the 

 inside being warmly lined with hair, opossum fur, or the silky- white down of 

 the Cotton Plant (Gompho carpus fruticosus) . The eggs are three in number 

 for a sitting, elongate in form, and of a pure white, thickly freckled, and 

 spotted with dull red markings ; length, 0"75 x 0'5 inch. The White-throated 

 Gerygone is frequently the foster-parent of the Narrow-billed Bronze Cuckoo, 

 Lamprococcyx basalis, and the Barred-breasted Bronze Cuckoo, L. plagosus. 



53. Gerygone fusca, Gould. " Brown Gerygone." 



Gerygone fusca, Gould, Birds of Austr., fol. ed., Yol. n, pi. 98 (1818) ; 

 North, Nests and Eggs of Austr. Birds, p. 99 (1889). 



This species is not so frequently met with as the preceding one, and is far 

 less attractive, both in plumage and song. It inhabits the dense brushes 

 near the coast, out of which it is seldom observed. During September and 

 the three following months it may be found breeding in the neighbourhood 

 of Gosford and Ourimbah, and in similar localities on all the northern 

 rivers. The nest, which is nearly spherical in shape, with a small entrance 

 in the side, is attached at the top to the end of a thin twig or branch, and 

 frequently to the prickly stem of the lawyer vine, Calamus australis. 

 It is constructed of very fine black wiry rootlets and thin shreds of bark, 

 matted up together, and having an exterior covering of green mosses orna- 

 mented here and there with mouse-eared lichen, the inside being lined with 



