INTRODUCTION. 
The object of this Catalogue is to give authentic descriptions of 
the Nests and Eggs, as far as are known, of the Birds found breeding 
in Australia, Tasmania and on the adjacent islands, and especially 
of such specimens as are to be found in the Collection of the 
Australian Museum. 
In the preparation of this work 1 am deeply indebted to Dr. 
Ramsay the Curator, and Messrs. Ramsay Bros, of Dobroyde, who 
kindly placed their MS. notes, which have been kept since 1858 
up to the present time, and the whole of the Dobroyde Collection 
at my disposal; and it is a matter for congratulation that the 
work so ably done by the late Mr. Gould, should have been 
followed up in the same accurate and systematic manner by 
these gentlemen. Of later years, Mr. K. H. Bennett of 
“ Yandembah,” whose name frequently occurs through these 
pages, has by a series of close observations, contributed largely to 
our knowledge of the habits and nidification of many species 
which had previously been unobserved, and it is to the perusal of 
Ins MS. notes taken on the spot, together with the use of his 
collection, which he kindly placed at my disposal, that 1 am 
enabled to give additional information regarding the breeding of 
many birds in the interior of New South Wales, and more 
particularly as to the members of the Aceijntres and Psitlacidce. 
Through the courtesy of the Hon. William Macleay, who has 
always been the foremost to assist the advancement of Natural 
History in Australia, I have beon enabled to examine and describe 
a number of nests and eggs in the collection of the Macleayan 
Museum, and I am also indebted to Mr. George Masters, the 
Curator, for supplying me with information relative to the same, 
and for a knowledge of the nidification of many of the Western 
