SOME BIRDS OF THE MANGROVES 
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Notes. — Also called Brown Thickhead. Inhabits the mangroves and 
adjoining dense scrubs and swamps; usually in pairs. It is very shy and 
retiring in habits, and has a somewhat pleasing and lengthened song, but 
without the “whip-crack” ending which is characteristic of the song of the 
other Whistlers. Food: insects and seeds of various kinds. 
Nest. — An open structure, composed of long pieces of coarse grass; 
lined with the feathery seed-tops of grass and a few feathers. Generally 
placed in an upright forked branch of a mangrove or other tree. 
Eggs. — Two, pale buff, with spots of dark brown and underlying 
markings of lilac, which are chiefly confined to the larger end. Breeding- 
season: not recorded. 
13. Yellow Silver-eye Zosterops lutea Gould 
Zos-ter-ops — Gk, zoster , belt; Gk, ops, face: lu-te-a — L., luteus, yellow. 
Distribution. — Tropical northern Australia to western Queensland, 
from Carnarvon to the Norman River. 
Notes. — Also called Yellow White-eye. Usually in small flocks, fre- 
quenting the mangroves and nearby scrubs ; it is very active whilst search- 
ing among the leaves for insects, uttering the while its low “tinkling” 
note. Food: insects, berries, and seeds. 
Nest. — A neat, cup-shaped structure, said to be similar to that of the 
Grey-breasted Silver-eye; usually placed in a mangrove tree. 
Eggs. — Three, pale bluish-green. Breeding-season : probably Septem- 
ber to January. 
14. White-breasted Whistler Pachycephala lanioides Gould — 14A. 
Female 
lan-i-old-es—G k, lanios, butcher-bird ; Gk, -oides, from eidos, form = like. 
Distribution . — Northern Australia, from Shark Bay to the Gulf of 
Carpentaria. 
Notes— Also called White-bellied Thickhead. Usually in pairs, fre- 
quenting the mangroves ; similar in habits and song to the other Whistlers. 
Nest- Built of twigs and rootlets, lined with finer rootlets, and 
fastened in position with cobwebs. Built in a fork in the centre of a 
mangrove tree at about 6 feet from the ground. 
Eggs. Two, stone-coloured or buff, with a zone of umber and lav- 
ender spots at the larger end. Breeding-season : December to January. 
15. Shining Flycatcher Piezorhynchus alecto Temminck — 15A. Female 
Pi-ez-o-rhynch'-us — Gk, piezein, to press; Gk, rhynchos ( rhugchos ), 
beak: alecto— one of the furies (mythological). 
Distribution. — Tropical northern Australia, from Point Torment in 
the west to Hervey Bay in the east. 
Notes. — Inhabits the mangroves chiefly, also tea-tree swamps and 
river margins. Usually in pairs; it is shy, and is generally seen moving 
about close to the ground among the roots of the mangroves ; it utters a 
