THE BIRDS OF AUSTRALIA. 
after the manner of those birds. It was a source of regret to me that I had 
no opportunity of verifying these assertions, but an examination of the structure 
of the bird induces me to believe that such is the case ; that its powers of flight 
are very limited, is certain from the shortness and pecuharly truncate form 
of the wdng, and this mode of progression is doubtless seldom resorted to further 
than to transport it from tree to tree or from one part of the forest to another. 
That it is stationary, and breeds in south-eastern Austraha, is evident from 
the numerous specimens of aU ages that have been sent from thence to Europe. 
The late Mr. F. Strange sent me the followdng note: ‘ The principal resort of 
the Rifle-Bird is among the large cedar brushes that skirt the mountains and 
creeks of the Manning, Hastings, MacLeay, Bellenger, Clarence and Richmond 
Rivers, and there, during the pairing months of November and December, 
the male bird is easily found. At that time of the year, as soon as the sun’s 
rays gild the tops of the trees, up goes the Rifle-Bird from the thickets below 
to the higher branches of the pines {Arancaria madeayana) which there abound. 
It always affects a situation where three or four of these trees occur about 
two hundred yards apart, and there the morning is spent in short flights from 
tree to tree, in sunning and preening its feathers, and in uttering its song each 
time it leaves one tree for another. The sound emitted resembles a prolonged 
utterance of the word “ Yass,” by which the bird is known to the natives of 
the Richmond River. In passing from tree to tree, it also makes an extra¬ 
ordinary noise resembhng the shaking of a piece of new silk. After 10 a,m. 
it descends low'er down, and then mostly resorts to the thick hmb of a cedar 
tree (Cedrda amtralis) and there continues to utter its cry of “ Yass ” at intervals 
of two minutes’ duration ; at this time, ow'ing to the thickness of the limb and 
the closeness with which the bird keeps to it, it is very difficult of detection; 
wait with patience, however, and you ■will soon see him, ■with wings extended, 
and his head thrown on his back, whirhug round and round, first one way and 
then another.’ ” 
Capt. S. A. White ^vrites : “ This glorious bird inhabits the thick tropical 
scrubs of New South Wales and South Queensland. The male birds are very 
shy and it is only by watching at watering places or at dancing trees that 
one can make sure of seeing these birds. They visit a certain tree in the 
forest every morning during the nesting-season and play and show off 
for quite a time. I have seen them diligently hunting round the trunk 
of a forest tree, tearing off bark and looking into every crevice for insect 
life. The female is not nearly so shy as the male bird. The call is loud 
and harsh.” 
Ramsay’s notes from the Rockingham Bay district read: “ The most 
northerly point that I met with this species w'as at Port Mackay on the Pioneer 
