JE L U R OE DUS VIRIDIS ( Latham ) 
Cat-bird. 
Green Gralrie, Lath. Gen. Syn. Suppl. ii. p. 129 (1801). 
Gracula viridis, Lath. Ind. Orn. Suppl. ii. p. xxviii (1801). — Shaw, Gen. Zool. vii. p. 473 (1809). 
Lanins crassir oslris, Paykull, Nova Acta Akad. Upsal. vii. p. 282, Taf. 10 (1810). 
Kitta virescens, Temrn. PI. Col. ii. pi. 39G (1826). — Wagler, Syst. Av., Ptilonorhynchus, sp. 3 (1827). 
Ptilonorhynchus smithii, Vig. & Horsf. Trans. Linn. Soc. xv. p. 264 (1827, ex Latham MSS.). — Gray, Gen. B. ii. 
p. 325 (1846). — Gould, B. Austr. iv. pi. 11 (1848). 
Ptilorhynchus smithii, Bp. Consp. i. p. 370 (1850) — Schl. Mus. Pays-Bas, Coraces, i. p. 117 (1867). 
Ailuroedus smithii, Cab. Mus. Hein. Th. i. p. 213 (1850). — Gould, Idandb. B. Austr. i. p. 446 (1865). 
JElurcedus crassirostris, Sclater, Ibis, 1868, p. 501. — Elliot, Monogr. Parad. pi. xxxxiv. (1873). — Ramsay, Proc. 
Linn. Soc. N. S. W. ii. p. 187 (1878). 
Ptilonorhynchus crassirostris, Gray, Hand-1. B. i. p. 294, no. 4336 (1869). 
JElurosdus viridis, Sharpe, Cat. Birds in Brit. Mus. vi. p. 385 (1881). — Ramsays, Tab. List Austr. B. p. 11 (1888). — 
North, Nests & Eggs Austr. B. p. 176 (1889). — Id. llec. Austr. Mus. i. p. Ill (1891). 
In nearly every country in the world there seems to he some bird which has the name of “ Cat-hird ” 
bestowed upon it. In North America it is a Mocking-bird, Galeoscoptes carolinensis, which bears the name, 
and in Australia the present species is known to the colonists by the same title on account of the strange 
resemblance of its note to that of a cat. Structurally and in general appearance the bird is allied to the 
Bower-birds, hut it has never been known to build a “ bower.” Mr. Gould says: — “While in the district 
in which this bird is found, my attention was directed to the acquisition of all the information I could obtain 
respecting its habits, as I considered it very probable that it might construct a bower similar to that of the 
Satin-bird ; hut I could not satisfy myself that it does, nor could I discover its nest or the situation in 
As will he seen below, the nest and eggs are now known, hut Mr. North also stated in 1891 that he had 
never heard of any “ bower” being built by the Australian Cat-birds. 
The range of the Cat-hird is given by Mr. North as the coastal ranges of New South Wales and Southern 
Queensland. He writes : — “ It is particularly plentiful at Camhewarra and the Kangaroo valley, in the 
Illawarra district, and is found in favourable localities all through the southern portions of the coast ranges, 
becoming scarcer, however, as the boundary of the colony is approached. The rich hushes in the neighbour- 
hood of the Clarence, Richmond, and Tweed rivers are also strongholds of this species, and it is also found, 
hut not so freely dispersed, in the extreme south of Queensland.” Mr. Gould observes So far as our 
knowledge extends, this species is only found in New South Wales, where it inhabits the luxuriant forests 
that extend along the eastern coast between the mountain ranges and the sea ; those of Illawarra, the Hunter, 
the Macleay, and the Clarence, and the cedar-brushes of the Liverpool Range, being, among many others, 
localities in which it may he found : situations suitable to the Regent- and Satin-birds are equally adapted 
to the habits of the Cat-bird, and I have not unfrequently seen them all three feeding together on the same 
tree.” 
It should he noted that Dr. Ramsay included Victoria and South Australia among the habitats of the 
present species ; but I presume that these countries were inserted by mistake in the ‘ Table ’ of Australian 
birds, as Mr. North does not include them in his more recently-given range of the species. 
Mr. Gould gives the following account of the habits of the Cat-hird : — “ The wild fig and the native 
cherry, when in season, afford an abundant supply. So rarely does it take insects that I do not recollect ever 
finding any remains in the stomachs of those specimens I dissected. In its disposition it is neither a shy nor 
a wary bird, little caution being required to approach it, either when feeding or while quietly perched upon 
the lofty branches of the trees. It is at such times that its loud, harsh, and extraordinary note is heard; a 
note which differs so much from that of all other birds that, having been once heard, it can never be 
mistaken. In comparing it to the nightly concerts of the domestic cat, I conceive that I am conveying to 
my readers a more perfect idea of the note of this species than could be given by pages of description. This 
concert is performed either by a pair or by several individuals, and nothing more is required than for the 
