114 MUSOIOAPIDiE. 



Collection taken by Dr. Ramsay on the 16th September 1860, are 

 heavily blotched with red, forming a zone on the thicker end, 

 another has the spots smaller and sprinkled over the whole surface. 

 Length (A) 0-64 x 0-48 inch ; (B) 0-65 x 047 inch. 



A set taken by Mr. James Ramsay at Tyndarie, are not so 

 heavily blotched as the former, and have nearly all the markings 

 confined to the larger end. Length (A) 0-62 x 0-5 inch ; (B) 0-66 

 X 0-47 inch ; (0) 0-65 x 0-47 inch. 



They breed from the beginning of September until the end of 

 December, during which time two or more broods are reared. 



Hah. Gulf of Carpentaria, Rockingham Bay, Dawson River, 

 Richmond and Clarence Rivers Districts, New South Wales, 

 Interior, Victoria and South Australia. {Ramsay.) 



MALURTJS MELANOTUS, Gould. 



Black-backed Superb Warbler. 



Gould, Handhk. Bds. Aust., Vol. i., sp. 187, p. 322. 3221. /^ 



Mr. K. H. Bennett procured several nests and eggs of this species 

 from the neighbourhood of Ivanhoe and Mossgiel, in the interior 

 of New South Wales, during the months of October and November 

 1885 and 1886. The nest is of the usual form, composed 

 throughout of strips of bark, grasses, and wool, with a few feathers 

 inside, rather loosely interwoven, being five inches in length by 

 three in breadth, and placed in a low bush. 



" Eggs like those of M. cyaneus, from which they are not to be 

 distinguished ; white, with rich red dots, spots, and in some 

 blotches, scattered over the surface, crowded on one end, or forming 

 a broken zone near the thicker end ; the size of an average 

 specimen is — long axis 0-63 inch ; short axis 0-48 inch ; of a 

 heavily blotched specimen 0-65 x 0-45 inch." Dohr. Mus. Coll. 

 (Ramsay, P.L.S., N.S.W., 2nd Series, Vol. i., p. 1145.) 



Hob. Interior, South Australia. fBamsay.^ 



H-2 



