BIRDS OF TASMANIA. 21 



black; legs and feet black. Dimensions in mm. : — Length, 158; 

 bill, 11; wing, 79; tail, 7.4; tarsus, 16. 



Female. — Head dull greyish-lead; back same colour, bul; tinged 

 with brown; tail brown; wings brown; secondary quills edged with 

 ashy-white; chin and throat pale orange-buff, shading down to 

 dull white on the abdomen and under tail coverts. 



Nest. — Almost the only situation chosen in Tasmania by this 

 species for the site of its nest is the extremity of a dead horizontal 

 •branch some distance from the ground. The nest is a beautifully 

 neat cup-shaped structure, composed of fine bark and covered with 

 cobwebs and prettily decorated with lichens. 



Eggs. — Clutch three; stout oval in shape, with one end 

 decidedly rounded; texture fine; surface glossy; colour whitish; 

 round the upper quarter is a broad belt of umber and purplish- 

 grey, while scattered over the surface are a few spots of the same 

 colours. Dimensions in mm. of a clutch : — (1) 18 x 14, (2) 17 x 14, 

 (3) 17.5 X 14. 



Breeding Season. — November to January. 



Geographical Distribution. — Tasmania, Australia in general, 

 and New Guinea. 



Observations. — To Colonel Legge belongs the honour of being 

 the first to record this Flycatcher for Tasmania. His specimen 

 was procured from near 'Falmouth, in February, 1874. At the 

 present time this species is a regular visitor to the island, arriving 

 and departing about the same time as the other regular migrants, 

 and may be found scattered over a wide area. Among other 

 localities in the northern portion of the island, I have it recorded 

 irom Noland Bay, Table Cape, Glad'Stone, Sprent, and Gunn's 

 Plains. Mr. H. Stuart Dove informs me that it is somewhat scarce 

 on the North- West Coast. 



* SATIN OE SHINING FLYCATCHEE 

 {Myiagra nitida, Gould). 



Male. — Whole of the upper surface glossy blackish-green 

 throat greenish-black; abdomen white; legs and feet brownish 

 black. Dimensions in mm. :— Length, 168; bill, 14; wing, 88 

 tail, 81; tarsus, 16-.5.' 



Female. ^-Kead dark slaty-grey, glossed with greenish-black 

 back dull slaty-grey; tail brown, as also are the primaries and 

 greater wing coverts; sides of the neck and throat orange-rufous 

 rest of under surface, including under tail coverts, white. 



Nest. — A beautifully formed cup-shaped structure, composed of 

 strips of bark, covered with cobwebs, frequently ornamented with 

 lichens; .lined inside with soft shreds of bark and a few fine 

 rootlets. Situated at or near the extremity -of a dead horizontal 

 branch of a tall eucalypt. 



