120 MENURIDiE. 



in front of the nest, the egg or the young bird can easily be seen 

 in it. The female enters the nest liead first, and then turns round 

 and settles herself on the egg, with her tail sometimes over her 

 back, hut more often bent round by her side. Thus in time the 

 tail becomes quite askew, and is a tolerable guide to the length of 

 time the bird has been sitting. 



The nests are for the most part placed on the darker side of the 

 gullies and ravines. They are large, oval, domed structures, with 

 the entrance in the front, and are usually placed on the ground at the 

 foot of some stump or tree, or by the side of a fallen log ; sometimes 

 they are placed on a ledge of rock in the face of the cliff at a 

 considerable height from the ground ; occasionally a nest is found 

 in the end of a log which has been hollowed out by fire and formed 

 in the shape of a scoop. They are always built on some solid 

 foundation, nor do I see how such a bulky and loosely built 

 structure could hold together if placed otherwise ; great care must 

 be taken in moving the nests to prevent their falling to pieces. 

 T have now before me three nests : — No. 1, taken from the hollow 

 end of a log ; No. 2, from a ledge of rock ; while the third was 

 found by the side of a fallen tree. No. 2 is composed of fine roots 

 and Hymenophyllum tunbridgense, with pieces of Hypnum, and 

 lined with feathers ; this nest is much more neat, smaller than the 

 others, and looked very beautiful while the ferns and moss, which 

 covered the whole of the outside were fresh and green. Nos. 1 

 and 3 are much the same in appearance and size, being large, oval 

 dome-shaped structures of sticks, twigs, and roots, interwoven 

 loosely with pieces of bark and moss, roots of ferns, and fronds of 

 Pteris aquilinay the inside is lined with rootlets, and finally, the 

 long loose feathers from the flanks and backs of the birds. The 

 entrance, which is in the side (or front), is not covered with a 

 hood, nor does its upper edge hang over so as to conceal the egg" 

 The lower edge, if anything, protrudes slightly in all the nests I 

 have examined. The total length of the nest is twenty-six inches, 

 height twelve, and width eighteen inches ; the entrance is five or 

 six inches in diameter, and its lower edge four and a-half in 

 thickness. The whole of the interior is lined with feathers, which 



