AELURCEDUS MACULOSUS, Ramsay. 
Queensland Cat-bird. 
vElurcedus maculosus, Ramsay, Proc. Zool. Soc. 1874, p. 601. — Sharpe, Cat. Birds Brit. Mus. vi. p. 385 (1881).— 
Cairn & Grant, Rec. Austr. Mus. i. p. 31 (1892). — North, t. c. p. 112 (1892). 
Ailurcedus maculosus, Gould, Birds of New Guinea, i. pi. 38 (1875). — Ramsay, Proc. Linn. Soc. N. S. W. ii. 
p. 187 (1878). — Id. Tab. List Austr. B. p. 11 (1888). — North, Proc. Linn. Soc. N. S. W. (2) i. 
p. 1156 (1887). — Id. op. cit. iii. p. 147 (1889). — Id. Nests & Eggs Austr. B. p. 177 (1889). 
This species agrees with /E. melanotis and AE. arfcikianus in having the crown of the head mottled, the 
colour in this case being hlack spotted with olive-brown, while there is also a black patch on the ear-coverts 
and another on the chin. 
Mr. A. J. North has given the following good account of this species in ‘ Nests and Eggs of Australian 
Birds ’ : — 
“This bird is a native of the dense scrubs that are to be found in the neighbourhood of Rockingham Bay, 
and the Johnstone, Russell, and Mulgrave Rivers in Tropical Queensland. They congregate in small flocks 
on the palms and fig-trees, from which they obtain their food. During a recent excursion to the Ballenden- 
Ker Ranges, Messrs. E. J. Cairn and Robert Grant, collecting on behalf of the Trustees of the Australian 
Museum, succeeded in obtaining, amongst others, a fine series of these birds in different stages of plumage ; 
and, besides finding several nests with young birds, they were fortunate in obtaining, although very late in 
the season, a nest containing eggs. The nest and eggs in question were found on December 2nd, 1887, in 
the fork of a sapling about seven feet from the ground, on the Herberton road, at a distance of thirty-two 
miles from Cairns. The nest is a neat howl-shaped structure, composed of long twigs and leaves of a 
T> istania, lined inside with twigs and the dried wiry stems of a climbing plant ; on the outside several 
nearly perfect leaves of the Tristania are worked in, and partially obscure one side of the nest. Exterior 
diameter seven inches, by four inches and a half in depth ; interior diameter four inches and three-quarters, 
by two inches and a half in depth. Eggs two in number for a sitting, nearly true ovals in form, tapering 
but slightly at one end, of a uniform creamy-white ; the shell is thin, the surface being smooth and slightly 
glossy. (A) T67 Xl-11 ; (B) T63xTl inch. Both parent birds were procured at the time of taking the 
eggs, which were in a very advanced state of incubation.” 
Adult. General colour above green ; the wing-coverts like the back, with obscure yellowish spots at the 
ends of the median and greater coverts; quills dusky blackish, externally green like the hack ; the primaries 
bluish on their outer webs, the innermost secondaries tipped with a spot of yellowish white ; tail-feathers 
green, dusky blackish on the inner web, all but the two centre ones barred along the tip with white ; head 
ochreous brown, mottled all over with blackish edges to the feathers ; the feathers of the hind-neck and 
mantle greenish, mottled with a spot of pale ochreous or yellowish white ; lores bluish white tinged with 
yellow'; feathers above and below' the eye whitish, the former having blackish tips to some of the feathers; 
ear-coverts black, with a streak of whity brow'n tinged with green along the upper edge ; chin and a spot at 
the base of the cheeks black ; remainder of cheeks yellowish white, the feathers mottled with dusky-brown 
tips ; sides of neck ashy, tinged with green and mottled with brown edges ; behind the ear-coverts and on 
the low'er neck a w'hitish shade, forming an indistinct patch ; throat ashy, mottled with greenish-browm edges 
to the feathers ; remainder of under surface spotted, the feathers having a large ovate mark of white in the 
centre, and being broadly edged with greenish brown, these margins less distinct on the abdomen, which is 
consequently whiter ; thighs ashy, washed with green, with a sub-terminal bar of yellow; under wing-coverts 
dusky, tipped with yellowdsh wdiite forming a faint bar ; axillaries green, with yellowish tips ; edge of wing- 
yellow ; quills dusky below', whitish towards the base of the inner web. Total length 11 inches, culmen 1 *3, 
wing 5*9, tail 4T, tarsus T85. 
The description is taken from a specimen in the British Museum, and the Plate represents two figures of 
an adult bird, together w'ith the nest. For the opportunity of figuring this I am indebted to the kindness 
of Mr. A. J. North, who sent me an enlarged photograph of it. 
