THE GEELONG NATURALIST. 3 
CORCORAX MELANORHAMPHUS (Vieilott.) 
WHITE-WINGED CHOUGH. 
FraunE.—Gould: Birds of Australia, fol. Vol. IV, pl. 16. 
RerereNcE.—Cat. Bds., Brit. Mus., Vol. III, p. 149. 
Previous DESCRIPTIONS OF EGas.— 
Gould—Bds. of Aust., (1848) Hdbk. Vol. I, p. 471. (1865). 
North—Cat. Nests and Eggs, Aust. Bds. p. 189 (1889). 
GEOGRAPHICAL DrsrRrBuTION.— Queensland, N. S. Wales, 
Vietoria and South Australia. 
Nzsr.—Large, bowl-shaped, composed of course cemented mud 
scantily lined inside with matted stringy bark, grass, and sometimes 
with fur and feathers, and conspieuously placed on any convenient 
horizontal limb of a tree in open forest or belt of timber. 
Dimensions over all of an average nest 83 inches by 63 in depth, 
egg cavity 7 inches aeross by 3 inches deep. 1 
Baas.—Cluteh 5-7, usually, 8 or more occasionally ; ovals in shape ; 
texture of shell comparatively strong, with glossy surface; color, 
whitish orlight yellowish white, moderately but boldly blotehed with 
irregular sized patches of olive-brown and dull slate, the latter 
color appearing as if under the surface of the shell. 
Dimensions in inches of a pair from an incomplete clutch of 3 
taken near Pyramid Hill, Victoria, 6th October, 1884—(1) 1:58 x 
1:11; (2) 1:53 x 1:11. Ofaproperof 5 eggs (7 birds to the family) 
taken near the Murray, Riverina, 5th November, 1892—(1) 1:64 x 
114; (2) 1:57 x L14; (3) 156 x 114; (4) 1:51 x 1:10; (5) 1:41 
x 1:12. 
OssEnvATIONS.— There is much interesting surrounding the 
Corcorax. Not only is the bird a unique or anomalous kind, but 
as a common forest species throughout the greater part of Australia, 
little is understood of its natural habite. 
Gould says the Coreorax oceurs in small troups of from 6 to 10 
in number. During a recent inland excursion, I was careful to 
couat the individuals of various families, which numbered respective- 
ly 6, 7, 7 and 6. On another occasion, I was present at the taking. 
of a nest when 7 birds appeared in a very excited manner. 
Of course there may be larger flocks when augmented by the season's 
young. That great naturalist also says, “It has often struck me 
that more than one female deposits her egg in the same nest, as 
four or five females may be frequently seen either on the same or 
neighbouring trees while only one nest is to be found." 
Mr A. J. North writes “as many as eight eggs have been taken 
from one nest, it would appear therefore that more than one bird 
lays in a single nest, it is well known that often more than one 
pair of birds assists in the construetion of one nest." 
However, I think the actual proving of the interesting fact rests 
with my friend the naturalist, Mr Hermann Lau. Let his own 
words attest. “The Black Magpie (Corcorax) is gregarious, 
