. Nests and eggs of birds found breeding in Australia and Tasmania . tralia, and is much smaller thanaverage nests taken by Mr. C. E. Cowle atIllamurta, Central Australia. It is built on one sideagainst a thin three-pronged leafy branch, and isattached on the other to a very thin leafy stem,several of the leaves being pulled down and worked into the side of the nest. Externally it isformed of very thin dried grass stems matted together with silky plant down, the inside of the nest,except near the rim, being entirely lined with the latter material; it measures two inches and ahalf in external d
. Nests and eggs of birds found breeding in Australia and Tasmania . tralia, and is much smaller thanaverage nests taken by Mr. C. E. Cowle atIllamurta, Central Australia. It is built on one sideagainst a thin three-pronged leafy branch, and isattached on the other to a very thin leafy stem,several of the leaves being pulled down and worked into the side of the nest. Externally it isformed of very thin dried grass stems matted together with silky plant down, the inside of the nest,except near the rim, being entirely lined with the latter material; it measures two inches and ahalf in external diameter by one inch and three-quarters in depth; the inner cup measuring twoinches in diameter by one inch and a quarter in depth. This nest contained two eggs, whichare now in the collection of Dr. Charles Ryan of Melbourne. Mr. C. Ernest Cowle writes me from Illamurta, Central Australia:—I took a nest ofPtilotis keartlandi with two fresh eggs in February, 1896, and another with two fresh eggs earlyin .April, 1898. They were both built in young growth of NKST AND EOGS OF HEARTLAND S HONEY-EATEK. PTILOTIS. 151 The eogs are two in number for a sitting, oval ni form, the shell being close-grained,smooth and almost lustreless. They are of a fleshy-buff ground colour which is minutelydotted and irregularly spotted with faint purplish or chestnut-red, intermingled with a fewunderlying markings of light purplish-grey. Typically they are sparingly marked, but in somethe dots and spots are more numerous and predominate around the thicker end, where they forman irregular zone or cap; others are entirely devoid of markings. A set of two taken by E. Cowle, in April, 1S98, measures:—Length (A) 072 x 0-5 inches; (8)075 ^ °^ eggs of this species resemble those of Ptilotis sonora but are much smaller. In January 1905, Dr. E. Hartert recorded specimens from Marble Bar, Carbana Pool, andTaylors Creek, North-western Australia, and thus describes a very young female:
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