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being much of the colour as the egg, help to protect it and hide it 

 from view. All the nests and eggs which I possess, with the 

 exception of one, were procured in the Illawarra district, chiefly 

 from the ravines and gullies in the neighbourhood of Appin and 

 Wollongong. Occasionally the same nest is used more than once 

 after being lined afresh with feathers. The eggs are of three 

 varieties at least : — 



Var. A, the most common, is of a light stone-grey, with darker 

 coloured blotches and spots, and a few jet-black dots ; length 2 -4 

 to 2'5 inches by 1'6 to 1"7 in breadth. Other specimens are dull 

 brown, stone-brown, or dark blackish-brown, with dull brown spots 

 and blotches when fresh. 



Var. B is of a reddish-brown colour, with dark blackish-brown 

 spots, and a beautiful blush of pinkish purple over the whole 

 surface. I have only seen one of this very marked variety, 2 '35 

 inches in length by 1-65 in breadth. 



Var. C is a most peculiar looking egg, of a uniform dark 

 metallic blackish-brown, having obscure spots and blotches of a 

 darker tint, almost invisible at a short distance ; length 2 '5 by 1-7 

 inches ; and like many of the other specimens, this variety has jet- 

 black lines and dots dispersed over the surface. 



The young which are hatched early in August, but sometimes 

 as late as the end of September, are of a whity-brown colour upon 

 leaving the egg, but become darker as they get older ; the crown 

 of the head is covered with long dusky slate-coloured down, which 

 hangs over the neck (which is quite bare) on to the back ; the wings 

 have a fringe of shorter down round them, which is longest on their 

 lower edge ; the upper part of the rump, centre of the back, and 

 the tail are also covered with down, while two rows of short'down 

 grow along the thighs. The bare triangular part of the neck is 

 surrounded by a narrow fringe of very short down, while two ridges 

 still shorter and of a light yellow colour grow on either side of 

 the breast or keel of the sternum. Down on the head from one 

 and a-half to two inches in length, on rump and tail it is two 



