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ALURGEDUS MACULOSUs R
» hamsay,

Queensland Cat-bird.

Aluredus maculosus, Ramsay, Proc. Zool. Soc. 1874, p- 601.—Sharpe, Cat, Birds Bann oe
Cairn & Grant, Rec. Austr. Mus. i. P- 31 (1892).—North. ¢. ep. 119 (1899) Popa
Ailuredus maculosus, Gould, Birds of New Guinea, i. pr 38 (1875).— Ramsay a
p. 187 (1878).—Id. Tab. List Austr. B. p. 11 Ess) Nor p
peiaG (1587 ).—Id. op. cit. iii. p. 147 (1889).—Id. Nests & Keo

85 (1881),—

Proc. Linn. Soc. N.S. W il
» Proc. Linn. Soc. N.S. W. (2) j
8 Austr. B. p. 177 839)

ee

Ture snecies ao rees wi y) 7 sane Y. artalrs vo ino
Tuts species agrees with 42. melanotis and AZ. arfakianus in having the crown of the head mottled, the
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colour in this case being black spotted with olive-brown, while there is also a black patch on the ear-coverts
and another on the chin.
Mr. A. J. North has given the following good account of this species in ‘Nests and Eoos of
ae
Birds’ :—

“This bird is a native of the dense scrubs that are to be found jn the neighbourhood of R

Australian

ockingham Bay,
and the Johnstone, Russell, and Mulgrave Rivers in Propical Queensland. They congregate in sinall flocks

on the palms and fig-trees, from which they obtain their food. During a recent excursion to the Ballenden-
Ker Ranges, Messrs. E. J. Cairn and Robert Grant, collecting on behalf of the Trustees of the Australian
Museum, succeeded in obtaining, amongst others, a fine series of these birds in different stages of plumage ;
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and, besides finding several nests with young birds, they were fortunate in obtaining, although very late in
the season, a nest containing eggs. The nest and eggs in question were found on December 2nd, 1887, in
the fork of a sapling about seven feet from the ground, on the Herberton road, at a distance of thirty-two
miles from Cairns. The nest is a neat bowl-shaped structure, composed of long twigs and leaves of a
Tristania, lined inside with twigs and the dried wiry stems of a climbing plant; on the outside several

nearly perfect leaves of the Zristania are worked in, and partially obscure one side of the nest. Exterior

 

diameter seven inches, by four inches and a half in depth; interior diameter four inches and three-quarters,
by two inches and a half in depth. Eggs two in number for a sitting, nearly true ovals in form, tapering
but slightly at one end, of a uniform creamy-white ; the shell is thin, the surface being smooth and slightly
glossy. (A) 1:67X1-11; (B) 1631-1 inch. Both parent birds were procured at the time of taking the
eggs, which were in a very advanced state of incubation.”

Adult. General colour above green; the wing-coverts like the back, with obscure yellowish spots at the
ends of the median and greater coverts ; quills dusky blackish, externally green like the back ; the primaries
bluish on their outer webs, the innermost secondaries tipped with a spot of yellowish white; tail-feathers
green, dusky blackish on the inner web, all but the two centre ones barred along the tip with white; head
ochreous brown, mottled all over with blackish edges to the feathers; the feathers of the lind-neck ae
mantle greenish, mottled with a spot of pale ochreous or yellowish white; lores bluish white tinged with
Yellow ; feathers above and below the eve whitish, the former having blackish tips to some the feathers ;
far-coverts black, with a streak of whity brown tinged with green along the upper edge ; chin and a spot at
the base of the cheeks black - remainder of cheeks yellowish white, the feathers mottled with dusky-brown

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tips; sides of neck ashy, tinged with green and mottled with brown edges ; behind the ear covers a
the lower neck a whitish shade, forming an indistinct patch ; throat ashy, mottled with eee
to the feathers ; remainder of under surface spotted, the feathers having a large ovate mark of white in the
smite, and being broadly edged with greenish brown, these margins less distinct on the Se ene

§ y edg 5 : : under wing-coverts

which is

: : : . -ub-terminal bar of yellow ;
Cousequently whiter ; thighs ashy, washed with green, with a sub-terminal pe hb lee of wing
( : 2 ' is : OS ee ae 1p ish tips; edge 5
dusky, upped with yellowish white forming a faint bar; axillaries green, with he ul ie es
: ee ee aire to inches, ¢ D
yellow ; quills dusky below, whitish towards the base of the inner web. Total length :
ming 9°9, tail 4-1, tarsus 1°85.
The | a Ee ° - i é ‘e ee | M zs um
€ description is taken from a specimen 10 the British Muse

an adalt bird, together with the nest. For the opportunity of figuring this

and the Plate represents two figures of
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I am indebted to the kindness

Bir, A. J. North, who sent me an enlarged photograph of it.