184 
OEIOLIDiE. 
wide inside, and about three inches and three-quarters deep. It 
is cup-shaped, composed of shreds of bark of the Stringy-bark tree 
(Eucalyptus obliqua) strongly interwoven; the inside is made 
thick and more compact by addition of the white paper like bark 
of the Ti-tree, or, in its absence, any other material adapted for the 
purpose; lastly, it is lined with the narrow leaves of the native 
oak, or with grass and hair. The nest is usually suspended between 
a fork at the very end of a horizontal bough of Eucalyptus, 
Melaleuca, Syncarpia, &c., and often in very exposed situations. 
The eggs are two or three in number, usually three. In two 
instances only did we find four—the first of these being in 18C0, 
and the second in 1861. In length the eggs are from one inch 
two lines to one inch four lines; in breadth from nine lines to 
one inch. The ground colour varies from a rich cream to a dull 
white or very light brown, minutely dotted and blotched with 
umber and blackish-brown, with faint lilac spots which appear 
beneath the surface, all over in some; but generally the spots are 
more numerous at the larger end, where they form an indistinct 
band.” ( Ramsay, Ibis, 1S63, Vol. v., p. 179.) 
A set taken at Dobroyde in 1860, measures as follows :—length 
(A) T35 x 0 - 98 inch ; (B) 1-35 x 0-93 inch ; (0) T35 x 0'95 inch. 
/lab. Wide Bay District, Richmond and Clarence Rivers 
Districts, New South Wales, Interior, Victoria and South 
Australia. (Ramsay.) 
MI META AFFINIS, Gould. 
Allied Oriole. 
Gould, Handbk. Eds. Aust., Vol. i., sp. 284, p. 465. 
The nest of this species is similar to that of M. viridis, and 
is built in like situations. The eggs, three for a sitting, are 
of a very light creamy-buff with dark olive-brown spots, and 
a few of a pale lilac or slaty tint, appearing as if beneath the 
shell; the spots are sprinkled all over the surface rather widely 
apart. Length (A) l - 3 x 0'9 inch ; (B) l - 22 x 0 - S8 inch. They 
