LESSER RIFLE-BIRD. 
Adult female. Top of the head and back of the neck aah-brown, each feather with a mesial 
streak of whitish ; back, mantle, rump and wing-coverts greyish-ash; tail ash- 
brown, slightly fringed on the inner web with chestnut-buff; outermost primaries 
ash-browni with the outer webs olive, and widely margined at the base of the 
inner w’eb with chestnut-browm; innemrost primaries and secoirdaries similar to 
the primaries but fringed on the outer web with rust-colour ; lores and ear-coverts 
dusky with famt shaft-streaks of white; a well-defined superciUmn composed 
of buffish-whito feathers ; a narrow black malar stripe ; cliin and throat uniform 
rich buff; remainder of the under-surface of the body rich fawn with indistinct 
blackisli spots on the chest and sides of the body. E^'es brown, bill and feet black, 
gape yellow'. Total length 245 mm. ; culmen 35, wing 132, tail 83, tarsus 35. 
Figured. Collected at Atherton Scrub, near Cairns, North Queensland, in 
September, 1908. 
Immature male. Feathers of the top of the head and back of the neck dark brownish- 
ash, each feather with a mesial streak of buff; mantle, back, rump, upper tail- 
coverts and wing-coverts brownish-ash, shaded with grey ; tail-feathers olive- 
brown; primaries ash-brown, margined on the outer web with brownish-olive 
and broadl 3 ' margined on the inner web ■with reddish-buff; secondaries olive- 
brown, marked on the outer web with rust-red and on the inner web with 
chestnut-buff; a w'ell-defined eyebrow of buffish-white feathers ; chin and throat 
whitish-buff; a blackish malar streak ; chest, breast and remainder of the under¬ 
surface of the body chestnut-buff, each feather with a whitish shaft-stripe and 
with a black arrow-shaped marking near the tip ; flank-feathers barred with black ; 
a black feather on the chest, and a velvety-black feather widely tipped -with dull 
bronze-green on the belly, typical of the adult plumage, making their appearance. 
Collected on Barnard Island, North Queensland, in December, 1896. In this sldn 
odd adult feathers are sho-wing on the chest. 
Eggs, Two eggs form the clutch. A clutch of two eggs taken at Tinaroo, Barron River 
Valley, North Queensland, on the 11th of December, 1908, closely resemble those 
of Piiloris paradisea. They are of a reddish flesh-colour, most beautifully marked, 
with longitudinal streaks and a few smudges or spots of red, purplish-red, reddish- 
violet and pmphsh-grey, a number appearing as if beneath the surface of the shell. 
The long streaks, which have quite a hand-painted appearance, as if put on by 
an artist's brush, are most numerous about the larger end of each egg. Some of 
the streaks measure 16 mm. long and 3 mm. wide at the top or thick end. Ovals 
in shape. Surface of shell fine and very glossy. 32 by 23 mm. 
Eest very similar to that of Piiloris paradisea in general structure, but smaller. It is open 
and cup-shaped, and a great quantity of rather large, brown, dead leaves, vine 
tendrils, twigs and portions of climbing plants, used in its construction. Lined 
with fine twigs. Frequently the portions of the cast-ofi skin of a snake are found 
decorating the nest, or worked into the outside material of the structure. 
Dimensions over all, 7 to 8 inches across by 3 to 4 inches in depth. Egg cavity 
nearl}^ 5 inches across by 2 to 21 inches deep. The nest is built and hidden in a 
thick mass of vines or foliage, often near the top of a small tree in dense jungle, 
and at heights varying from 12 to 40 feet or more. 
Breeding-months. (July to September.) October, November and December, 
Macgillivray’s notes, as given by Gould read: This bird was seen by us 
during the survey of the N.E. coast of Australia on the Barnard Isles, and on 
the adjacent shores of the mainland at Rockingham Bay in the immediate 
vicinity of Kennedy’s first camp. On one of the Barnard Isles (No. III. on 
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