CAT-BIRD. 
Adidt male. Feathers of the top of the head dull oUve-green; hind-neck of the same 
colour as the head, but each feather with a small greyish-white spot near the 
extremity; inner-secondaries, wing-coverts, back, mantle, rump and upper tad- 
coverts deep grass-green, the edges of the feathers slightly lighter; two central 
pairs of tad-feathers deep grass-green; outermost pairs with innermost webs 
smoky-brown shaded with green and the outer webs of the same colour as the 
middle paire, all but the central pairs tipped with white ; secondaries and secondary- 
coverts each with a spot of wlute at the tip; primaries blackish-brown, the five 
outermost margined on the outer web at the base with grass-green and towards the 
tip with pale lavender-blue, the remainder of the wing and secondaries margined 
with grass-green; cheeks and sides of the face golden-green at the tip and dusky 
at the base; tlnoat dull greenish-olive, becoming lighter on the cheat and sides of 
the body, each feather with a white spot which is prolonged into a white shaft- 
streak on the sides of the body ; middle of the belly yeUowish-green. Eyes chestnut, 
bill creamy-wliite, feet dark grey. Total length 313 mm. ; cuhnen 30, wing 175, 
tail 126, tarsus 51. Figured. Collected on the Richmond River, Northern New 
South Wales, in October, 1905. 
Adult femcde. Similar to the adult male. 
Nestlirtgs covered with black down. 
Eggs. Two to three eggs form the clutch, usually two, very seldom three. A clutch 
of two eggs taken at Booyong, Richmond River, New South Wales, on the 29th of 
October, 1899, is of a dark cream-colour. Rather oval in shape. Surface of shell 
fine, rather smooth and glossy. 43-44 by 30 mm. 
Nest. A rather bulky, open and deep structure, composed of large dead leaves, compactly 
worked in together with bark, moss, ferns, etc. ; the outside of which is surrounded 
with small sticks and twigs. The nest is lined with thin twigs and often roots. 
Dimensions over all, 9 to nearly 12 inches across by 6 to 7 inches in depth. Egg 
cavity, 5 to 5| inches across by 3 to nearly 3J inches deep. The size of the nest 
depends very much upon the place in which it is built. The most usual position 
is in the top portion of a taU bushy sapling or small tree, where it is well hidden 
from view, and usually about 8 to 25 feet up from the ground. Then again, the nest 
is often built at the head of a Tree Fern, at heights varying from 6 to 15 feet or 
more from the ground. 
Breeding-months. September to end December. 
About the year 1826 this species received three names from three difierent 
writers, but sixteen years previously it had been named by Paykuil in a 
Swedish periodical. 
No field-notes were given by any of these authors, so that Gould s notes 
are the earhest, as follows: 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 lUawarra, the Hunter, the Macheay, and the Clarence and the cedar 
brushes of the Liverpool range being, among many others, localities in which it 
may be 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. The wild fig, and the native cherry, 
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