FLY-EATEBS 



277 



several inches in length. It is ontwardly constructed of strips 

 of barli, 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. The eggs are three 

 in number for a sitting, elongate in form, and a pure white, 

 thickly freckled, and spotted with dull red markings; .75 x .5 

 inch. The White-throated Gerygone is frequently the foster- 

 parent of the Narrow-billed Bronze Cuckoo and the Barred- 

 breasted Bronze Cuckoo. 



There are two Australian species. 



The White-throated Fly-eater, G. alhigularis. — Eastern Australia from 

 Gape York to New South Wales, migrating southward for the summer. 

 Nest described above. The upper surface is olive-brown. Length 

 4 inches. 



The Grey Fly-eater, G. cineraseens. — North-west Australia and South-east 

 New Guinea. Ashy-brown above, and the length is but 3.4 inches. 



Other species are found in Timor, Borneo, Celebes, and the 

 Philippines. 



Genus Pseudogerygone. Fly-eaters. 



This genus includes a large number of birds, closely allied to 

 the preceding, and of similar habits, and ranges over the whole 

 of Australia, New Caledonia, New Guinea and adjacent islands. 

 There are six Australian species. They are all small birds, 

 approaching four inches in length, the bill, except in 

 P. magnirostris, being under half an inch. The song is inferior 

 to that of the Gerygones. 



Like the Gerygone, they build suspended dome-shaped nests. 

 That of the P. magnirostris is a long ragged structure about 

 18 inches long built on a hanging creeper usually over water and 

 exactly resembles some flood debris, hence its local name, the 

 Flood Bird. The nest proper is at the bottom, and is com- 

 paratively small. Three eggs are laid, colour warm-white, 

 marked with reddish-brown blotches, especially on the larger 

 end, They measure about .67 x .47 inch. 



Back brown, abdomen white in the first four species. 



The Western Fly-eater, P. cuUcivora. — Western Australia. Ashy-brown 

 above, throat and chest ashy-whitish. Culmen .4 inches. 



