SINGING FLYEATER. 
Eggs. “ Clutch, three ; long-oval in shape ; texture of shell fine ; surface slightly glossy. 
Colour pale pink ; some speckled all over with reddish-brown spots ; others with 
the spots forming a dark red zone at the larger end. Outside dimensions 17.8-17 
mm. by 12.6-13.2.” (Weatherill.) 
Breeding-season. October to December. 
When Weatherill described this species he wrote : “ This bird is a denizen 
of the coast and lives among the mangrove bushes on the islands of Moreton 
Bay, and along the banks of the rivers and creeks in south-east Queensland. 
It may often be observed in the parks and gardens close to the coast, busily 
engaged in quest of insects. At intervals of every few minutes it bursts forth 
into song ; this is so sweet and well sustained that the residents of the Brisbane 
district call it the 4 Queensland Canary.’ Its pre-eminence as a song bird 
above its congeners induces me to propose the above name for the species.” 
Weatherill observed: “Differs from Pseudogerygone fusca, with which it has 
been generally confounded, in the following characters : — 
Flanks and under tail-coverts washed with buff ; feet and legs 
weak; size small; length (in millimetres) 96.5; culmen, 8.45; 
wing, 48.35 ; tail, 43.20 ; tarsus, 16.50 fusca 
Flanks ash-grey ; under tail-coverts, white ; feet and legs strong ; 
size large ; length (in millimetres) 114 ; culmen, 10 ; wing, 56 ; 
tail, 45 ; tarsus, 20 cantator .” 
Chisholm has given a good account as follows : “ It is an anomalous fact 
that the recently discovered member of the genus, G. cantator , is one of the 
commonest birds about Brisbane. Originally, of course, this small grey melodist 
figured as G. fusca, but whereas the latter bird keeps chiefly to the scrubs, the 
Singing Flyeater’s merry voice rarely resounds away from the fig trees and 
other native vegetation of the city, or the mangroves of the watercourses 
of the southern Queensland seaboard. In my experience, it is very seldom 
indeed that G. cantator frequents the open forest country favoured by its White- 
throated relative ; only once, in fact, have I met the two species in company. 
And it is a curious thing that the notes of the grey bird seem to vary in a remark- 
able degree, according to locality. Not only do the songs of the representatives 
of the species living along country creeks differ from those of the city birds, 
but it seems to me that there is quite a distinct difference between the warbling 
of the Flyeaters at East Brisbane and those stationed in the Botanic Gardens, 
less than two miles away. In all cases, however, the songs are most melodious. 
The chattering prelude to one bar is akin to that of G. albogularis, but the songs 
themselves have naught of plaintiveness, they are sprightly, varied, and 
moderately continuous, and place their authors among the best of Australia’s 
small bird singers. The precise distribution of the Singing Flyeater has not yet 
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