2 02 MBLIPHAGIDai 



interior and in Western Australia, but in these places it is by no 

 means a common bird. I found it particularly plentiful among the 

 low saplings in the neighbourhood of Mount Buninyong in Victoria, 

 and also in the scrubby undergrowth bordering portions of the 

 shores of Western Port Bay. 



The nest is a neat cup-shaped structure composed of bark and 

 grasses, and warmly lined inside with opossum fur, or cow hair ; 

 it is slung by the rim to the small horizontal twigs of a bush, and 

 placed within a few feet of the ground. Eggs two in number for 

 a sitting, of a uniform delicate flesh colour, with a few minute 

 freckles of a darker tint on the larger end, but in some instances 

 I have obtained specimens with small but very distinct spots ; 

 others are nearly devoid of markings. 



A set taken by Mr. James Ramsay at Merule, measure, length 



(A) 0-84 X 0-62 inch; (B) 0-84 x 0-61 inch. Sets from Mr. K. 

 H. Bennett's and my own collection, give the same average 

 measurements. 



Two eggs taken by Dr. Hurst at Newington on the Parramatta 

 River, New South Wales, differ somewhat from each other ; one 

 specimen (A) is perfectly white, with a few minute reddish- 

 chestnut markings towards the larger end, the other is of a fleshy- 

 buff ground colour, with irregular shaped markings of reddish- 

 chestnut evenly dispersed all over, some of which appear as if 

 beneath the surface of the shell. Length (A) 0-8 x 0-63 inch ; 



(B) 0-81 X 0-63 inch. 



September and the four following months constitute the breeding 

 season of this species. 



B.ah. Derby, North-West Australia, Port Darwin and Port 

 Essington, Gulf of Carpentaria, Wide Bay District, Richmond 

 and Clarence Rivers Districts, . New South Wales, Interior, 

 yictoria and South Australia, West and South- West Australia, 

 {Ra/msay.) 



