MENURA. 
121 
being much of the colour as the egg, help to protect it and hide it 
from view. All the nests and eggs which I possess, with the 
exception of one, were procured in the Illawarra district, chiefly 
from the ravines and gullies in the neighbourhood of Appin and 
Wollongong. Occasionally the same nest is used more than once 
after being lined afresh with feathers. The eggs are of three 
varieties at least: — 
Yar. A, the most common, is of a light stone-grey, with darker 
coloured blotches and spots, and a few jet-black dots ; length 2-4 
to 2'5 inches by TG to 1*7 in breadth. Other specimens are dull 
brown, stone-brown, or dark blackish-brown, with dull brown spots 
and blotches when fresh. 
Yar. B is of a reddish-brown colour, with dark blackish-brown 
spots, and a beautiful blush of pinkish purple over the whole 
surface. I have only seen one of this very marked variety, 2'35 
inches in length by 1 -65 in breadth. 
Yar. C is a most peculiar looking egg, of a uniform dark 
metallic blackish-brown, having obscure spots and blotches of a 
darker tint, almost invisible at a short distance ; length 2-5 by T7 
inches ; and like many of the other specimens, this variety has jet- 
black lines and dots dispersed over the surface. 
The young which are hatched early in August, but sometimes 
as late as the end of September, are of a whity-brown colour upon 
leaving the egg, but become darker as they get older ; the crown 
of the head is covered with long dusky slate-coloured down, which 
hangs over the neck (which is quite bare) on to the back ; the wings 
have a fringe of shorter down’round them, which is longest on their 
lower edge ; the upper part of the rump, centre of the back, and 
the tail are also covered with down, while two rows of short down 
grow along the thighs. The bare triangular part of the neck is 
surrounded by a narrow fringe of very short down, while two ridges 
still shorter and of a light yellow colour grow on either side of 
the breast or keel of the sternum. Down on the head from one 
and a-half to two inches in length, on rump and tail it is two 
