INTRODUCTION. 



The object of this Catalogue is to give authentic descriptions of 

 the Nests and Eggs, as far as are known, of the Birds found breeding 

 in Australia, Tasmania and on the adjacent islands, and especially 

 of such specimens as are to be found in the Collection of the 

 Australian Museum. 



In the preparation of this work I am deeply indebted to Dr. 

 Ramsay the Curator, and Messrs. Ramsay Bros, of Dobroyde, who 

 kindly placed their MS. notes, which have been kept since 1858 

 up to the present time, and the whole of the Dobroyde Collection 

 at my disposal ; and it is a matter for congratulation that the 

 work so ably done by the late Mr. Gould, should have been 

 followed up in the same accurate and systematic manner by 

 these gentlemen. Of later years, Mr. K. H. Bennett of 

 " Yandembah," whose name frequently occurs through these 

 pages, has by a series of close observations, contributed largely to 

 our knowledge of the habits and nidification of many species 

 which had previously been unobserved, and it is to the perusal of 

 his MS. notes taken on the spot, together with the use of his 

 collection, which he kindly placed at my disposal, that I am 

 enabled to give additional information regarding the breeding of 

 many birds in the interior of New South Wales, and more 

 particularly as to the members of the Accipitres and Psittacidce. 



Through the courtesy of the Hon. William Macleay, who has 

 always been the foremost to assist the advancement of Natural 

 History in Australia, I have been enabled to examine and describe 

 a number of nests and eggs in the collection of the Macleayan 

 Museum, and I am also indebted to Mr. George Masters, the 

 Curator, for supplying me with information relative to the same, 

 and for a knowledge of the nidification of many of the Western 



