THE BIRDS OF AUSTRALIA. 
This is one of MacgiUivray’s discoveries at Cape York, whose notes are quoted 
by Gould as follows : “ During the early part of our last sojourn at Cape York 
this bird was often seen passing rapidly over the tops of the trees in small flocks 
of a dozen or more. In their flight they reminded me of the Starling’s, and 
like them, made a chattering noise while on the vdng. One day a natiye took 
me to a breeding-place in the centre of a dense scrub, where I found a m^antic 
cotton tree standing alone, wdth its branches literally hung with the pensile 
nests of this bird ; the nests, averaging two feet in length and one in 
breadth, are of a somewhat oval form, shghtly compressed, rounded below 
and above, tapering to a neck, by the end of wliich they are suspended- 
the opening is situated in the centre of the widest part; they are almost 
entirely composed of portions of the stem and the long tendrils of a 
climbing-plant (Cissm), matted and woven together, and hned with finer 
pieces of the same, a few leaves (generally strips of Fandanvs leaf), the hair-like 
fibres of a palm {Caryota cereus) and similar materials; the eggs, usually two 
but often three in number, are an inch long by eight-tenths of an inch broad| 
and of a bluish-grey, speckled with reddish-pink, chiefly at the larger end; 
some have scarcely any markings, others a few minute dots only. The note 
of the bird is short, sharp and slmill, and resembles ‘ twee-twee,^ repeated, as 
if angrily, several times in quick succession. On the tree above mentioned 
the nests were about fifty in number, often sohtary^ but usually three or four 
together in a cluster—sometimes so closely’- placed as to touch each other. 
The bird appears to enjoy a wide range. Durmg the progress of the expedition 
two were shot at the Duchatean Isles, in the Louisiade Archipelago, and I 
saw a specimen on board H.M.S. ‘ Meander,’ which had been procured at 
Carteret Harbour in New Ireland. The stomachs of those examined coiitamed 
triturated seeds and other vegetable matter.” 
The second MacgiUivray’s observations follow: “ Numerous at Cape 
York from August mitil March. They usually come early in August and soon 
take possession of their nesting trees. We first arrived at Lloyd’s Island at 
midnight. On the following morning we were -witnesses to the great numbers 
of Shining Starlings that left the mangroves for the mainland. The Lorikeets 
are the first to make off to be soon followed by the Shining Starhngs, -who leave 
in larger and more compact flocks, Avhich whirl up and do\vn and round before 
maldng off to the mainland. Their flight is very rap>id, and before aU have left 
the Pigeons begin to leave also. The w’ay in which they leave the island is, 
however, not to be compared to the ciu-ious and wonderful manner of their 
return, w’hicli we were witnesses of on a later visit to the island. We first 
noted these birds nest-building on the 6th November in a taU, deciduous scrub 
tree on which was a deserted nest of the Red-backed Fish-Eagle. The tree 
292 
