113 4. NOTES ON THE HaBITS OF MeNURA ALBERTI. By A. A. Leycester, Esa. (In a Letter addressed to John GouLD, Esa., F.R.S., &c.) The habits of this bird are very similar to those of tbe Menura superba, as described by Mr. Gould, but, as that gentleman has begged for a full description of them, I send all the particulars I have been able to collect. The Menura alberti is famous for its most extraordinary mocking capabilities. It is found only on the Brisbane and Tweed rivers and in the neighbourhood of their waters. It inhabits the rushes, and generally chooses a sandy soil for its locahty. I never saw more than a pair together, malė and female. Each malė bird has bis walk or boundary, and gives battle if another malė encroaches on it. He commences singing some time before the dawn of day, being the earliest of the forest-birds in this respect. His song is much varied, as besides his own peculiar note he imitates the cries of all the birds in the bush, such as the Laughing Jackass {Bacelo gigas), and even the mournful howl of the Owl and the thrilliug scream of the Curlew. "When singing and playing about he spreads his tail over his back likę a peacock. He scratches and picks at the earth while singing, which he generally does until about an hour after sunrise. He then becomes silent, and remains so until about an hour before sunset, when he again commences, and continues singing and playing about until it is quite dark. This Menura feeds entirely upon insects, mostly small beetles, mingled with a goodly proportion of sand. It has no crop or upper stomach. The malė bird is about four years old before he gets his full tail, as I have proved by shooting ex-amples in full feather with the tail in four different stages of develop-ment ; the two centre curved feathers are the lašt to make their appearance. It breeds in winter, commencing its nešt in May, laying in June, and hatching its young in July. It generally builds on some bare rock where there is a sufficient shelter for a lodgment, so that no animals or vermin can approach. The nešt is cohstructed of small sticks interwoven with long dry roots and raoss, the inside being composed of the skeleton leaf of the parasitical tree-fern, which makes an inside lining, and is very similar to horse-hair. It is completely rain-proof, and has an entrance at the side. The hen lays only one egg of a very dull colour, looking as if it had been blotched over with ink. The young bird vyhen first hatched is covered with a vvhite down, and remains in the nešt about six weeks before it takes its departure. The flesh is not good for food, being of a dark colour, tough and dry. The aboriginal name is Colvoin. 5. On the Reptiles of Šiam. By Dr. Albert Gijnther. (ReptiHa, PI. XXIII.) There is no part of Tropical Asia of which the Amphibio-fauna is so little knovra as that of Šiam. The only Information on the No. 424. — Proceedings of the Zoological Society.
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