GROUND-FREQUENTING BIRDS 
45 
posed of sticks, twigs, dead leaves, and mosses. Usually placed in a mass 
of lawyer vines, in a staghorn or bird*s-nest fern growing on a tree or on 
a log. 
Egg. — Pure white. Breeding-season: May to August or November. 
12. Log-runner Orthonyx temmincki Ranzani — 12A. Female 
temmincki — C. J. Temminck (1778-1858), Dutch ornithologist. 
Distribution. — South-eastern Queensland and north-eastern New 
South Wales. 
Notes. — Also called Spinetail and Spine-tailed Log-runner. Inhabits 
the dense scrubs and brushes ; usually in pairs or family parties ; it is very 
noisy, but possesses a pretty song, a series of “Quicks/* usually uttered 
in an apparently excited manner. Its food consists of insects, chiefly 
beetles and small land snails and slugs, collected by scratching among the 
fallen leaves and other debris. It uses both legs and tail — the tail with a 
“sideway” action, its spine-like tips making a perfect rake. 
Nest. — A dome-shaped structure with an entrance at the side, com- 
posed of sticks ; lined with mosses ; built on or near the ground. 
Eggs. — Two, pure white. Breeding-season: April to July. 
13. Fern-wren Oreoscopus gutturalis De Vis 
Or-e-o-scop'-us — Gk, oros, oreos , mountain: gut-tur-a-lis — L., gutturalis , 
throated. 
Distribution . — Northern Queensland (Herberton Range to Cairns). 
Notes. — Inhabits the dense scrubs of the mountain ranges; is local, 
preferring damp places in the scrub, where, if one stands quiet for a 
while, one is almost sure to hear its low plaintive call, or hear it scratching 
among the debris and fallen leaves. Its food consists chiefly of insects, pro- 
cured among ferns, lichens, and mosses, or underneath the partly stripped- 
off bark of some fallen giant of the scrub. 
Nest. — A large, dome-shaped structure with an entrance at the side, 
composed of fresh green mosses and fine black fern-stems. Built on the 
ground among ferns or partly built into a hole in a bank of a gully. 
Eggs. — Two, pure white. Breeding-season: extends from July to 
February. 
14. Rock-warbler Origma rubricata Latham 
O-rig -ma — Gk, orygma , a hollow, cave: ru-bri-ca-ta — L., rubricatus , red- 
dened. 
Distribution. — Central eastern New South Wales (Hawkesbury sand- 
stone area). 
Notes. — Also called Cataract-bird, Cave-bird, Rock Robin, and Rock 
Swallow. Usually in pairs, frequenting chiefly rocky ravines and gullies; 
never far from water. It is an active bird, moving with rapidity wer the 
