THE GEELONG NATURALIST. 7 
"Cheltenham by my young friend, Mr John Sommers, and. contained 
5 eggs of the Grallina besides the Cuckoo's egg. | 
During the wet season, 1889, in the neighbourhood ofthe Lower 
Murray, where nearly all the adjacent, country was under water, 
‚some Magpie Larks, so Mr George H. Morton informs me, elected 
to nestin certain very odd places. One built its nest on the rail 
of a swing gate; another upon the top of a post; whilst à third 
bird selected some iron hooks suspended in an outshed. j 
A friend of mine once observed a reddish-brown Tree-snake 
(Dipsas fusca) in the act of taking young from the nest óf a 
Magpie Lark, having had his attention directed to the spot by the 
‘terrified cries of the parent birds. When. the snake found it was 
discovered, by the presence of stout sticks whizzing past un- 
comfortably close to its head, the reptile flattened itself along the 
limb, as if to avoid observation, or at all events the flying sticks. 
The breeding months are chiefly from September to December. 
PETRŒCA ROSEA (Gould.) Y 
RosE-BREASTED ROBIN. 
FravnE.—Gould : Bds. of Austr., fol., Vol. IIT, pl. 2. 
REFERENCE. — Cat. Bds. Brit. Mus., Vol. IV., p. 170. 
GEOGRAPHICAL DrsrRIBUTION.—Queensland, N. S. Wales, and 
Victoria. 
Nxsr.—Rhesembles that of the Pink-breasted Robin (P 
thodinogastra) ; cup-shaped, neat, beautiful: thick walled with 
well rounded rim; composed of fine, greenish moss; covered 
outwardly, including the rim, with pieces of silvery green lichen, 
‘stuck by means of spiders’ web; lined inside with a good ply 
of the brownish, soft, hair-like material off fern fronds ; usually 
placed in the fork of a hazel, musk, or such like tree near a streti 
an secluded forest retreats. 
. Dimensions over all, 2? inches by 2} inches in depth; egg cavity, 
1; inches by 1} inches deep. : 
Eaas.—Clutch, 3; roundish in shape; shell exceedingly thin; 
;surface without gloss; color, warm greenish white, spotted and 
blotehed with brownish and dull purplish markings, especially 
about the upper quarter. Most resemble those of the Flame- 
‘breasted Robin (P. phoenicia) but smaller, Dimensions in inches 
-ex a clutch of three—(1) :65 x :55; (2) ‘62 x ‘51. 
OBSERVATIONS.—It is somewhat remarkable that the nest and 
-eggs of the initial species of our beautiful Australian Robins 
remained so long undiscovered, notwithstanding these birds are 
fairly plentiful in the forests and scrubs all down Eastern 
Australia, from Rockingham Bay District to Victoria. 
Respecting the Rose Robin, Dr. Ramsay, in his Northern 
‘Queensland trip notes :—“ One pair noticed on the margin of the 
‘scrub, although frequently watched for hours, no nest was found.” 
