SUPPLEMENT—BIRDS OF NORFOLK & LORD HOWE ISLANDS, ETC. 
construction. By noon on the third day the rim of the nest was receiving special 
attention, and from the exterior view it appeared as though the whole tiling was 
almost complete. 
During the first day both birds visited the nest at regular short intervals, 
remaining only a few seconds after each visit; occasionally the one which I took 
to be the male would alight near the nest, call his mate, and give his nesting 
material to her. The folloAving day both birds remained, and worked at the nest 
for longer periods after each visit, and the male gave his material to the female 
more often. She, in turn, spent much more time at the nest, shaping it carefully 
to her liking with marked success. Usually she remained at the nest for periods 
varying from five to seven minutes, giving a series of loud staccato calls from 
time to time. Whenever the male did go to the nest with his own material he 
seldom remained there for more than two minutes, and always appeared to be in 
a hurry to get away again. The interior of the nest was forced into the required 
shape by means of the bird’s breast, but the exterior walls were carefully built 
up by the bird’s bill and head. This was done by the bird as it sat in the nest 
and worked on the exterior walls. It was most interesting to note the way in 
which it was able to reach to the very bottom of the nest without any apparent 
discomfort, despite the fact that one would have thought it an impossible feat. 
The nest was completed by October 25th, and presumably the first egg was 
laid on October 27th, when the female was noted sitting. Three days later the 
full clutch of two fresh eggs was secured. 
The cup-shaped nest was built into the upright fork of a small shrub, and 
was composed entirely of soft moss, spider cocoons and cobwebs. The linin g 
consisted of, firstly, a thin layer of long fine pieces of palm fibre and then a 
thinner layer of black fibrous material resembling liorse-hair, but obviously 
collected by the bird from a fern in the neghbouring creek. In shape and 
structure the nest is very closely allied to that of birds of the genus Monarcha. 
The measurements of this nest, the second on record, are as follows: — Length 
over all, 44 inches ; width at widest part, 2\ inches ; inner diameter, 2 inches; 
and internal depth, 14 inches. 
I was most fortunate in finding the nest of the Spectacled Flycatcher 
(M. trivirgata) within a few hundred yards of that of the White-eared Fly¬ 
catcher, and had excellent opportunities of comparing these birds with each 
other in the field. Although the Spectacled was not as active as the White-eared, 
nevertheless many of its actions and habits reminded me of its white-eared 
relative, especially the way in which it searched for food and flitted about the tree- 
tops. There was also much in common between the males of each species 
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