THE BIRDS OF AUSTRALIA. 
lat. 17° 43" S.) which is covered with dense brush, I found Queen Victoria’s 
Rifle-Bird in considerable abundance. Females and young males were common 
but rather shy ; however, by sitting down and quietly watching in some favourite 
locahty one or more would soon alight on a limb or branch, run along it v ith 
great celerity, stop abruptly now and then to thrust its beak under the loose 
bark in search of insects, and then fly off as suddenly as it had arrived. Occa¬ 
sionally I have seen one anxiously watching me from behind a branch, its 
head and neck only being visible. At this time (June) the young males were 
very pugnacious, and upon one occasion tliree of them were so intent upon 
their quarrel that they allowed me to approach sufficiently near to kill them 
all with a single change of dust shot. The adult males were comparatively 
rare, ahvays solitary and very shy. I never saw them upon the trees, but onlv 
in the thick bushes and masses of climbing plants beneath them; on detectmg 
the vicinity of man they immediately shuffled off among the branches towards 
the opposite side of the thicket, and flew off for a short distance. I did not 
observe them to utter any call or cry; this, however, may have arisen from 
my attention not having been so much directed to them as to the females and 
young males, which I was more anxious to procure, the very different style of 
their colouring having led me to believe they were a new species of 
Pomatostomus” 
Ramsay added: “ The great stronghold of this species is the Bernard 
{sic) Islands north-east of Cardwell, a short distance from the coast. It is at 
times found on Hinchenbrook Islands, seldom on Gould and Dunk Islands, 
but not unfrequently in the dense scrubs clothing the coast range near Cardwell. 
Once only did I meet with it on the Herbert river. Their note and habits 
closely resemble those of P. paradisea. They v’ere in full moult during the 
time of my visit, February and March, and did not regain their hvery until 
May.” 
Broadbent, howev^er, “ found the bird in the mountainous districts inland 
from Cardwell even more numerous on the western fall of the range than any¬ 
where else. In its district it was so common that eight male birds were seen 
during a ride through the road in the scrub. The birds attain their full size 
the second year, but the plumage of the male is not perfect until the third 
year. During the breeding-season (Juty, August, and September) the male 
bird is continually on the move, flying or hopping, and calling almost inces¬ 
santly. On this latter account he is most easily obtained at this time of the 
year. After September the male is very quiet. Each male bird, as though 
by mutual agreement, has possession of a fixed domain, possibly some hundreds 
of yards in extent. In this area he has absolute rule—that is, as far as he can 
rule—and if another male should enter on the ground a fight ensues, the victor 
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